I struggle with the pushups too. I usually can complete the first set or 2 with complete good form. But by the end of round 1 and all of round 2 I can barely hold my body off the ground and certainly compromise form if I try to.
I think the next best thing is to go to knee pushups, but I dont get nearly the same burn and have to pump out about 20-30 knee versions before I feel like I get the same workout. I am going to try to modify with a chair as I heard that is supposed to help, never tried it before. Dont even get me started on pullups. The whole chest and back workout just drains me out.
Chest and back & plyo (my monday and tuesday) are the hardest for me. I feel like if I can make it through those, the rest of the week is downhill...sort of.
It's funny - depending which phase I'm in, I swear that either chest and back or chest, shoulders, and triceps is my least favorite workout. Currently I'm finishing my (third) phase 2, so chest, shoulders, and triceps currently is my least favorite.
With chest and back, it's more standard push ups, but it's the sheer quantity that gets to me. If I can remember off the top of my head, for me it's 30 regular push ups, 18 military push ups, 20 wide push ups, 16 decline push ups, 16 diamond push ups, and 12 dive bombers - and I'm able to "match" between set one and two.
With chest, shoulders, and triceps, it's not so much the quantity but the type of push ups. I particularly hate the slow push ups and almost always burn myself out on them. I usually like doing the wide-fly push ups and side-to-side push ups, but I've usually burned myself out on the slow ones.
I did mention core synergystics, but in truth the only real "hard" push up in this workout is the prison cell push up - and it's not the push up itself that's difficult about it, but the cardio nature of it between the standing up, the bending over and stepping back, jumping back up and standing back up, wash, rinse, repeat.
I'm actually one of those nuts that doesn't mind plyo that much. For whatever reason it's just one of those workouts where I am able to empty out my mind and just push through the pain. What's actually kind of funny is I can tell how far into the workout I am by what kind of pain I'm fighting. The first two rounds I'm fighting my right knee locking up (which is why I don't go too terribly deep on my squats or lunges). The next two rounds I'm fighting a stitch in my right side that usually shifts to my right trapezius - it's usually a result of me not breathing properly, so these rounds I particularly focus on breathing, especially since they are the most physically intense of the 6 rounds. The last two rounds I'm usually fighting fatigue, so it's a matter of willpower and pride in wanting to finish strong.
