Committing two-and-a-half months, people who complete 75 Day Hard accomplish one of the most difficult mainstream fitness challenges.
The program was created in 2019 by Andy Frisella to motivate people to better themselves.
75 Day Hard consists of six rules.
You must complete two 45-minute workouts a day, follow a diet, read 10 pages of a nonfiction book a day, take a progress picture, drink a gallon of water and complete the 75 days consecutively – or start over.
One of the two workouts must be outdoors, rain or shine.
I completed the challenge on November 18, meaning that over 60 of the days were during my field hockey season.
Field hockey practice during the week completed the outdoor workout.
On weekends I would either run or walk, often at the Perkiomen Trail.
My diet was 70 grams of protein a day, no “sweet treats” and a source of probiotics five out of seven days a week.
I defined sweet treats as things I would consider a dessert or had no value to my diet other than satisfying my sweet tooth.
After Rice Krispies, no ice cream for 75 days was the most difficult part.
This showed me how integral sugar has become in my diet.
While sugar exists in non-“sweet treat” foods, I felt noticeably better without consuming high-sugar food.
After the challenge, when I ate something that had a lot of sugar, I noticed that I would get a slight headache or feel gross.
Having a source of probiotics, like yogurt or kombucha, helped my gut bacteria thrive.
I rarely got bloated, but became more sensitive to grease – like butter.
In the gym, I saw great progress in terms of the amount of weight I could handle as well as my recovery.
My back and arms became much stronger, as well as toned.
In the middle of the challenge, it was exhausting to do a 45-minute lift in addition to field hockey.
By the end, I stayed in the gym for over an hour many days.
One day I stayed nearly two hours because I was feeling so good.
The hardest days were the cold, rainy walks and the late-night workouts.
Over the 75 days, I did two workouts at midnight, refusing to sleep until I had completed my requirements.
One of the workouts had to be outside, so I did yoga on my patio at 12:30 a.m. in 45º weather.
Over the time interval, I learned so much about my mental toughness and proved to myself that I can handle whatever is thrown my way.
Challenges like this are designed to build self-confidence and good habits.
I hope to carry my outdoor walks, a newfound love of yoga and drinking a lot of water into the next era of my life.