So, let's say I solved problems A and B easily. After that, I solved problem C with difficulty. When trying to upsolve problem D, I find that I can't even get my head around the problem statement let alone the editorial. What to do in that case? Do I ignore the problem and solve problems that are closer to my level? Or do I force myself to understand the editorial after reading and re-reading it?

Prior, the way that I upgraded from solving B to C was by simply solving only the accessible problem C's (the easier ones). Slowly, it made me able to solve more and more problem C's, getting to the harder C's.

The reason that I did this is that sometimes I would have a hard problem C that I would try to upsolve. I would spend 2-3 days just reading and rereading the editorial (maybe 5-6 hours in total) but I still can't make any progress. It's like my brain is just not mature enough to understand the material.

Now that I am struggling with problem D's, I feel like I should do more upsolving for very difficult problems and spend the 5-8 hours on one problem in order to "upgrade." Or I could do the old style and only solve accessible D's until my brain is able to handle hard D's without putting in 5-6 hours. This second style is better and it got me from B to C. However, there is something about the first "bang your head at the problem" style that I think might be worth pursuing. Evidently, this style hasn't worked much with me which is why I am asking for your experience.

What do you guys think? Is trying to wrap my head around very hard editorials (compared to my level) worth it? Or should I just stick to things that are just a little bit out of my comfort zone (not a lot outside of it)? The reason I am thinking that the extreme style might be better is because I think that it would shock my brain into growing faster than the gradual approach. But even in the gym, it's better to slowly build up to your desired weight than to shock your body. So maybe it is best to take it easy and go step by step. I must be honest, sometimes when trying to understand problems that are simply too hard for my brain, I get headaches and burn out quick and am unable to do anything for the rest of the day.