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Plateaus

A plateau is where you are unable to increase the weight for a particular exercise for a prolonged time. As progressive overload is required in order to realise strength and mass gains, this is an issue for most. Strategies to combat this issue include;

  • lowering the weight (by approximately 10%) and working back up to (and hopefully beyond) the weight where you are stuck
  • using fractional plates (.25, .5 and 1kg for example) to slowly work in smaller increments towards your more usual weight increase (for barbell exercises which you'd usually increase in increments of 2.5kg at a minimum)
  • using progressive resistance and performing your exercises more slowly for a time
  • focussing on eccentric versions of an exercise for a time

References

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Created: 2026-03-03

Last Updated: 2026-03-03