3 Steps to Bust Through Any Plateau

Sometimes your body—like day-old bagels, paperwork and even your college sweetheart—can get a little stale. No matter how hard you exercise or try to lose weight, sometimes nothing happens if you reach a plateau. Want to know how Adrian Grenier and Howard Stern push past a plateau? ExerciseTV celebrity trainer Holly Perkins shares the same advice she gives to her celebrity clients. She shows you how to make your workouts work for you in just three steps, so you can achieve your fitness goals and keep the results coming.

Step 1. Take a break. “Taking a week off completely from exercise is one of the best things you can do to jumpstart your fitness,” says Perkins. “We exhaust the body during a workout, and when we sleep, eat and recover, that’s when we actually get fitter.”

In other words, when you continue to exercise, and do the same routines and moves over and over, your body barely has a chance to assimilate your work. For optimal results, Perkins suggests taking a week off every six weeks for regular fitness buffs (you work out moderately three to five times per week). If you’ve been following an intense “building” program or are brand-new to fitness (and have been increasing your exercise volume), take a week off every fourth week, but rest actively—meaning things like walking, stretching and light jogging are OK.

Step 2. Do something completely different when you return to exercise. “If you’ve been using the treadmill, for example, switch to cycling. Or if you’ve been doing mainly Pilates, switch to swimming,” Perkins says. “The point is to do at least two things completely differently. Do two new things, but ideally, create a whole new workout. Working your body in a completely new way will absolutely bring new results.”

For ideas on new ways to work muscles, check out celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels’ Top to Bottom video on Exercise TV. “The Biggest Loser” star details how to work your entire body without doing the usual, traditional moves.

Step 3. Make small changes, too. “The body is smart, so you still have to make big changes every four to six weeks, but it’s also important to mix things up on a daily basis,” Perkins says.

For example, if you perform a chest press (see Dumbbell Chest Press) during one workout, do chest flies (see Dumbbell Chest Flies) the next time you work out. “Working muscles continuously from different angles will make it harder for them to adapt,” Perkins says.

You can also change your intensity to kick-start results. Perkins favors cardio intervals, because it’s easier to push yourself in smaller bits of time. An added benefit? You’ll burn more fat. “It’s like the best of both worlds. The higher intensity periods allow you to burn more calories, but when you allow your heart rate to come down during the lower intensity sections, that’s when your body will burn more fat,” explains Perkins.

To perform cardio intervals, simply alternate high-intensity work with lower-intensity exercise. For example, if you favor running, sprint for one minute and then walk for two minutes. Continue alternating for 25 to 30 minutes. You can do this type of exercise with any form of cardio.

For more heart-revving (and lowering) interval examples, watch Perkins’ Fat Blast Workout on Exercise TV and find out how to create a circuit that incorporates power and even tones up abs.

Check out www.exercisetv.tv for more free workouts and advice from celebrity trainers.