How Hard is 75 Hard?

Recently I was introduced to Andy Frisella’s podcast and his 75 Hard challenge.  For those that do not know, this is a relatively popular online fitness challenge to get you to start forming some healthy habits for 75 days, track your progress, and have a sense of accomplishing a goal.

Andy Frisella is a successful business professional/podcaster who uses a lot of F words to fire up “alpha males”.  Just from the logo, you can tell he means business!  He has a large audience for a reason and that stuff sells, but I do not think that what he is calling hard is all that hard.  As a matter of fact, when I looked over the steps, I found them to be pretty standard for my every day. (some caveats of course) 

Now, if you are a “Frisellacake” don’t come at me.  His views and my own are much closer than they are apart.  I like what he offers, I just can’t listen to it.  Plus if it is getting people to take accountability, and get in better shape, we are on the same team.  

Here is what ’75 Hard’ challenges people to do every day for 75 days:

Low and behold, I was already doing all of this and then some.  Where do I get my tattoo?

Now there were some other elements like one of the workouts needs to be outside.  

Well, Andy lives in California, so he might not have had us New Yorkers in mind when he came up with this.  I would much rather you work out two times a day the be discouraged by the cold or snow.  

The other element about a cold shower is cute and all, but I think that is just for guys to say they did it without actually doing it.  I mean every time I take a shower it starts off as a little cold shock to my body, so I’m counting it.

In the spirit of 75 Hard, I would like to propose a better challenge to my readers in hopes we can work on more than just being cold in the shower, making a full-time investment in ourselves.

• Work out every day.  
• This doesn’t have to be heavy lifting.  Just break a sweat doing something.  
• Apologize to one person.
• I am sure you are not a horrible human or even have that much that needs to be apologized for, but you would be surprised at how many apologies you might be able to dish out.  Maybe you were short with a friend or family member.  Apologies for even minor offenses will strengthen your bond with that person, and make you feel good.  Like in fitness training, you can start small and grow.  This does not mean calling your ex.  She already knows you are sorry 🙂 
• Meditate/Pray for 5 minutes.
• Again, we are starting off small with the intention of growing.  Do you see the theme here?  This might seem easy, but focusing for 5 minutes is harder than you think.  Try to dwell on thoughts and prayers of gratitude.  Focus on what you have, and not what you want/need. We can get into our desires later.  I just don’t want to kick in the door and just start asking for things off the bat! 
• Track your Calories and Stay Under your TDEE.
• TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure (BMR (from our scales) x 1.3)
• This is not so much of a diet but education about what you are putting in your body every day and what your body is using vs what it is storing in fat.  The first step to understanding what you need to change is having a good handle on what you are doing now.  This is explained in more detail in Phase 1 in my Training and Recovery e-book.  Please look there if you are confused about what I am asking here.  
• No drugs or alcohol. 
• This stuff just kills us physically as well as mentally.  I know when I do have a few beers the mental hangover is much worse than the physical hangover.  When I smoke marijuana, the amount of self-doubt I experience is incredible.  I do not know why people do this to themselves.  If you are smoking marijuana and have those feelings, believe me when I tell you, it is the drug that is lying and that is counterproductive at best, dangerous at worst.  I know too many people squandering their potential because weed is selling them a different image of themselves than is real.  If this is you, trust me, real life is so much better not drunk or stoned!
• Read.  
• Eventually, I will put my book list on this blog of books that can really help to improve your mind and how you see the world.  I read about 6 a month, so I go through a lot of good and bad, the really good ones I will share with you!  I do not have a stance on fiction vs non-fiction.  I read both every month, and reading is a skill that can be developed.  You might not be a “good reader” today, so I would rather you dive into anything that can keep your interest and start to develop that skill.  
• Take progress photos every day
• You do not have to share them, but I hope you will want to.  It is so motivating to see where you were even 30 days ago vs where you are now.  It might be my single biggest motivating factor.  The bonus of sharing them is you will get a lot of absolute dorks who come out of the woodwork with something to say.  Use that as an opportunity to reach out to them and put them on the right path.  No one successful, happy, or in shape has attacked me for doing this.  They need our help too.
• Ask one person a day “What can I do to make your life easier today?”  
• Sometimes I do this in the grocery store and sometimes I do it at my home.  I find they both make me happy and the answers are almost always interesting and most often something I can do very easily.  
• Sit in the Sauna for 20 minutes.
• I know not everyone has access to a sauna, which is why I put it last.  If you like the cold shower idea as a way to prove your fortitude, the sauna is much harder and has real-life heart benefits.  Sauna users who go in the sauna for 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week, greatly reduce their chance of heart attack and stroke. 
• Note: Not everyone can do 20 minutes the first time in the sauna.  I sure couldn’t.  Start with 10 (or even 5) and work your way up.