You found a workout you love. You’ve seen progress on the scale and you’re starting to see graceful lines from muscles in your arms, abs, and legs. A few months later, you have the workouts practically memorized. But now, the progress seems to be coming at crawling speed. If you’re being consistent, why have you stopped seeing results?

Perhaps you’ve hit a plateau. Here’s the great thing about plateaus: With the right game-plan, they can be overcome. Plateaus are a normal part of any health journey. Your body adapts to training and learns to meet the challenges you’ve provided in your workouts. That requires you to work harder, or differently, to accomplish the results you’ve experienced in the past.

Plateaus happen. Your job is to be ready for them. The better you understand the way your body works, the better you can bust through the plateau, and achieve the ultimate level of fitness you crave.

Here are 4 changes you can make right away to keep the results coming…without waking up earlier or running yourself ragged. 

HAVE A BEGINNER’S MIND
It may be your 100th time doing a particular workout, but treat each time like it’s your first. If you’re doing an at-home workout (let’s say it’s a Kathy Smith routine 😉 and I say, “activate those glutes,” it’s easy to let that go in one ear and out the other, because you’ve heard it so many times. But, paying close attention and having a beginner’s mind will help prevent you from being complacent. Remember, by doing one more lift, one more tuck, and engaging those muscles just a little harder is how you’ll start to see enhanced progress.

SWITCH IT
Let’s face it… if you’re doing the same routine day-in and day-out, you’re bound to get bored and lose interest. Also, your body starts adapting to your workouts.  If you’re working out the same way all the time and nothing seems to be changing, it’s a good idea to incorporate new moves. It could a new sport, a new workout class, or perhaps the Fit Over 40 Challenge.  That’s one of the reasons why I created Fit Over 40… a free 14-day workout program to keep you strong, fit, and vibrant in your 40s, 50s, 60s, and Beyond! … LEARN MORE ABOUT FIT OVER 40

YOU CAN’T OUTRUN YOUR MOUTH
Exercise is only one part of the equation. Maintaining your ideal weight is a combination of working out and the foods you eat. Remember, you can’t outrun your mouth! Combining everyday movement with wholesome nutrition is the key to burning away stubborn fat, igniting your energy, and keeping your momentum going. Sometimes, it’s confusing and you need a little direction.  Fit Over 40 Meal Plan, an easy-to-follow eating program with over 75+ recipes that will get your metabolism working efficiently.…LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FIT OVER 40 MEAL PLAN 

CELEBRATE NON-MIRROR VICTORIES
It’s easy to get hung up on the little things — looking at life in terms of calories consumed, ounces gained, and minutes spent on our workout. Rather than this micro view, adopt a macro perspective. Rather than freak out over a down week, look over your shoulder at the landscape behind you. You’ve made some progress, right? Be encouraged.

And don’t forget that as you make slight shifts in your life, a tremendous amount of invisible activity goes on inside your body. Even though you may not see results as quickly as you want on the outside of your body, you are retraining your body’s metabolic pathways to more efficiently metabolize food and burn fat. You are changing your body on both a cellular and a hormonal level. Focus on the positive… Remind yourself that you are still moving forward.