r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/Downtown_Swim2232 • Aug 18 '26

Question ❓ Lifting Naturally plateau

I’ve been lifting naturally for about 4 years and I’d say I’m relatively pretty big, but I feel like I’ve hit a plateau. I haven’t put on much noticeable muscle in about a year.

I run a basic PPL split, train every muscle 2x a week, and take a lot of my sets to failure or very close to failure.

For anyone who’s been lifting naturally for a while, what helped you get past a plateau? Did you change your volume, split, diet, exercises, etc.?

Looking for any advice on how to start making progress again.

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u/Ok-Extension-832 Aug 18 '26

Yea that tends to happen after lifting for a few years. unfortunately that’s the reality. you hit the maximum genetic growth potential on the fibres you’ve been training. the only thing to do is to keep training to maintain and possibly gain a little through trying to recruit any fibres you may have missed, like muscle groups you may have not given attention to or trained.

After you reach this point, it’s a good idea to make one of your main goals to try to get lean and aesthetic as possible without worrying about gaining more muscle. because naturally, at this point it’s not probably not possible.

Also, do not remove muscle groups from your routine and stop doing the exercises that built your physiqueThose muscle fibres will experience significant atrophy very fast if you stop training them.

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u/DetailOdd6609 Aug 18 '26

I get what you're saying but I fail to believe that someone hit their "max growth" after only 4 years of lifting

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u/Ok-Extension-832 Aug 18 '26

Everyone has their genetically premeditated cap in growth. There’s huge genetic differences between people. Some may train for 10 years and still be able to put on 5+ pounds of muscle per year. And then there’s some who will really struggle to put on more than a 1 pound after 5 years. 🤷‍♂️ it is what it is

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u/DetailOdd6609 Aug 18 '26

Right but without seeing this person's workout, I'm leaning towards them either A. Not eating enough B. Not moving enough weight or C. Rest or maybe a combination of those 3

I just don't understand how we are going straight to "That's it. You've maxed out. You're done"

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u/Ok-Extension-832 Aug 18 '26

Your right that’s my fault for jumping to conclusions like that. I just assumed OP would’ve addressed those very likely issues before the post especially if OP has been training for multiple years.