Struggling!
Those of you who have done the Insanity workouts are very familiar with this poor lady pictured to the left. She absolutely STRUGGLES on the workouts, and the nice camera man makes special effort to zoom in on her as she collapses time and time again.
The sadistic side of me thinks it’s pretty funny LOL! But it also serves to point out that we all struggle at different levels. I mean, just look at her. She’s trim and lean — no excess body fat at all. But these workouts are hard, and it takes a high level of fitness to be able to do them. There’s no shame in that! As long as you are doing your best, that’s what matters.
The reason I bring this up is because I get a lot of questions like this:
“I can’t do the Ab Ripper X all the way through, and I’m already on month 2. Is that normal?”
“I can only do 1 unassisted pullup. Will I ever be able to do more? What tips do you have?”
“I can get through the first round of Chest and Back, but I’m totally wiped out during round 2. What should I do?”
“I can only last through 30 minutes of PlyoX before I feel like I’m about to collapse. Is this normal?”
You get the idea. Basically, people are struggling! Guess what! So did I! Of course it’s normal! These are the hardest workout programs ever created. If we could get up off the couch and knock them out as overweight, out-of-shape people, then they wouldn’t be worth doing!
I couldn’t keep up with Ab Ripper X until about half way through my second month. I started off doing 17 reps of each move while Tony did 25. Each week I’d try to do another 1-2 reps of each exercise. It was HARD! But I kept showing up and I kept pushing play and I kept doing my best, and guess what — I got better!
I could do 1 pullup on Day 1. I used a step stool to assist myself, and I had to use so much leg pressure that my legs were burning from the pullup workouts! It was HARD! But I kept showing up and I kept pushing play and I kept doing my best, and guess what — I got better!
The first time I tried Insanity, I was in shock! I was hitting pause during the warmup. I was dog-tired before we even got to the stretching break. I looked like that lady pictured above after about 5 minutes! It was HARD! But I kept showing up and I kept pushing play and I kept doing my best, and guess what — I got better!
So don’t get discouraged. Just keep showing up and keep getting better! It’s completely normal to struggle. And remember, that’s the beauty of doing these workouts in the privacy of your own home! If you have to pause, pause. If you have to go to your knees to get some pushups, do it. If you have to use a stool for every pullup, do it! There’s no one to laugh at you! Look as ridiculous as you need to, but get better!
So if you are struggling …. GOOD! Pushing ourselves is the only way our bodies will change, and it’s the only way we will get better. Don’t worry if you are struggling. Worry if you aren’t! If the workouts are getting easy, that’s when you will stop seeing change. You will need to add weight, add resistance, move faster, jump higher, but you NEED TO STRUGGLE for it to work!
Don’t expect to keep up with Tony or Shaun at first …. and some may not ever be able to. It’s not a contest between you and Shaun or you and Tony. It’s a contest between the YOU of yesterday and the YOU of today! Do everything you can to be sure that the YOU of today is better!
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56 Responses to “Struggling!”
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Well, Essa, if you want fast results don’t stop in the middle of the workouts! That’s not commitment!! If you want results, you have to COMMIT! Give it a much better effort than that!
Mediocre effort will lead to mediocre results. You’ve lost 12 lbs, which is pretty darn good considering the mediocre effort you are putting in.
ok i will take breaks in cardios but in lifting when i said i can’t feel my arms i meat i could not lift the weights from the ground….
should i stop ?
No, Essa, don’t stop. Just use lighter weights for those exercises but work to increase your strength (by showing up and pushing play every day), and before you know it you’ll build your muscle endurance to be able to stay strong for the whole workout.
Hi again Coach Wayne,
I’m on week 2 of p90x. I read in the guide that once you can do about 12 pushups on your knees you should transition to full push ups. I’ve been trying this with very little success. I can do about 25 knee push ups off the bat and then slowly go down as the workout goes on. I’m suspecting that it’s because my core is way too weak. I feel like I’m going to tear my lower back. (and my lower back is always super sore after ab ripper) So I do try to always start with full push ups and then do as many knee push ups as I can each time. Do you agree with this? Sometimes it’s only one. One time I did 5.
My other question though (again about push ups) Then when I try diamond push ups I always feel like my right shoulder is going to tear and it’s even quite uncomfortable during the day now. The divebomber ones are just not happening either. For now I’ve just been doing regular knee pushups when these two exercises come up and I’m hoping that as my core gets stronger and stuff I can progress into them. (maybe not the diamond push ups though ’cause they’re killing my shoulder)
What do you think of that?
OH and I have tried the diamond push ups with my hands farther apart, higher up or lower with the same tearing strain on my shoulder.
Thanks very much for your time.
Bonnie
Hey Bonnie, yes, do as many with correct form as possible, then modify to get more.
If there are moves you can’t do, then yes, sub an easier move for now and as you get stronger and lose weight, those moves will become possible.
They don’t call it P90X – EXTREME home fitness for nothing! It’s tough! And jumping right into it if you don’t have much core strength and a lot of weight to lose makes it a big challenge — but it also makes the rewards that much sweeter if you keep showing up and pushing yourself!
Okay. Great, thanks for the reinforcement and encouragement. Just wanted to make sure I was on the right track.