How to pass a stagnation phase?

What is stagnation?

“When progress runs out of steam…”

Over the months and years of training, the body evolves and the psyche of the bodybuilding practitioner too. Professional, emotional, training changes, or even new eating habits can have a significant impact on performance and progression.

Being able to depend on factors as well related to the training as external to this one, a phase of stagnation can occur randomly. Worrisome isn't it?

It is a kind of physical or psychological saturation that can affect anyone in bodybuilding. As the progression is never linear, it is quite normal to level off at a certain level after a while. It is obviously frustrating to see yourself stagnating after having progressed more or less quickly and easily before, to see that what worked in the past no longer works. However, when this saturation drags on over time, and it is no longer just a simple passage, it is important to react and to question yourself, especially if it greatly affects your morale. While it is not easy to rethink the way you train, especially once the routine has set in, it is worth it and would allow you to find more pleasure in training.

Let's see the points to be revised in order to unblock the situation, to continue to move forward calmly towards your goals and your well-being!

Improving to escape stagnation

“Patience…! "

One of the qualities that will serve you the most in bodybuilding is patience. When you progress, it is not necessarily put to the test, but when progress is less obvious, it is a whole different story. So, you have to put things in perspective, realize that you cannot get the physique or the performance you are aiming for in the blink of an eye. However, if you manage to hold on, you will be rewarded for your efforts after a while.

"Optimize your training"

Regarding the exercises, favor the basic ones, such as the squat, rowing, dips, pull-ups and bench press for example, which are sure values, especially for those who do not have a very advanced level. These exercises are essential because they offer great movements and are necessary for gaining muscle mass. Do not necessarily avoid the squat for example on the pretext that you do not control it and that you are afraid of hurting yourself. Get started, carefully, giving yourself time to learn how to execute them well and working slowly. Leg training is very important, since it notably allows a substantial stimulation of the hormone level including growth hormones which will be used for the recovery and growth of all the muscles of the body. The same goes for those you find too tiring, like dips for some. Do not wait to build a solid foundation, then you can spend more time on isolation exercises. At this point, you will be careful not to change exercises too often, when it comes to working the same muscle, staying on the same for at least 2 months. Why, because it takes a while for muscle fibers to "understand" that it will have to "make you happy" while developing.

" Break the routine "

We have seen that one should not change exercises too often, but never to do so would be counterproductive in the long term. Providing new exercises to your body is good, as it will cause new stimuli in your muscles. Also, in addition to gradually increasing the repetitions and the weight to progress, you can vary the number of repetitions, sets and intensity or even periodize your work by varying between strength development (1 to 6 repetitions of basic exercises with maximum loads), bodybuilding training (mix of poly-articular exercises and isolation at the rate of 8 to 12 repetitions per series with moderate to heavy loads) and strength / endurance (10 to 12 repetitions with slightly lighter loads).

"Give yourself 100% in complete safety"

Use your mind to go a little further in each session, for example by doing an additional repetition. Don't let go. While you think you are not going to succeed, do not give up even if you take a few more seconds to perform the ultimate repetition. If you have no trouble finishing your heats and your speed of execution is always the same, it is because you are not really pushing.

Forcing does not mean putting as much weight as possible and cheating by moving in all directions, by giving an impulse, by tugging to lift a weight that is not suitable for you and letting it drop suddenly. You work for your own body, so choose your weights according to your needs and not compared to others, otherwise you will never get out of this damn stagnation. Likewise, you must be able to perform the movement correctly and be completely focused on your technique. Reduce the weight of your loads by 10% by trying to achieve the entire series with perfect movements, then return to your usual loads and more.

"A reasonable ambition and an unfailing motivation"

Motivation is one of the keys to your progress and success. It's normal not to be motivated all the time, at each session. However, take a moment to think about this lack of motivation, which is even more present during a phase of stagnation. Tired, discouraged, low morale, lack of pleasure in training? Do you really want to resign yourself, or are you going to fight to achieve your goals? You have two choices, make the right one! It also means not training, and taking rest when it is really necessary.

Also, it can be good to keep the motivation, but also the organization of your sessions, to preserve your progress in writing or in Excel for example. This will allow you to keep an eye on the scale of what you have been able to achieve.

Setting unrealistic goals is the best way to get discouraged quickly. See especially in the short and medium term, with objectives that you will not be long in achieving, but keeping in mind all the same your main objective, which must be reasonable although it can be ambitious.

"Escape from overtraining"

Exercising more often is not the answer, especially if it hinders muscle recovery. Listen to your body and the signs that may reveal this overtraining, such as unusual exhaustion during your program, a high frequency of the resting heart rate, a feeling of stress during the sessions and even insomnia for example. Not taking this overtraining seriously could cost you your muscles since it tends to make the ratio of Testosterone/ cortisol negative, rather inducing fat storage and muscle loss, and that is surely not what you are looking for!

"Don't forget to sleep! "

Yes, recovery is essential to your progress because it is outside of your sessions that your muscles really grow, with the good dishes you prepare for them. It is therefore a question of sleeping well, and getting enough. However, do not hesitate to practice a nap in your daily life, but on a weight bench it is not optimal and it is not very nice for friends who are waiting their turn. We must therefore reserve enough recovery time between each session, do not train two days in a row and keep in mind that muscles like the biceps work a lot during back training, for example.

"Adopt an adapted and healthy nutrition"

Finally, the nutrition plays an essential role in muscle development. It is your top priority as a bodybuilder and you cannot escape it if you really want to evolve. So, if you stagnate it may be that your nutrition is not adapted to your needs. You must consume more calories than your body needs to build muscle, since each additional kilo of muscle requires 80Kcal per day to be maintained. Do not hesitate to take snacks during the day in addition to meals, and to increase the quantities, in starchy foods in particular, if you see that you have difficulty gaining weight. Consume around 2,2g of protein per kilogram of body weight, avoid bad fats (fried foods, etc.) and, on the contrary, enrich your diet with good fats (virgin olive oil, etc.). In case you want to lose weight, slightly reduce this amount of starchy foods. In addition, you can take food supplements like vitamins or minerals if you are deficient. Remember, patience is paramount.

The steroid cure

If you are perfectly up to date on all that we could see previously and that you do not progress any more, it is not impossible that you reached your natural limit.

Those who have the ambition to push their limit beyond what they can naturally reach, will opt for the solution of Anabolic Steroids such asAnavar / Megavar which are among the least harmful of all. A cure of this product can offer an interesting approach to start with anabolic steroids if you are aiming for a high level goal. Optimizing the strength of already existing muscle mass and vascularity, this anabolic steroid also known by the chemical name ofOxandrolone has enough to give a good boost to your progress and morale.

Our PTO pack is the ideal cure to achieve this goal.

MEGAVAR CYCLE (4 weeks)

Product intake:

• Take 50-Megavar 50mg - 50 Meditech tabs every day, follow the pyramidal dose table (42 Tabs)
• Take 3 Samarin 140mg - 100 Berlin tabs per day (84 Tabs)

MEGAVAR PTO chart (4 weeks)

So you can continue to evolve and your efforts will be rewarded.

Conclusion

If you take into account every point that we have seen, there is no reason that this phase of stagnation continues to rot your life. If you've read this article, it's because you're taking the time to analyze the factors that can generate this saturation, and that's a good thing. Take the pressure a little longer, while the stagnation gives way to real progress, and even if there is a temporary regression, don't be discouraged, you are still on the right track!

Believe in yourself, above all!