Anybody with a long interest in weightlifting will tell you that rotation is a must. In the world of bodybuilding and powerlifting, athletes frequently encounter a tricky piece of geography called a plateau.

What’s a plateau you ask? For all intents and purposes, a plateau is a wall; it’s the tricky stage in your training where you simply can’t improve.

Try as you might, you can’t lift heavier weights and your workouts become stagnant. The human body has its limits — each workout does not result in an incremental strength increase. If it did, everyone would eventually bench 1,000 pounds after enough workouts. Don’t panic — before you run to GNC and max out your credit card, there are a few things you can try first.

Assuming you’re not under-training, or worse, over-training your muscle groups, there are two likely culprits: your nutrition and your workout plan.

The first couple of steps apply for both:

Step 1: Get a good plan. That means research. Find a workout or nutrition plan that is up to par. The Internet is riddled with meatheads more than happy to tell you why their workouts are better than yours, so load your BUC$ account and start printing.

Once you’ve done the research, it’s time for Step 2: Implement the plan.

“On the nutrition side, that means about 30 grams of protein every three hours, and quality carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc.,” said Matt Braunscheidel, a nutrition student.

The workout side means plenty of hard work and weight that will challenge you, and about four workouts of three to four sets per muscle group.

What if you already do that and still hit the wall? It’s time to change it up. If you’re eating nothing but bread, it may be time to start boiling some rice, or bake a few potatoes. If you love the barbell bench press, it might be time to grab the dumbbells and give it a shot.

An example of a chest workout: four sets of flat barbell bench press, four sets of incline dumbbell press, three sets of decline barbell press and four sets of cable flies. Like anything else in life, nothing gold can stay. Even the best of workout programs will cease to yield results in a matter of time, but in today’s fast-paced world, why wait?

Anticipate your plateau, and you may blow past it without noticing. Instead of performing the example routine until you hit that wall, try mixing it up early.

Your next workout may be: incline barbell bench press, flat dumbbell press, decline dumbbell press and incline dumbbell flies.

Ryan Walsh, a muscular junior majoring in accounting, emphasizes researching your workouts before you practice them.

“The trick is to understand why each exercise is different, to figure out exactly what part of your chest each exercise hits, and find one that does the same thing in a different way for next time,” Walsh said.

There’s no substitute for working out hard, but the same is true for working out smart.