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What to do if the workout is "too hard"?

Fitness | February 25, 2016

If_the_workout_is_too_hard

We’ve all been there: You’re following along with one of the workouts. You’re sweating and breathing hard, putting in some really good work. Then you stop. Your heart rate drops and you’re filled with a sense of failure. “Oh, forget it,” you think to yourself. “There’s no way. I just can’t do that.” When you get back into the workout your muscles have tightened up, your heart rate has slowed to a resting rate, you’ve burned fewer calories than you intended, you missed working that particular muscle group, and you’ve wasted your precious time just standing there staring at the screen. How frustrating!

My workouts are almost always short, usually around 20 minutes or so. Because they’re short, I do my best to make sure they’re very intense and challenging so that you get maximum results from a minimal time investment. But sometimes, if you’re a beginner, coming back after an illness or injury, or even a seasoned exerciser, you come to a movement or exercise that you just can’t do.

Maybe it’s uncomfortable, painful, or just too difficult. Whatever the reason, I have some great news. No matter what the exercise is, there are modifications you can do so that you never have to stop in the middle of a workout again.

Before we get into the specifics, let me point out that I have lots of options for people who want to work out at a more moderate level. I have several workout series that I designed specifically for beginners, including my Bunny Slope Workouts, Beginner Cardio, and Beginner Strength, just to name a few.

Click HERE to see learn more about each beginner series and to check out a couple of weekly schedules that include those routines.

Now, down to brass tacks 😉

What do I do if…

1. I can’t do all that jumping.
Jumping is a fantastic way to really rev your heart rate and improve strength in your lower body. But lots of people have trouble with it.
If jumping is painful for your knees, ankles, or feet and you want to avoid all high impact movements, all you need to do is mimic the jumping exercise, but stay grounded. For example, any time I do a jump squat, you can just simply do a quick squat. If I’m repeatedly jumping you can grab a kettle bell or a pair of dumbbells to intensify the exercise and elevate your heart rate even further. Then you can just apply this technique to any high impact movement. If I do jumping lunges, just do regular lunges. If I’m jumping from side to side, just step out in a side to side, lateral motion or do lateral lunges. You get the idea! When you continue to move in the same way as I am, even if you’re not jumping, you’ll keep your heart rate up and continue to work and strengthen that muscle group.
Now, let’s say that you can jump, but just not as fast as I can. That’s totally fine! Just do as many repetitions as you can in the time I’ve allotted for that particular exercise, even if that means you only do 2 reps when I’m doing 20. I promise if you work on it consistently, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can improve.
2. I can’t lift that weight!
I didn’t start out using a 25 lb. kettlebell. I had to work my way up to it. Whenever I use a weight that’s too heavy or feels uncomfortable to you, either use lighter weights or try the movement without any weight at all. Lost of people mistakenly believe that it’s useless to go through strength training movements without weight. That is definitely not true. All you need to do is increase the amount of repetitions you do. For example, if I do 10 shoulder presses with a heavy weight, try doing 15 presses with light or no weight. Once you’re more comfortable with the movements, try adding in really light weights, like 2-3 lb dumbbells. Then slowly and safely, increase your weight as you progress. I would rather see you do 2 good reps with perfect form and 5 lb. dumbbells than 5 reps with 10 lbs. and terrible form.
3. I can’t do a push-up to save my life!
Push-ups are an incredibly effective exercise because they use so many muscle groups. That also means that a push-up is very challenging. Push-ups can be hard to do correctly if you lack core or upper body strength, but they’re easy to modify. If you can’t do a push-up with proper form on your toes, move to your knees instead. This reduces the lever of your body and makes the exercise much easier to accomplish correctly. Squeeze your abs, tuck your tailbone under, make sure your shoulder aren’t hunched up around you ears, and lower your chest as close to the floor as you can. If you only make it a couple inches down, that’s fine! Try going a little lower every time. When you feel strong enough, try going to your toes with your whole body extended.
4. I don’t have any flexibility!
Flexibility comes into play often. Like when I ask you to come into a full squat. From there I might ask you to roll back and up so you can stand or jump from the full squat position. If you have inflexible calves, you might not be able to come into a full squat position (like when you squat down but your heels come off of the floor), making this exercise feel impossible. But it’s totally fine to put one or both hands down to help get yourself in and out of the floor position. Remember to regularly stretch and foam roll your calves so that you can improve your range of motion in your squat. A full squat is the best, safest kind. And ways make sure your knees don’t extend out over your toes when you squat down.

Flexibility also matters when I ask you to reach downward with straight legs. If you have tight hamstrings (the backs of your legs), you might feel like you can’t accomplish effective deadlifts or windmills. But that’s simply not true. When you lower your body, only lower to a place where you feel some discomfort in your hamstrings, never actual pain. Make sure your form is good by looking in a mirror as you perform the exercise. It’s really helpful to practice the movement without weight outside of the workouts so that you can try increasing your flexibility little by little. I promise that the more you work on it, the more flexible you can become. Whenever you move deeper into these positions, you’ll activate more muscle fibers, strengthening them and burning more calories.

I hope that helps! My final piece of advice is to always have 3 or 4 basic back up exercises in mind that you can go to if you don’t feel like thinking up a modification or get stumped. For example, jumping jacks, push-ups, weighted squats, and planks are all great, simple, and challenging exercises you can do anytime. It’s important to keep the blood flowing to your muscles and your heart rate up so you can use your time as effectively as possible during the workouts.

What do you think of my modification techniques? Did I miss anything? Are there any exercises I regularly do that you always have trouble with? How do you deal with them? Let me know, I’d love to hear!

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  1. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 
    warsaw, poland

    Hey Z, thanks a lot for the article! When I cannot perform some of the exercises, I usually use support. For example, during a pistol squat I can’t go all the way down while keeping the entire surface of my foot on the floor, I’m always ending up on the toes – and when I try to push my heel to the ground, I just lose my balance and immediately fall on my butt 🙂 So I keep one of my hands on something – like table or some high platform – just to keep the balance, not to help me stand up. But I have to say that regular stretching with you has improved my situation a lot, and I feel that I’m very close to doing the full range of movement without any support. Also your pistol-dedicated workout was very helpful 🙂 I’ve been wondering if you’d consider filming another workout like this, for those of us who’s trying to master pull ups? I can do a pull up only if I jump off something, but not from the regular hanging position 🙁 I’m really struggling with this, and I bought special power bands – so now I’m trying every other day, but the progress is not that visible 🙁

  2. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 
    curitiba, parana, brazil

    Hi Zu…nice post…unfortunately my sister can not read English but I will try to translate it to her. I feel she is afraid of pumping her heart very fast, whenever she starts sweating and making little more effort, she stops or even stops to drink water. I am telling her to do not do this and just slow down or keep doing something or at least moving but we are totally different regarding fitness level and opinion also. She feels she can not do much effort and I feel she could push herself harder. This habit of drinking a sip of water in the middle of a 20 min workout is too much for me. Not required at all…of course everybody is different but I feel it is just an excuse for her to stop. If it was an intense workout of more than 30 min, it is one to drink water but 15, 20 min…not required, specially if you are not pushing yourself a lot! Anyways, slowly I will try to make her progress little bit with Zgym workouts. I will also try to right down her weight and measures. Let us see what happens next. See you, take care.

    • private avatar image

      Private Member  | 

      hi! I hope you do not mind my reply – but I think I can relate. I don’t like to stop the video but what I did at first (and what might work for your sister) is to do the videos that have 50/10 intervals, this way she can take a sip of water if needed on the “break”. I used to have a yoga teacher than didn’t want us to drink during class and it was really demotivating – we teach ourselves to listen to our bodies and if a drink (or a break to take a drink) will give us the willpower and mental moment to get back into it then why deny it. your sister will get there, she just needs support and more breaks/drinks than you do 🙂 also marching in place while she drinks would be good instead of a cold stop. Hope this helped!

      • private avatar image

        Private Member  | 
        curitiba, parana, brazil

        Thanks Laceyfab for your comment. Yes, every person is different. I also practice yoga and it is not allowed to drink water during sessions because you should not practice with anything in your stomach, even water. All the internal organs will be pressed and compressed and they should be empty for you to get the benefits of the asanas. During a normal workout I think someone can drink water if the person feels like but again the water will be “jumping” inside the stomach when the person starts doing the exercises. Our body is an intelligent machine, if we are used to do something we will keep doing it till we change our minds and stop doing it. If someday we decide to change our habits we can do it, but the will should be there. Keep going. See you, take care.

  3. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 
    usa

    Nice article, Zuzka. I do the no jumping modifications you suggest since I tore my ACL. I’ve been afraid to do full squats for a long time because of my knee but recently I’ve discovered my quads are plenty strong enough. As long as I follow perfect form, I can do them. It’s my birthday today so I’m excited to do 5 Minute Friday WO #63 X. Thankful and happy at age 47 to be able to ” try ” to keep up with you. 😉 Have a great weekend Zuzka and ZGym-goers.

    • private avatar image

      Private Member  | 
      caseyville, illinois

      Happy birthday! It is my birthday today also. I am 48 years old. This type of training makes me feel great.

      • private avatar image

        Private Member  | 
        usa

        Thanks. Happy birthday to you too. I’ve been following Zuzka for 5 years now and can’t live without her workouts. When she went off bodyrock, I literally cried but then luckily I found her new stuff a few months later. 🙂

  4. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    I have a slight problem with even properly conceptualizing the pendulum swing. Any chance you could re-do the video in your workout library to include some more explanation of how to correctly perform that move? Maybe it’s just me, and maybe I’m just overthinking it, but I feel so confused when I try to do that one!

    For other moves that are more challenging than my current fitness level allows, I make the modifications I need to and keep moving. I love the variety and challenge of all the workouts you post! And your enthusiastic support for all of us, no matter what fitness level we might be at! 🙂

  5. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 
    caseyville, illinois

    Hi Z,
    When do you plan the more “specific” goal routines or schedules you talked about? Just curious and excited

    • private avatar image

      Private Member  | 
      lake tahoe, nv, usa

      It’s in the process. It takes time because it requires some web development. Hopefully within the next month or so.

      • private avatar image

        Private Member  | 
        caseyville, illinois

        thanks for answering! you made my birthday a better one! i look forward to it all

  6. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    I cant do pull ups god, its not hard its imposible!

    • private avatar image

      Private Member  | 

      I hear ya on the pull ups! They were impossible for me for years. I finally did my first pull up earlier this month! If you want a tip, I practiced every day or two with one foot propped up on a upside down bucket, trying not to push off of that foot too much. If you do the KB swings homework the supported pull-ups are easier interspersed. One day, I just tried without my prop and it happened!

  7. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    I only remember quitting on one of your super old hotel workouts 600reps or something crazy like that too many reps in a row and just got bored 😄 oh and a bodycrush with split jumps and mountain climbers but managed to finish the second attempt week later… Other than that any challenge thrown in the new workouts I usually nail it first try haven’t tried the one arm push up yet because work is super busy sleep is not much and im sorta behind 😄😄😄 running a business paying employees, looking after my sick partner and our house plus keeping up with fitness is not easy….but at least because of the stress I lost few kilos and now im all six pack and summer ripped without even trying 😄 and summer in England is just an illusion anyway….bit of a rant 😁 as always love what you do here keep it up 😚😘❤

  8. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    I think these are good modifications and also good you tell us this! If you did not know the alternative, you would stop. But because you know it’s okay to do the modification and you are working on your progress, it still feels good.

  9. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    Wellll…sometimes if there are a lot of steps in a combo, I might break it up to the specific moves (like do 10-20 reps of each move in the combo)… It depends, some days I gotta do that so I can keep on moving.. I think it has to do something with the counting pace for me. Pistol squats I use support most of the time…But I went from barely able to go half way down to being able to do a few without support at all 🙂

  10. private avatar image

    Private Member  | 

    This is great! I would just add that when the struggle is with coordination, like me with double unders, putting in the time during a workout to just keep on trying really is worth it even if you may not get quite as intense of a workout. I have seen great improvements in just one workout.

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