What is the 75 hard challenge, the challenge that promises to “change your life” –

You are probably already bald to know that the internet loves a challenge, right? And one of the most recent to gain popularity on social networks has also generated controversy: it’s called 75 hard challenge.

The challenge consists of a series of rules, developed by the speaker Andy Frisella – who, it is important to note, is not a trained health professional or has any experience as a personal trainer – with the aim of “developing mental strength” of the participants, as well as “changing their lives”.

In practice, the 75 hard challenge consists of following the rules below for exactly 75 days:

Picking a single diet to stick to steadily for the period.
Cutting out alcohol or “free eating” (eg, allowing yourself a pizza night after following the diet correctly all week).
Take pictures of your progress every day.
Drink 3 liters of water every day.
Complete two 45-minute workouts each day, one of which must be done outdoors.
Read 10 pages of a motivational or self-help book a day.

The point is to follow all the rules religiously until the end of the 75 days, otherwise, if you break any of them (for example, drink only two liters of water or forget to take the photo of the day), you must start the challenge againfrom scratch.

EXTREME ROUTINES AND RESTRICTIVE DIETS: WHY AVOID IT?

Before we talk specifically about the 75 hard challenge, it’s important to remember why keeping a healthy routinewith physical exercise and proper nutrition, is important.

“Practicing physical activity on a daily basis and maintaining a healthy diet are two fundamental pillars for living longer and healthier lives,” he explains. Giselle Felix, physical therapist and wellness expert at WinSocial. “Chronic diseases and premature death are directly related to risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.”

This, however, does not mean taking the healthy (or unhealthy) routine to extremes, as many challenges encourage and stimulate, internet out there. Cut food overnightwithout nutritional monitoring, taking the body to exhaustion and other behaviors that are destructive, but are often masked as healthy, can generate a very complicated rebound effect.

And, for the professional, extreme routines are also harmful because they lead the person to a vicious circle of frustration and sadness. “This restriction generates forbidden desire, which leads the individual to the well-known ‘feet in the jackfruit’, compensating with exaggeration”, she explains. “As a result comes the guilt, the weight gain. This is the typical cycle of the accordion effect, for example: the feeling of body dissatisfaction returns, and as punishment, the individual seeks once again, for food restriction, for the extreme routine, which will take him back to suffering. The body and mind need to go through a learning process for the change to be lasting and maintained, which is why extreme and very restrictive routines are not recommended.”

IS THE 75 HARD CHALLENGE SAFE?

According to the professional, there is always something to learn from challenges like the 75 hard challenge. Methods like this, says physio, have an educational process with clear rules to follow, which is fundamental when we talk about habits and human behavior.

“People, in general, find it difficult to maintain a healthy routine because they don’t have the discipline to do so”, he explains. “Proposing a lifestyle intervention is a task that requires determination and focus from the individual. An important component of the 75 hard challenge, and other challenges, is educating the individual to set clear goals for reaching their goal, and a deadline for meeting it.”

On the other hand, there is an important issue: often, these challenges do not respect people’s biological individuality, and there is a serious risk of participants proposing a contraindicated activity or one that goes against their objectives.

“When we talk about physical conditioning, it is important to consider a rest period between training sessions for muscle recovery”, says Giselle. “If this is the objective, it is important to seek guidance from a specialized professional to define the ideal training plan. In addition, in the case of the 75 hard challenge, due to the lack of adequate professional guidance, the participant may choose a diet that is harmful to their health.”

The physiotherapist explains that as one of the pillars of the challenge is to maintain the same diet for 75 days, it is necessary to warn about the need to prepare a personalized food plan – which can only be achieved with the help of a professional.

“Another shortcoming of the 75 hard challenge is the motto ‘or all, or nothing’ that the challenge imposes. Even those who did not reach the entirety of the proposal, and for some reason did not complete the 75 consecutive days, need to see the gains and not just the failure. This is important for the person’s self-efficacy, so that they feel able to pick up where they left off, and try to succeed again. The message that remains, however, is that all the effort was null and nothing is usable. Building self-efficacy is fundamental when we work with changing human behavior”, he elaborates.

HOW DO I KNOW MY BODY’S LIMITS?

Another essential point of the challenge, already explained by Giselle, is the 75 hard challenge’s lack of consideration for the individuality of the participants. Therefore, it is up to each one to understand where their body’s limit is, whether in relation to food or physical activity.

“Self-knowledge is a very important factor in this self-care proposal,” he says. “The proposal to train on your own requires knowing your limits and limitations. You have to be attentive to the signs that the body gives, know how to differentiate the pain of a possible injury, which requires medical care and rest, from that discomfort resulting from intense training.”

For Giselle, avoiding excesses, increasing the intensity gradually and doing the opposite to investigate the whys (Why am I feeling this? When did it start? What did I do differently? The last time I felt like this, what happened to me? felt like this before? How much have I exceeded my normal training?) is an important path to take.

In addition, there are other aspects of vital signs that impact performance, such as sleep, eating, malaise and mood, which can cause your threshold to be altered that day.

Apart from that, it is still important to consider the importance of rest for the body, interspersing days of physical activity with days of relaxation.

“It is in the resting phase that the musculature regenerates from the damage caused by physical exercise. These micro-injuries to muscle fibers are necessary and desired, as it is precisely through these mechanics that a greater volume of muscle mass is produced. At rest, the muscle rebuilds and recovers, increases in volume and strengthens”, he concludes.