Strength gain stopped / deteriorating?

goredguar

My strength gains have stopped recently, (I'm only at 20kg dumbbells too), and I'm almost starting to find it harder

...I currently train 3-4 times a week with 1-2 days cardio (with rest days in between weight days)
Ie I weight train one day, rest one day, weight train the next, etc

Do you think I am not giving myself enough 'rest', or is it something else like daily calorie intake? (Currently ranges between 1,700-2200 depending on how busy I am, but weight gains have slowed too)

Very stressed at the moment due to my finals in a month's time, so maybe it's stress?

Any ideas / tips from those who have hit strength plateaus and got over them would be appreciated

BrianSharpe

Strength / fitness improvements are not linear.

What you may want to try is an easy week, it;s very common in running plans to build for a few weeks then cut the volume for a week to allow sufficient recovery and, almost invariably, you come back stronger than ever. The same principals can be applied to strength training - I believe it's referred to as de-loading.

The stress may be coming into play also. Many people don't sleep well when stressed and getting enough sleep is crucial to physical fitness.

goredguar

I have been sleeping far less, yes - I'll try to stop pulling all nighters of work XD

Thanks for the de-loading tip - I'll try that this next week and see how it goes thanks!