Are the trendy 75 Hard or Soft Challenges safe?

As the new year blossoms and resolutions are in place, working out more may be at the top of your list. But, paying attention to the right routine for you is important.

An internet and TikTok fad called 75 Hard Challenge is a plan to develop discipline and mental toughness along with physical fitness.

The program was started in 2019 by a man named Andy Frisella, a podcaster and CEO of a supplement company. It involves committing to doing the following five things for 75 days in a row:

• Two 45-minute workouts – one must be outside.
• Picking a diet and adhering to it – you get to decide the diet but you can’t cheat.
• Read 10 pages of a self-help or educational book.
• Drink a gallon of water.
• Take a progress picture.

Since those goals are pretty tough for most people to meet, a separate, kinder trend, called the 75 Soft Challenge, was started by the lifestyle site The Pohhu Experience and made popular on TikTok by social media influencer Stephen Gallagher.

For the Soft Challenge you commit to doing the following four things every day for 75 days:

• Incorporate healthy foods into what you eat and, if you drink alcohol, only imbibe on social occasions.
• Drop the number of workouts to one 45-minute session per day, with one day a week for active recovery.
• Drink three liters of water a day.
• Read 10 pages of any book each day.

If you fall off the program or take a day off, you are supposed to start at day one again.

Cape Cod Health News asked physical therapist Jennifer Avery with Cape Cod Healthcare Rehabilitation Services at the Orleans Marketplace location to look over the two programs and share her opinion. Avery did several hours of research and shared the plan with the other physical therapists in her office. They all had concerns about the safety of the challenges.

The first thing she wanted to make clear is that all of her thoughts and advice are dependent on the individual person. Things like age, exercise history, past injuries and/or diagnoses matter. But Avery wasn’t sure either plan would be healthy, even if you were a college-age person with no medical issues. The first alarm bell rang when she researched Andy Frisella’s background and found no evidence of any education or training in exercise science or personal training.

“On the plus side, at least (the challenge) doesn’t cost anything – financially, that is,” she said. “Social media influencers are often ‘popular’ because of their looks, but it’s so important to trust your health and body to someone who has education on the topic.”

Time Concerns

The other red flag for Avery was the amount of time both the hard and soft programs require. Ninety minutes a day for the hard program and 45 minutes for the soft program are not only a serious time commitment but also a lot of time to spend exercising.

“Again, this is dependent on the person, but coming from a PT perspective, most of the clients I work with are starting off injured and/or are not used to exercising,” she said. “The potential for injury with 90 minutes a day with no days off is huge! At least the 75 Soft program has one day off, but if someone is starting from no exercise, this is still too much.”

If someone was starting off from a place of zero exercise, Avery would recommend they start with 10 to 15 minutes of exercise, two to three times a week. She also noted that 45 minutes of outdoor exercise is not always possible or even safe in the winter in New England.

“From a ‘developing good habits’ perspective, this is asking for too much too soon and would likely lead to becoming overwhelmed,” she said. “The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, which can be done in five-to-30-minute sessions. That is way more manageable. People are also much more apt to develop a long-term habit, which is the key for maintaining a healthy life - not an intense 75-day program.”

Other Thoughts

Avery also noted that the program doesn’t specify what kind of exercise people should do. Cardio? Strength training? Most people benefit more when they get concrete fitness and exercise guidelines.

She had concerns about taking a daily photo of progress, which could be an issue for a person with body dysmorphia. She also pointed out that strict diets are not usually something that most people can sustain over time. She recommends learning about healthy eating and making small changes, so it is sustainable after the 75 days are over.

The amount of water recommended by both the Hard and Soft Programs is more water than most people drink and can be dangerous depending on the size of the person, she said.

An article on NPR stated that the amount of water recommended depends on body size, activity level, temperature and amount of sweat being produced. A Mayo Clinic article calls for men to drink 125 ounces and women 91 ounces daily, but states that 20 percent of that comes from food, so the amount you need to drink is actually less.

“I know some people like structure with regards to how to take control of their diet and exercise, and the shortish time frame of this program can be appealing, as are the before and after photos on the website,” said Avery. “I just don’t get the sense that this is safe or sustainable for most people.”