The notoriously difficult viral fitness challenge may leave you feeling underwhelmed at the end of your 75 hard days, according to one exercise expert.
The 75 Hard Challenge is the fitness trend that has united Hyrox heads, couch to 5K alumni, New Year’s resolution makers and first-time gym goers alike. The 11-week challenge is a grueling test of resilience, discipline and mental and physical health that has swept TikTok in 2024, with thousands of new recruits jumping head-first into the fitness experiment every week. However, some experts in the field are unconvinced about the effectiveness of the unconventional health experiment.
What is the 75 Hard Challenge?
The 75 Hard Challenge is a long-form fitness program, lasting 75 days, in which participants must do their best to stick to a stringent set of guidelines, dictating a number of strict lifestyle rules they must stick to for the duration of the nearly three-month-long challenge.
First conceived by CEO and self-help author Andy Frisella in 2019, the 75 Hard Challenge is designed to develop a degree of mental hardiness in its participants, who should, in theory, notice positive changes in their appearance and their general outlook on life upon completion.
According to Frisella, in order to participate in 75 Hard, challengers must do all of the following on a daily basis:
- Task 1: Follow a structured diet (including complete absentia from alcohol and “zero cheat meals”)
- Task 2: Complete two 45-minute workouts (one must be outside)
- Task 3: Drink a gallon of water
- Task 4: Read 10+ pages of a non-fiction book
- Task 5: Take a picture of yourself to document your progress
The potential risks associated with 75 Hard
While the sheer difficulty of 75 Hard makes it sound as though anyone who completes it will come out of the other end looking like Wolverine, one fitness expert has highlighted a number of potential risks that may be associated with the challenge.
Discussing the potential downsides, nutritionist and fitness fanatic Robbie Puddick pointed out some 75 Hard related red flags potential participants should look out for:
- Task 1, a structured diet: While eating healthily should always be encouraged, Puddick has rightly pointed out that the potential calorie counting approach that may be associated with implementing such a strict diet could lead to participants developing an unhealthy relationship with food. The worry is that some challengers may impose unrealistic standards upon themselves, and make overly-drastic altercations to their diets in order to do so.
- Task 2, the double workout: Working out is great, obviously, but two prolonged bouts of exercise in a single day is a lot of activity – and not everyone might be ready to do that. In order to prevent injury, everybody should ensure that they are building their exercise output up gradually and at a manageable pace – whether partaking in 75 Hard or not.
- Task 3, a gallon of water: Puddick notes that health authorities generally tend to recommend around 1.2 liters, or roughly one-third of a gallon each day. By over-hydrating yourself, you could run the risk of tiring your body out, claims Puddick, not to mention the practical difficulties that will arise by attempting to drink such vast quantities of water.
Why viral fitness challenges “rarely work”
Discussing the potential emotional pitfalls one may experience as a result of 75 Hard, Puddick said: “These viral fitness challengescan be a way to give you an initial boost of motivation and inspiration to kickstart healthy habits. But honestly, they very rarely work in the long term and are much more likely to lead to disappointment and the feeling of ‘yet another failure’.
“Ultimately, it’s about discovering what works best for you and building healthy habits sustainably over the long term. This will retrain your mind, so these behaviors become automatic.
“So, try to ignore the pressures, quick fixes, and high expectations of social media as they can often cause more harm than good”.
- WHAT OUR WRITERS THINK: I’m not doing the 75 Hard Challenge, and you don’t have to either
