Every year, we witness the emergence of new fitness trends, challenges and miracle workouts. In today’s fast-paced world, that is normal. Enthusiasts and professionals alike strive for new ways to improve performance, achieve fitness goals, help lose weight and keep motivation high. And they do all that while keeping engagement high on their social media platforms. Ultimately, that’s why these new trends appear so often.
As a fitness blog, it’s our job to write about these phenomena. After all, we must search further and review these internet fads and guarantee they help our members reach their goals. In fact, very recently we wrote about a fitness challenge that was making the rounds online: the 12-3-30 treadmill workout. We’re back with yet another online fitness sensation — the 75 hard challenge. Scroll to learn all about it.
What is the 75 hard challenge?
First of all, a disclaimer: the 75 hard challenge isn’t a workout. It’s a self-improvement and mental challenge created by Andy Frisella, an entrepreneur and influencer. In his words, this is a “transformative mental toughness program”. It consists of 6 fundamental rules that you must do for 75 days in a row:
1 – Stick to a diet of your choice
Keto, paleo or vegan: it’s up to you. It must be, however, a diet. So, no cheat meals or fast food.
2 – No alcohol
Are you thinking about relaxing with a glass of wine on the weekend? Well, during this challenge, you can’t. You must stay 75 days without drinking any alcoholic beverages.
3 – Perform two 45-minute long workouts per day
Yes, one workout per day isn’t enough. However, there’s a catch to this: one of the workouts has to be outside, no matter the weather conditions.
4 – Drink a gallon of water a day
For those who don’t know, one US gallon equals 3.8 litres. We’ll talk about this later, but please be careful with this one. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how much water you should drink daily.
5 – Take a progress photo every day
Now, here’s something we can’t dispute and that most gym-goers enjoy doing. By all means, please enjoy your progress pics!
6 – 10 pages of non-fiction self-development books each day
We’re a fitness club and, as we said above, this is a self-improvement challenge. If you want to read novels, poetry, or just fan-fic online, please do.
What’s the catch? You must do all these tasks for 75 days in a row, and if you fail to complete any of them on a given day, you must restart the challenge from day one. The main idea is to create habits that improve physical health, enhance mental resilience and contribute to personal growth.
But does it work?
Some of the practices can be disputed. For starters, the water consumption. According to the British Dietetic Association (BDA), an adult men’s optimal water intake is 2000ml, whilst women’s is 1600ml. Too much of anything is bad, so water consumption is no exception.
Asides from that, this challenge requires you to be on a diet, so you won’t have any cheat meals or alcohol consumption. Plus, you’ll have to do two workouts a day. If you follow at least these, almost certainly this will work.
However, before starting any program like this, consult a healthcare professional. The 75 hard challenge might not be suitable for everyone, and it’s fundamental to put your well-being first.
