December 2020
When it comes to working out, stalls are part of the process; everyone at some point or another has reached a plateau they have been unable to push past -- or at least, unable to push past without tremendous frustration and possibly even a dose of despair. Yeah, I know a thousand articles already exist online regarding stalls and yes, there'll be a thousand more after this one. But. Not all responses are the same.
Before getting all eloquent on your ass, know we all have a maximum potential, a limit we can't push past, pull past or bull-doze past. Why do older lifters still marvel and share that one, mind-blowing lift they did "way back in the day" when they were strong as fuck? Because not only did they never beat it again but ninety-nine point nine times out of a hunny, they never achieved it again, either. That's the whole point of great feats.
...it is their rarity that makes them legendary.
So. Now that we realise we will all reach our genetic potential sooner or later, let's unpack another response to a plateau because like most lifters, I have more than one response to stalling -- if you've read my article Breaking plateaus using 3x3 (and if you haven't, you should), you'll know I suggest cutting down to three sets of three reps, same weight straight across but 5–15kg lighter, so as to build back up to the lift you stalled on.
Most lifters suggest something similar.
Some suggest increased volume too, which also works.
Like I mentioned above, there's more than one way to respond to stalling.
What I want to focus on is more the mental side of a stall and/or failed lift. Why? Because not getting that one rep you've been aiming for can really buck your confidence. The likes of frustration, anger, confusion and despair can all present themselves to varying levels. So my mantra is that no failed lift should be wasted. Ever. No, I'm not talking about when one purposely trains to failure but when you legitimately can't get past that sticking point in whatever weight or movement.
OPTIMISING FAILURE
Let's say you find yourself continually stalling on, say, a squat you've been wanting to achieve for ages. You've spent since forever working your way to this moment. Yet every time you get to that weight and/or rep, shit goes south. Next time that happens immediately strip off 10–20kg and either A) achieve the desired amount of reps you wanted with the prior weight or B) do as many reps as possible aka AMRAP. This will depend upon how you're feeling physically. The point is, just do it.
Do not waste a failed lift.
Do not start throwing all your toys out of the cot.
The mentality here is simply one of harvesting some small good from a big pile of bad.
It's the same with any other lift too, for example your benchpress: let's say there's one particular weight you keep getting stuck on. You can come to within 2-3kg of it every now and again, but never any more than that or at least, never as regularly as you'd like to. Or maybe "imagined". Ha. This makes it hard to progress as you're not moving in a linear direction any more inasmuch as wandering all over the place like a retiree on magic mushrooms. But again.
Do the same thing, kemosabe.
Next time you stall on said weight, immediately strip off 5–10kg and either A) achieve the desired amount of reps you wanted with the prior weight or B) do as many reps as possible. NOTE: I'm assuming you squat more than you bench, therefore you'd take more weight off your squat total than your bench total, hence the weight differentiation. Just saying is all. Again, the same mental process needs to be entrenched and automated.
Do not waste a failed lift.
Do not start throwing all your toys out of the cot.
The mentality here is simply one of harvesting some small good from a big pile of bad.
WHAT THIS ACHIEVES
This method will fill your balls with man-juice and make your breath always fresh, always minty, all the time. Actually no. No it won't but it will mitigate some of the despair over a failed attempt and better yet, force you out of your myopic mind-state as you refocus getting some small good from a big pile of bad. Get it? You need to switch yourself out of the negative ASAP and walk out with at least some sense of accomplishment.
This is crucial.
The moment you fail a lift you simply follow the proscribed procedure. You don't fall apart. You don't mope about. You don't get angry. You don't suddenly try again and fail even faster. You simply strip off x-amount of weight and either A) achieve the desired amount of reps you wanted with the prior weight or B) do as many reps as possible. Then you just move on and you do this every time until it simply becomes automatic.
You are turning a failed lift into a non-event. You move from an emotional shit-I-failed-again-goddamnit to a huh-not-today mindset whereby failure isn't seen as the giant elephant in the room but a continual -- and necessary -- part of your own learning curve. In a sense you're demystifying failure and as bad as it sounds, normalising failure as simply being part of life, not you. You're okay, mate. But you learn to get the fuck over it and move on.
WHY IT WORKS
Am I saying the above recommendation is all you need to push through any sticking points? No-one is saying that and I certainly haven't here. What I am saying is never waste a failed lift. Turn it around, get something out of it, move the fuck on. Believe it or not, this advice works in a hell of a lot more areas than just moving weight; you could apply it to child-raising, relationships, job-seeking you name it and nope, it ain't original to me (thanks Jazz).
See, a lot of people when they fail -- and we all have -- experience a wide range of negative emotions. These reactions get stuck on repeat like a vinyl record where the needle keeps jumping. Failure is unpleasant so naturally you don't wish to experience it again. Unfortunately, such a reaction is immature at best and utterly unrealistic at worst. Failure is part and parcel of being human, of "life". The worst part is that when we fail at something we choose to avoid said "something" in future.
TODAY'S MANTRA
Don't make permanent choices due to temporary failures
It's exactly the same with strength-training: as mentioned elsewhere I was/am weak at benchpressing so I turned my back on this fantastic exercise for years without A) appreciating its full benefits and worse, B) not realising I had turned my back on it because of my failure. I was dictating permanent exercise choices by temporary failures and thus, missing out on the benefits of this superb, upper-body strengthening movement.
Be smarter than that.
Hell, be smarter than me. Please.
CONCLUSION
Now, I'm sure there's someone who'll read this and say, "But what if I still keep missing reps?" Funnily enough, this is easy to answer so if this is you, read on: if you find you are still missing reps, you'll have to handle that and find yet another work around. Can you believe it? You'll actually have to do your own research you needy bastard, and find the answer all by your whiny-ass self.
Dry your eyes, wipe your nose, accept no-one's got the prepared answer all ready for you.
How unfair.
We have a word for this in Maori, it's called mahi, which means "work". So go put in some work and find the answer and apply it because one thing I learnt very early on in the iron-game is, we all respond differently to the same stimuli. What I've mentioned above may be just the magic pill you've been looking for or it may not. That's life too. But. There are many options out there from different exercises to different methods.
Lastly as an aside, don't ignore the surrounding musculature involved in lifts, pulls or pushes where you find yourself struggling. There is merit to bringing any sub-par contributors "up to speed" as it were i.e. strengthening the surrounding muscles that contribute in any given lift. Same thing with flexibility (I don't think this is as important as others claim it to be, but that's just me) and most definitely with form: get your form on the button every time.
That's me. Hope it helps whanau. Stay frisky, ka kite koutou.
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