Go hard or go home

Londoners are pushing themselves to their limits mentally and physically. Our writer tries the latest craze

- ISOLDE WALTERS

Have you ever wished you had a little more discipline? Perhaps extra fortitude, even grit? Well, the internet's toughest fitness challenge might just be for you.

75 Hard, a brutal 11-week regime designed to develop your mental resilience, has been called lifechanging and transformative by its devotees and borderline ridiculous, possibly even dangerous, by its critics. Naturally, I had to give it a go.

The challenge was created in 2019 by Andy Frisella, an American podcaster and boss of a nutritional supplement company. He is neither a doctor nor a qualified personal trainer, but he says he spent 20 years figuring out how to master mental toughness and 75 Hard is the result. He is adamant his creation is not a "fitness challenge" but, as he writes on his website, "a transformative mental toughness programme".

Whatever it is, it has proved very popular in recent years, with participants posting accounts online of their attempts to complete the 75-day ordeal. The hashtag 75 Hard has been viewed more than a billion times on TikTok alone and Frisella claims more than a million people have completed the challenge, which he compares to "an Ironman for your brain". But why are so many people flocking to the rigorous regime? Its fans say that following the stringent rules builds extreme discipline, mental fortitude and that completing the challenge offers a sense of accomplishment as well as a serious self-confidence boost.

I have never considered myself a particularly disciplined person and I think some grit could do me good. But let's get real: I want to get hot as well.