Plateauing...

kewkdb

I've been thinking about how people eventually plateau and how to prevent/solve that. This is a theory that I will be testing out but perhaps one of you already though of this and proved/disproved it?

My primary source of exercise is hiking up a hill for 30-40min then hiking back down. If I replaced every 10lbs lost with a 10lbs weight in my backpack; wont this prevent plateauing?

lordofultima

Plateauing has more to do with nutrition than anything else. If you're getting a good workout, your blood is circulating, your heartrate is in the workout zone, and you're breathing moderately heavy, that's all that dictates a good cardiovascular workout. Whenever I feel like my progress is slowing down, I just tighten up the nutrition a bit more.

For pure strength training, I'd recommend switching up routines, exercises, low weight / high rep, high weight / low rep, different orders, different combinations of muscle groups, etc. For cardio, you can start to mix it up with anerobic vs. aerobic activity. The former is shorter more intense bursts of energy, and the latter is a sustainable moderate amount of energy that you pace yourself at for a prolonged period of time.

Lyadeia

From what I have learned, just about anything you do to change things up a bit will help you break or prevent a plateau. I don't see why your plan wouldn't work, and I also agree with the above poster.

I have plateaued a couple of different times, and sometimes I mess with my workouts a bit and the plateau is gone. Other times I take a close look at my diet and change that up a little and it works as well.

knsmall

I think your theory may work since you are theroetically changing up your workout and should avoid plateau. However the workout is essentially the same (hiking) so it would be interesting to see how your body responds. I would worry about the extra weight on the back and any muscle strain that may have. Let us know how it goes.