Plateau's or Platoes as Ally would say :)

As many of you have found out now we are starting the real work. This is the time that the weak hearted drop off from a fitness program. Why? You might ask. Especially after having a kick ass month when almost every has not only dropped pounds but inches on their belt lines. Oh and lets not forget that the purpose of this program was to help Police Officers become "Fit for Duty". I am guessing since all except 1 person took over a minute off of their 1 1/2 mile run time and almost doubled the amount of push ups and curls they could perform everyone has improved their performance and are well on they way to being "Fit for Duty." Even with all of this being accomplish in under 1 months time your probably still wondering why I think many people are going to fall of the wagon now and return to their wicked evil ways.

Well hell I will share with you what I learned being a trainer for the last 20+ years. For those of you who don't know. In addition to being a Police academy instructor in the state of Louisiana for the University of Louisiana and a USMC Fitness and CQB Instructor, I have had the great fortune to have trained literally thousands of people. All whom I think are very intelligent far more intelligent then my dumb ass. Yet I still find people that fall prey to thinking you can honestly change your body in 6 weeks, you can train for 7 minutes a day and see results, you can diet only and drop lots of fat, or one of my personal favorites is there is a supplement if you take it...it will burn the stubborn fat around your waist that's hard to get rid off, or for women it will attack that fat on your inner thighs specifically and skip everything else.

I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. I can list this off for days and pages. Every time I see the ads, infomercials, or get asked about them I can freaking scream. Each week a new one pops up. Want to know why? Because the fat loss industry is a billion dollar + per year industry. And people are desperate for help because the crap that's out there just doesn't work. I will let you in on a little secret. This secret I'm about to share with you has been working for years. Very few people today talk about it or even advertise it. The reason they don't talk about it much because its not fancy. There is actually nothing special about it. It does however guarantee result every single time. No other product, supplement, piece of equipment or training program can do this and command the results that this secret can. I bet you really want to know what it is now don't you?

Well without further ado here it is - the secret "Hard Work". In my favorite Marine Corps voice "Pay your God Damm Dues!!!!" There are no miracles. I have trained countless professional athletes, Champion Bodybuilders, Ms Fitness and Figure, Actors/Actress. All whom have achieved amazing almost unbelievable results. And by No means do I think I did anything special or am special on this one. The one thing that all of the successful people did differently is they worked there asses of and Paid there dues. There are no shortcuts. People who commit to the fight till the end are always and I guarantee always are successful. In 20 years of training I have yet to meet someone who has begun an exercise program knowing that it could take some time to achieve their goal but was willing to do what they had to do to achieve that goal not make it.

It always seems like the people who enter the game with the right mindset make gains faster. Am I saying there is no one who look better in 6 weeks absolutely not. Lets be clear that these people aren't the norm when we are looking for the rest of us and how we are going to respond to exercise.

What does all that have to do with Plateau's/Platoes? Well mindset has everything to do with Plateaus. In the beginning of every program especially one that is different from what you were currently doing will cause a shock effect on the body and you see a big jump in progress. Any program can do that and in the beginning because of the spike its easy to stay committed and on a program.

But after the honeymoon is over and the progress slows down or appears to stall our head begins to wonder or waver and think about other things we can be doing to get back to that big boost? If we don't see things speed up like they were going then it seems a lot tougher to eat the clean meals, make all the workouts, not miss any of the cardio. Every thing just seems harder now. See how your mindset can change everything down to your motivation to eat correctly and or get all your workouts in.

Believe it or not this is a crucial time for your success. This is when your body is adjusting and still making progress but not quite as visible at first. During the next several months for those that chose to continue will make progress in leaps and bounds. You may go a whole month and not lose 1 single pound and in the very next month jump on the scale and weigh 10 pounds less and be 4 inches smaller. Why do things happen this way? God only knows but I do know it happens consistently for those who chose to ride out the storm.

Plateau - to remain constant or no change as per Webster's dictionary. For those of you who assume you plateaued because the progress has slowed down. Now would be the time to buckle up your chin strap and keep pushing forward towards your end goal. I promise you will be surprised at the results.

I hope this helps you guys understand whats happening in your bodies.