Has your progress slowly grinded to a halt?
It can be incredibly frustrating to reach a plateau in your flexibility training progress. After all, you’ve been putting in the time and effort for weeks, months, or even years, and you’ve been seeing steady improvements up to this point. So what’s the best way to push past the plateau and keep progressing?
The first step is to incorporate different types of flexibility training into your routine. You may already be doing static stretches, but to see progress, it’s super important to incorporate dynamic stretches and isometric stretches into your routine, too. Not only is alternating stretching styles important for seeing progress, but it’s also important for keeping your body engaged and your training well-rounded.
The second step is to increase the amount of time you’re holding stretches for. You may have been holding a stretch for 20-30 seconds, but if you increase the amount of time you’re holding a stretch, it will help you push past a plateau. Try to hold the stretch for closer to 30-45 seconds, but as always, listen to your body and never ignore pain.
Finally, it can be helpful to return to the basics. This means returning to those fundamental building blocks of stretching, like focusing on your breathing, posture, and alignment. Sometimes all it takes is the right mind-body connection cue or adjustment in a posture to break through to that next level. Flex Fundamentals runs twice a year, so make sure you’re on the waitlist. Focusing on the basics can help you break through the plateau and get back to making progress.
It’s important to remember that a flexibility training plateau is completely normal, and it’s nothing to be worried about. With a few simple changes to your routine, you can easily pass the plateau and keep progressing.