The first nine reps are just getting you to the one that actually counts.

The reps that feel pointless are what make the last one possible. Change happens at the edge, once your easy capacity has run out, and everything before that is the fee for getting there. Counting every rep the same way hides this, and makes the early ones feel like the work when they are really just the approach.

Start counting from the point where it gets uncomfortable instead of from zero. Add one or two past where you wanted to stop. That small amount, repeated for months, is where nearly all the change lives.