That being said, this is an intense regime and might not be for everyone. Maybe you have a bum knee, or you’re living with a condition that makes drinking a gallon of water a day harmful. If you still want to try it but aren’t sure if it’s safe for you, consult with a doctor. Luckily there are 75 Soft and 75 Medium programs you can adopt in lieu of 75 Hard.
What Does a 75 Hard Schedule Look Like?
Naturally, a regime like this takes planning. So Larbi wasn’t stuck downing most of his gallon of water last thing at night, he made sure to keep a full glass handy during his morning workout, thereby making a solid dent in his water consumption for the day.
In terms of the workouts themselves, Larbi swapped his few-times-a-week heavy sessions for lighter daily sessions that he knew he’d be able to maintain long-term. Often his first session of the day would be a weights session with added mobility work. As the days progressed, he found he preferred calisthenics.
He invested in a press-up board on which he’d perform 30 press-ups as a warm-up before typically working through a mixture of pull-ups, lat pull downs, and cable rows, aiming for light weight, high rep to ensure he didn’t burn his muscles out given the volume of work they’d be performing throughout the challenge. The next session would be cardio-focused, be that walking, stretching, yoga or a run.
Larbi found this a refreshing approach to fitness.
“Before this, I was prioritizing the aesthetic muscles,” he says. “I’d do a push day, a pull day, legs and that would be it. I wasn’t doing much cardio. I wasn’t doing much mobility. But doing a challenge like this, you have to look at the bigger picture. It made me respect exercise across the board, as well as think more about taking care of my body. It forces you to vary your approach, too; I probably did more mobility work in those 75 days than in my entire life before that.”
How to Keep Up With 75 Hard
One word: stretching.
“Stretching before and after every session was absolutely non-negotiable,” says Larbi. “No matter how I felt.”
Larbi’s approach to maintenance used to be “cure over prevention” but his 75 Hard journey taught him otherwise. It makes sense; if you’re working this hard day in, day out, you need to look after yourself. And treat yourself. “Baths with Epsom salts was also super, super useful,” he says.
As for diet, there is no hard and fast rule, but it makes sense to cut out junk food and sugary snacks. Larbi made changes as he went depending on his daily schedule, while still keeping everything healthy.
How to Stay Motivated
Setting aside the thought of having to start over again should you slip up, Larbi says the key to surviving is taking it day by day.
