"My preworkout stopped working."

"I'm not making any gainz."

"I don't feel like eating."

These are the words of people who come to me for Plateau Busting-and the cause is one of Receptor Saturation.  

OK, so straight up-we’re seriously Geekin' out and getting all cellularly-neuroendocrine with this one.  

As per our norm, let’s start with the basics:

What Are Receptors, And What Do They Do?  

Receptors are like little flags on your cells.  The cool thing about these flags is that they play a role in telling your body what to do.

Now we’ve all heard of adrenaline, right?

Adrenaline makes things in your body go harder and faster, right?  It does that via Receptors.

What actually happens is that the adrenaline floating around in your body attaches to the flags-The Receptors-on your body’s cells and together they trigger your body to respond to the adrenaline.

So you've got the adrenaline and you’ve got the Receptors.  They work together to make your body go harder and faster. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  You only have so many receptors.

For this, picture a Ferris wheel.  It’s only got so many seats, right?   Once the seats are full, they’re full.  It doesn’t matter how many people are waiting in line, or even if it starts raining men (lol), the only way for new people to get on the Ferris wheel is for some passengers to get off, right? 

Same thing with your cells and adrenaline.  

Your cells only have so many receptors.  Once the Receptors are full, they’re full.  We call this being saturated. 

Just like if you use a paper towel to clean up a spill.  It can only hold so much water.  When the paper towel becomes saturated, it simply won’t pick up any more water no matter what you do. 

Receptors also become saturated.  But back to the Ferris wheel example of your receptors-Just like you have to clear a space for the new people to get on the Ferris wheel by letting people off, you have to “let” your receptors clear for more adrenaline to get on.  

Let’s Tie This Into Plateaus:  

The problem today is that people are walking around with chronic receptor saturation. 

Anything that stimulates your senses (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch), anything that is stimulant based (caffeinated beverages, energy drinks, some fat burners and thermogenics, ginseng, guarana, certain medications-amphetamine family, and even some foods), or anything that causes your body to be “under stress” (workouts, conflict, illness, injury) it all affects your body the same way.

It either causes your body to produce its own adrenaline, or it chemically mimics adrenaline and you ingest it- either way you’ve got more adrenaline floating around than you do receptors. 

So what do you get?  SATURATED RECEPTORS.  

The thing is, it’s not like other things you can temper in the lab-you can't raise the heat and force a "super-saturation" or "poly-saturated" situation. 

Saturated is saturated.

And because we’re dealing with adrenaline, when your receptors are saturated with adrenaline most of the time, there’s nowhere to go and you’ll Plateau.

The Body Requires Recovery Time For Receptor Clearance. 

How much time?

We're gonna get to that.  But around here, we operate in Gold Standard Mode, and are gonna take a side step to gain full understanding of this concept so you can FULLY APPLY IT. 

For this, we gotta talk about your favorite (and mine!)  THE NERVOUS SYSTEM! 

You were given two sides of your nervous system, if you will.  

One is fast-forward and uses adrenaline.  It’s a very primal response and exists pretty much to keep you alive.  We call that “Fight or Flight” because it dates back to Caveman running away from T-Rex with the big head and the little arms.  It shunts blood to your vital organs, increasing blood pressure, heart rate and contractile force; and away from your digestive tract and sexual organs. 

The other is like a braking mechanism on “Fight or Flight” and is called “Feed or Breed.”   This is the side we operate in during recovery time (it's called "Feed or Breed" because blood flow is restored to the gut and sexual organs).  It's what helps you "come down" from your adrenaline high.  

But as this relates to Gainz vs Plateaus, “coming down” from the adrenaline high is what allows the receptors to clear and the body to restore and remodel itself at the cellular level.  

Refusal or blind failure to “come down” and allow for recovery time and receptor clearance ultimately forces your body into a catabolic state.

WHICH MEANS:  You never reap the benefits of your hard work and do not realize the true Gainz of anabolism.  IN SHORT, YOU PLATEAU. 

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS THIS:  YOU’VE GOT TO ALLOW TIME FOR THE RECEPTORS TO CLEAR SO THAT THE BODY CAN MOVE INTO “REMODELING” PHASE AND GROW.  

 How much time you ask? 

Great question. 

My Answer:  As long as it takes.  People are humans, not robots; and The Body Does’t Operate On A Beaucratic Time Clock.

So it honestly depends. (As if you expected a different answer from me)  It depends on your daily stress load and what you do to buffer the stress load and facilitate receptor clearance.

I will tell you this:  A solid starting place for high intensity training is one rest day/week. 

Additionally, taking other steps to facilitate adrenaline receptor offloading will help you markedly.  Some of these include:

~ No electronics in the bedroom.

~ Reducing/minimizing screen time (including cell phone)

~ Get at least 15 minutes of fresh air every day.

~ Deep, expansive breathing.

~ Sleep (and for my Professional sleep starved peeps: taking a nap) 

~ Drink more water.

~ Nourishing your body with fresh, healthy foods. 

~ Yoga.

~ Spending quality time with people you love.

~ Maintaining an attitude of gratitude. 

~ Reduce exposure to harsh overhead and/or fluorescent lighting.

~ Protecting your mental space against discouraging and negative influences. 

WANT MORE AWESOME SAUCE?  Download Chapter 1 from Nutrition For Stressful Times for FREE by CLICKING HERE and blow the lid off of your current practice.