At the start of every year, we seem to be inundated with wellness trends… creative new ways to accomplish (or rather attempt to accomplish) the healthy lifestyle goals we put in place. One such challenge bears the name 75 Hard for good reason. It ain’t easy.
DISC’s Raj Desai, MD, who is double-board certified in physical medicine & rehabilitation and interventional pain medicine, described the 75 Hard Challenge for a story in Artful Living. First, how does it work?
75 Hard consists of 75 days of the following regimen: complete two 45-minute workouts (one being outdoors), drink one gallon of water and follow a diet with no alcohol or cheat meals. Oh, and add to that: read 10 pages of a nonfiction book and take a daily progress photo. And none of these are negotiable. If you mess up, you’re back to day one.
75 Hard went viral on social media platforms when participants started sharing their rapid results. Dr. Desai touched on what’s good about the challenge. “It promotes the importance of nutrition, hydration and daily movement while also promoting mental health benefits through reading.”
The not-so-good? The workouts can be excessive and “the all-or-nothing mentality can be psychologically stressful,” he added, suggesting that 75 Soft might be a better approach because it’s more about progress and trying your best, rather than perfection. “With the 75 Soft, you have to eat well and can drink alcohol socially rather than cut it out completely, you must exercise for 45 minutes daily, drink three liters of water daily and read 10 pages of any book. If you miss a day, you don’t have to start over.”
For more on wellness trends, read the full Artful Living article HERE.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Desai HERE.
