I am not an expert on human physiology. I am not even what I would call 'well-versed'.

I have no hard empirical evidence to back up my claims. I barely have anecdotal evidence.

Bear with me for a moment.

It's not enough to just do your exercises, even if you're consistently seeing gains

So you recently got into lifting weights, and you've seen some good gains. You're journaling your progress and have a workout plan that fits your needs. What's wrong with this picture? Nothing really, just the fact that what's working now isn't what will always work.

This is why you keep a journal/weightlifting log. It will tell you immediately when your current strategy hits a plateau. A recent history of consistent and significant gains is a massive red flag and almost always leads to a plateau of performance.

Why is this? To be perfectly honest, I have no freaking clue. However, I offer the following possiblities (assuming your plateau is not related to extenuating circumstances like an injury):

• physiological habituation

  • this is the simplest one to solve - simply start doing some new types of exercises and workouts - any power lifter can tell you that simply rotating bench/deadlift/squat you're not going to make new records

• your personal inability to muster enough willpower/gumption to move through the plateau

  • it's always hard to tell how much this is a factor; suffice to say that if your ass is well-kicked after each workout session, it's unlikely this is the issue

• improper resistance increases

  • I have done this one on many occasions - consistent and significant gains make me want to up the resistance/weight for an exercise when that weight increase is not entirely merited.

• your muscles are growing faster than the support systems

  • This is highly correlated with attempting to increase the resistance/weight on an exercise too fast. When you achieve new records your body will often require a 'consolidation' period. Remember, in order for muscles to grow bigger and become stronger you need increased blood flow (bigger, stronger heart), greater bone density (how fast do you think bones thicken up anyways?), and increased nervous system activation (your muscles are useless without nerves and a brain that really know how to tell them what to do).

• inappropriate rest periods between workouts

  • This is probably one of the trickiest issues to deal with. I have not come up with a satisfactory rule of thumb to address this. The important thing to remember is that your capacity for work almost always increases faster than your ability to recover from that same work.

• you're bored with your training

  • Just as your body habituates to new stresses, so does your brain and nervous system. Simultaneously, a lack of enthusiasm for strength training will result in sub-par performance and extended periods of plateau. Here are a few things I've found helpful to keep up interest in training:
    • get a training partner (this can backfire though; if your training partner loses interest it can infect you too)

    • learn new exercises and incorporate them into your routine
    • learn to be inspired by others: read interviews and biographies - it's much better when someone else has already made your mistakes for you! (this principle is applicable to all endeavors, not just strength training)

every person's body is different

One important thing to remember is that although you may be performing the same exercises with the same weights and in the same manner as someone else, you may not be receiving the same benefit.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach that is applicable. There just isn't.

When you perform an exercise you must be totally focused on that exercise and the way that your body is responding to it. If you are not focused on interpreting all of the interacting elements between the point you begin loading up the bar (or putting your push-up blocks in place) and eating your post work-out meal, you lose out on the most valuable information for your success.

What muscles are being activated during the exercise, and at what points are specific muscles activated in a maximal manner? How much time did you spend resting between sets? How long was your total workout and how much rest time have you had since your last workout? How long did you spend warming up? How is your routine going to help you achieve your goals? These are only a tiny portion of the questions that you could be asking yourself.

Gaining muscle is sometimes just as much a mental activity as a physical one. Simply having an effective routine is not enough; like everything else in life, change is the only constant and your ability to deal with change will determine your success.