DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I need help. I’ve been training hard for more than a year. At first, I made big gains quickly. For the past three months, I’ve been stuck in one place. I am not improving. I think I might even been losing some ground. What’s gone wrong, and how can I get out of this rut? — J.P.

ANSWER: Every exerciser reaches a plateau where it seems all progress stops. Don’t feel that you are stuck there forever.

In the early stages of training, progress is rapid. That’s because muscles and brain are working together. The brain recruits muscle fibers that were previously unused. Bringing those fibers into action speeds progress. You’re not actually building muscle size. That takes time. Furthermore, the body learns how to do things more efficiently, another spur to progress. Don’t compare the early days of exercise with the later days. In the later days, you are actually building muscle strength and size.

If you are regressing, take a break. Regression indicates that you’re overdoing and you need a rest.

If you’re not losing ground but not gaining ground, then you make some changes in your program. You’re spending too much time doing the same exercises in the same way. You have to challenge your body with a new routine. If you don’t know how to go about this, visit your local library. You’ll find many books on exercise techniques that will help you develop a whole new program.

Change the sequence of your exercises. If you’ve been exercising your lower body first, put those exercises toward the end of your sessions.

Change the speed of your exercises. Change the number of repetitions. Change the amount of weight you lift. Change the rest time between exercises. By “change,” I mean either increase or decrease what you’re doing.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been urging my husband to join me in walking. He refuses. He says exercise gives you arthritis. Is that true? He’s in good health and has no joint problems that I know of. He tells me that professional football players are hobbling around later in life because of what exercise has done to their knees. — L.M.

ANSWER: Your husband is wrong. Exercise provides great benefits to the entire body and to joints.

More than one exhaustive study has shown that no link exists between exercise and arthritis. People have been studied for decades after they’ve been put on an exercise program, and no damage has occurred to their joints. One study has shown that exercise thickens joint cartilage, the opposite of arthritic changes.

People with arthritis are not forbidden to exercise. It benefits them, too. They need instructions in the right kind of exercise.

Some retired professional football players hobble around because of joint injuries, not because of their former exercises.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 75-year-old man who would like to know what physical benefits I receive by riding my tricycle 5 miles a day at a speed of 5 to 9 miles an hour. I am searching for information on what muscles I am strengthening and what, in general, this enjoyable exercise is doing for me. — P.P.

ANSWER: If your heart is beating faster, you’re giving it a good workout. Your heart becomes a stronger pump. You’re keeping your arteries free of buildup. Exercise lowers blood pressure. And, of course, burning calories burns fat.

Pedaling strengthens the front thigh muscles, the quadriceps, and the back-thigh muscles, the hamstrings. It also strengthens leg bones. Core muscles get a workout. Core muscles include the abdominal muscles and the lower-back muscles.

Biking at 5 miles an hour expends four calories a minute. In half an hour, you burn 120 calories.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.