How to keep going?
 

I work out daily, but sometimes I notice that I tend to "half" what I really should do.

I'll lift weights one day, but instead of keeping at it, I tend to stop when it stops hurting. I know I should keep at it, but sometimes the burning sensation I get feels unbearable.

How do you keep going when it hurts? I'm trying to stay motivated, but I feel so powerless.

I can't speak to lifting weights, but when I am running and I want to stop and walk, or stop before I finish the 2 or 3 miles I planned... it helps if I just start counting the steps. I'll count steps to 100, and then start over. I don't know why it helps, but somehow it does.

How many repetitions are you doing? I stay motivated because I have a certain number to hit. Sometimes, when it hurts too much, I'll pause quickly, but I always finish.

Usually, my repetitions are 12-15 (depending on the muscle group), since most of my goals are to build my muscle endurance (aka the lean and toned look). Occasionally it's 10, but that is more for building strength than endurance.

Take rest days.

For me, if I've set out to run 5 miles and I'm dragging, I switch to walking for a minute or 2 to get my energy and pace back up.

With my weights, I only do 1 rep of 10, and that's not enough to quit.

Is it actual pain that is damaging you or just hurting because your muscles are getting microtears so they can rebuild themselves bigger?

I also give myself gold stars for my workouts.

I do at least 3 sets of 25 reps, but sometimes its so bad I'll just do 2 sets of 20

The latter! Sometimes it get so bad the part I'm working tends to shake violently, then it works for me

IMO, there is little need for 20-25 reps. What are your goals for weight training? To build strength? To achieve a certain look?

I'm a personal trainer, and the only times I have clients do anywhere near 20-25 reps is for ab work. Usually those are less strenuous body weight ab exercises where you need to do high reps to "feel the burn".

Otherwise, you need to up your weight resistance so 12-15 reps (for endurance/"lean and toned") or 8-12 reps (for strength) are the most reps you can do per set. The last few should be difficult, but not impossible.

It's a bit of both sorta? My arms aren't exactly the strongest part of my body so I'm trying to build more strength in them, but I'm also working out to lose weight and tone my body!

Then I would put you in the "lean and toned" category, repetitions wise :) Start upping your weights to get you tired in 12-15 reps. In the first set, the last few will be do-able. In the second set, the last few should be kind of hard. In the last set, the last few should be difficult/you can't finish. Work your way up to doing 12-15 reps, fairly easily, for 3 sets. Once you achieve that, go up in weight and start the cycle again!