The Insanity Workout will present you with one of the greatest challenges you will ever face, and Week 3 is the toughest. Here are the top 3 challenges that will urge you to quit and just stop trying so hard. Recognize them and avoid them!

• The Novelty Factor is Gone: Remember that excitement when you did your first Fit Test? Remember how interesting and challenging the workout was, how you were curious to see what the next day would bring? How you gave it your all, eager to do better each time? Well during Week 3 such memories are often distant. You’ve done each workout several times, you know what happens, and you’ve yet to get results. Where are you now? Getting bored, no longer stimulated, ready to do something new.

• Feeling Exhausted: I’ve been telling you to get plenty of sleep, to eat right, and to do your stretching. But have you? By Week 3 you will be able to tell if you’re doing things right. If you’re exhausted, burned out and dragging, then the answer is: no. You could need more hours of sleep, you might need more calories, you might need to drink more water, but by Week 3 your body is about ready to give up on you if you’re not doing the whole workout properly. That means more than just the exercising: that means changing your lifestyle.

• Not Seeing Any Visible Changes: You’ve been killing yourself for three weeks and still nothing has changed. You don’t look much different, you don’t yet see any huge changes in your results, and you’re starting to think that this program isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Well, take a reality check. With your new Fit Test, you should see a huge improvement. Hang in there until you take it, because if you’ve been doing things right, you really have already made a huge difference.

So Those are the challenges, what are the solutions? How can you make sure you don’t crash and burn and quit like most people do during this toughest of weeks? Check out my tips below for advice:

• Revisit the Basics: You might think you were doing everything right, but somehow you still feel like crud, without energy and burned out. What to do? Revisit the basics. Add another hour to how much sleep you’re getting. Recalculate your caloric intake so that you are getting more energy. Be sure to stretch out properly, and take plenty of hot baths and showers. Sometimes the basic setup you started with needs calibration. This could be the time to set yourself straight.

• Invite a Buddy: Insanity is a tough program, and after a few weeks of going at it alone you can begin to feel bored, or dispirited, or feeling like there’s no end in sight. A great way to overcome this is to bring somebody new into the picture. Ask a buddy or family member to join you for a workout. Their surprise, struggle and amazement at what you’re doing should inject you with new enthusiasm, as you get new perspective on the challenge you’re facing and how awesome you’ve already done so far.

• Discipline: Sometimes there is no other way to get through something than old school discipline. This is where you have to ask yourself how badly you want to change. Whether you’re a quitter or as tough as you like to think, Insanity is hard. There’s no easy way through it.At the end of the day, you need to press play and just do that workout. If you’re looking for a break, it isn’t coming, so revisit your causes for starting this again. Pull out those pants you don’t fit into. Remember that sarcastic remark that stung your pride. Your doctor’s words of caution.That picture of you in school or college when you were at your best. Find your motivation, focus on it, and then realize that you are going to have to pay your dues and just work hard to get there. Insanity isn’t for everybody. You have to really want it, and during Week 3 you’ll learn if you were serious when you said you were willing to change your life.

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