Just a few days into the new year is a good time to look back at the New Year's resolution, for health, diet and fitness! A 75-ditness challenge may not be the first thing that comes to your mind. However, this has gained a massive traction on TikTok. It is called the "75 Hard" challenge, where participants also document their progress. The challenge includes strict rules to comply with. These include: adhering to a healthy diet with no cheat meals or alcohol, completing two 45-minute workouts daily (one outdoors), drinking over three liters of water, and reading 10 pages of a non-fiction book each day.

While this might seem like a straightforward regime, experts suggest that for some, a more relaxed version may help them better.

What the participants feel?

As reported in BBC, Devamsha Gunput, 29, who successfully completed the 75 Hard challenge while juggling a full-time job as a digital consultant in Edinburgh described it as a "tough but transformative journey". One of the biggest challenges she faced was setting boundaries with her South Asian family to maintain her strict diet.

Living in Edinburgh’s dark, wet, and cold weather made outdoor workouts particularly difficult. Despite these hurdles, Devamsha noticed lasting benefits, including more consistent exercise habits, improved reading routines, and a better relationship with food.

The origin of this challenge

The challenge was originally created in 2019 by author and podcaster Andy Frisella to foster mental toughness. While not a certified personal trainer or doctor, Frisella designed the program based on his personal experiences, emphasizing discipline rather than weight loss or specific physical outcomes.

Initial challenges

For Sophie Deakins, 27, who completed the challenge while managing a cinema in London, 75 Hard was a way to address her struggles with consistency and discipline. She eliminated sweets, opting instead for natural sugars from fruit and honey, and tracked her diet and water intake meticulously.

Sophie found the first few weeks challenging as she adjusted to new habits, particularly when socializing, as it often revolved around dining out and drinking. By being open about her goals, she was able to navigate these situations without succumbing to temptation.

Post-challenge, Sophie continued some habits, like avoiding unnecessary coffee shop purchases and limiting eating out, which not only improved her health but also saved her money. Most importantly, she experienced a significant mindset shift, overcoming self-doubt and excuses about time.

Balancing the Pros and Cons

While many find 75 Hard rewarding, it’s not suitable for everyone. Strength and conditioning expert and gym coaches advise considering the significant time commitment required for the workouts, reading, and other tasks. They suggest adopting simpler elements like daily movement and drinking more water without feeling overwhelmed.

Motivation is another concern. The pressure to transform one’s life at the start of the year can be counterproductive. Experts recommend setting achievable goals that add joy and value to daily life rather than creating stress.

What does not work out?

The 75 Hard challenge has not been clinically studied, nor has it been made after considering an average person's ability to cope with such changes so quickly. It is personally designed by Frisella, whose strength may not match others. This is what is making its long-term benefits unclear. Healthcare providers, doctors, and other experts point out that a more basic routine, such as regular exercise and a balanced diet, might achieve similar results without the extreme demands.

Ultimately, while 75 Hard can help build discipline and mental toughness, it’s essential to tailor health and fitness goals to your needs. For reliable guidance, the NHS Live Well website offers comprehensive advice on diet, exercise, and mental well-being.

Many people falsely believe yoga poses are just meant to make you comfortable and flexible, they think it is something one only needs to do if they wish to calm down. However, it is so much more than that. If done properly, it can change the way you live life. Whether it is making yourself more balanced, more flexible, losing weight, or being stronger.

Yoga is way more than just stretching. It's a powerful way to bring your mind and body closer, offering real benefits that can change your everyday life. If you want to get healthier, calm your thoughts, or just feel more connected to yourself, yoga gives you a full-picture way to feel good. It can make you stronger, more flexible, and more balanced, all while helping you handle stress and boost your overall mood.

Why Balancing Yoga Poses?

Balancing yoga poses do much more than just challenge your stability; they actively improve your overall health and well-being. These powerful poses work wonders by making your body stronger and more stable, especially in your core, legs, and ankles.

Balancing yoga poses also sharpen your mind. You'll notice better focus and less stress as you learn to center yourself in each pose. By always adjusting to stay steady, you become much more aware of your body's position. This leads to smoother movements and fewer stumbles in your daily life. Basically, balancing yoga helps you become stronger, more coordinated, and more aware of yourself.

Eagle Pose

This pose challenges your balance by wrapping one leg around the other and crossing your arms. It deeply stretches your shoulders and upper back while strengthening your core for better stability.

Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose

Standing on one leg, you extend the other forward, holding your big toe. This pose significantly improves your hamstring flexibility and core strength, while challenging your standing leg's stability and enhancing mental concentration for better balance.

Half Moon Pose

From a standing position, you extend one arm and the opposite leg out to the sides, forming a "T" shape. This pose beautifully opens the hips and chest, strengthens the core, and dramatically improves your sense of balance and spatial awareness.

Handstand

Practiced against a wall or free-standing, this inversion builds immense upper body and core strength. It demands intense focus and body awareness, fundamentally improving your balance by challenging your perception of alignment and stability upside down.

Lord of the Dance Pose

Standing on one leg, you reach back to grasp the foot of your lifted leg, extending it upwards like an archer's bow. This deep backbend and hip opener demands significant balance and concentration, while also increasing spinal flexibility and leg strength.

Side-Plank Pose

Supported on one hand and the side of one foot, your body forms a straight line. This powerful pose deeply strengthens your core, obliques, and arms. It's a fantastic way to build stability through your entire side body, crucial for coordination.

Side-Reclining Leg Life

Lying on your side, you lift your top leg straight up towards the ceiling. While seemingly simple, this pose strengthens your outer hip and thigh muscles, crucial for walking stability and balance. It gently improves flexibility without high impact.

Warrior 3 Pose

Standing on one leg, you extend your torso forward and the other leg straight back, forming a "T" shape parallel to the floor. This dynamic pose strengthens your entire leg and core, while intensely challenging your balance and building focused determination.

As cancer care becomes increasingly scientific, there is one variable that remains an effective force in enhancing patient results: exercise. Though physical activity has been well established to prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease for decades, recent studies add a fascinating page to the narrative—exercise can also lower cancer recurrence and improve survival in patients with cancer.

A randomized controlled trial, reported recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, has given the strongest evidence to date that formal exercise not only promotes general well-being but also is a key factor in recovery from cancer. Investigators tracked close to 900 patients from 55 cancer centers in six countries who had all been treated for stage III or high-risk stage II colon cancer.

Members were divided into two groups: one was given routine health education in terms of nutrition and exercise, while the second group participated in a formal exercise program under expert health coaches. The disparity in results between the two groups was dramatic.

With a median follow-up of eight years, the patients in the structured exercise group had 28% and 37% reduced risk of cancer relapse and death, respectively. Importantly, participants in this group also showed significant improvements in cardiovascular fitness, as assessed by six-minute walk distance and VO2 max, a measure of oxygen consumption during exercise.

This is the first randomized trial to confirm that exercise after cancer treatment significantly lowers the risk of recurrence and death," she said. "It validates what we’ve long suspected: movement is medicine, especially for cancer survivors.

Colon cancer, for example, recurs in approximately 30% of patients despite surgery and chemotherapy. Hitherto, common practice had mainly concentrated on medical interventions, relegating lifestyle changes to the sidelines. This research flips that approach on its head.

How Exercise Facilitates Cancer Recovery?

Exercise benefits for cancer patients go far beyond physical conditioning. Here's how:

Improved Immune Function: Sustained physical exercise enhances the immune system, allowing the body to more effectively recognize and destroy cancerous cells.

Hormonal Control: Exercise maintains hormones such as insulin and estrogen in balance, hormones which have a potential to develop and drive some cancers.

Inflammation Decreased: Long-term inflammation is an established cause of cancer development, and exercise reduces inflammation levels within the body.

Better Treatment Tolerance: Patients who stay physically active tend to cope better with chemotherapy and other treatments, with fewer side effects.

Mental Health Advantages: Exercise helps in reducing anxiety, depression, and fatigue—emotional and physical issues that are common among cancer patients.

Can Personalised Programs Make the Difference?

The supervised exercise program implemented in the trial was not one size fits all. It incorporated sessions that were supervised and regular consultation with a health coach. The coaching aspect enabled the program to be adapted to patient-specific needs and fitness levels.

"Having someone to guide and motivate makes a huge difference, especially for individuals recovering from something as taxing as cancer treatment," said Dr. Wen. "We’re not asking patients to run marathons, but even moderate exercise, when structured and consistent, can yield profound results."

This study lends impetus to the increasing trend that promotes lifestyle interventions in mainstream cancer treatment. A number of healthcare firms and wellness businesses are already using these results in their services. Cerula Care and Complement 1 are among the platforms that provide one-to-one coaching on exercise, nutrition, sleep, and mindfulness.

On the clinical side, firms such as Faeth Therapeutics are pushing it even further by adding pharmaceutical therapy to targeted nutrition designed to target cancer metabolism. Preliminary results indicate that these synergistic strategies might offer even better recurrence protection.

Another key area that the research brings to light is that of social support. Group fitness activity or support from coaches and peers improves compliance with treatment regimens and emotional well-being. With the psychological impact of cancer, mental health ought to be brought to the fore as part of the cure.

Is This A New Prescription for Patients?

So, what can patients learn from this study? First, discuss with your oncologist or primary care physician the inclusion of a structured exercise program in your recovery regimen. The program does not have to be extremely rigorous; professionalism and consistency are more important than intensity.

Second, don't wait until after treatment. Preparing for cancer treatment and even engaging in some exercise during treatment can help deliver cumulative benefits that enhance quality and life duration.

Greatly, keep in mind that this is only colon cancer. Researchers think that the benefits of formal exercise may be applied to many other kinds of cancer. Future research is already ongoing to investigate these larger applications.

The message is simple: exercise is not optional or merely "good advice." It's an integral part of cancer care, something that should be incorporated into treatment plans from the moment of diagnosis right through remission.

As more studies highlight the cancer-fighting power of movement, it's time for patients and healthcare professionals alike to put physical activity front and center as a major weapon against cancer. The future of oncology is not solely in the realm of medicine—it's in movement, as well.

Can Exercise Possibly Do More Harm Than Good for Cancer Patients?

Although formal exercise has undeniable benefits for many cancer survivors, it's not a solution for all. For patients receiving high-intensity treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, overexerting the body—particularly without medical supervision—can have adverse effects. Excessive strain can cause fatigue, immune compromise, or injury that might postpone treatment or compromise recovery. For patients with metastases to bone, some activities will enhance the risk of fracture. Cardiovascular or pulmonary restriction resulting from cancer or cancer treatment also implies that exercise will need to be prescribed with extreme caution.

Exercise is not automatically bad for you, but bad or unmonitored exercise can be. That is why interventions like the one presented in the recent trial matched patients with health coaches and tracked progress. It's not about hammering the gym—it's about safe and incremental movement tailored to health status.

In short, exercise is potent medicine, but as with any treatment, the dose and delivery are everything. Always get your care team's approval before beginning or intensifying a routine. Correctly done, the rewards far surpass the risks.

Fixing your posture is about more than just sitting up straight. Specific yoga poses can really help your back and make your spine healthier. These poses gently stretch and make the muscles that support your spine stronger. This leads to better alignment, less pain, and easier movement over time.

The reason why people who have poor posture are encouraged to do yoga is because it allows your core muscles to grow stronger and when you have a strong core your body finds it much more easier to support your back. Yoga also makes you more flexible, so your back can bend and twist more easily. Plus, it improves your body awareness. This means you'll notice how your body feels and holds itself, helping you to correct your posture before you even start to slouch.

Yoga Poses That Help You Fix Your Posture

Fixing your posture is about more than just sitting up straight. Specific yoga poses can really help your back and make your spine healthier. These poses gently stretch and make the muscles that support your spine stronger. This leads to better alignment, less pain, and easier movement over time.

Cow Pose (Bitilasana)

This gentle pose helps your spine move more freely by arching your back. It stretches your stomach and neck, making your spine more flexible and ready for other movements.

Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

This basic yoga pose makes your whole spine longer, from your tailbone to the top of your head. It stretches your legs and strengthens your arms, taking pressure off your back and helping your whole body line up correctly.

Plank Pose

Plank is fantastic for building a strong core, which is super important for a healthy spine. It works your stomach, back, and shoulder muscles, teaching your body to stay straight and preventing slouching by making you more stable.

Sphinx Pose

This easy backbend gently curves your spine, which is good if you sit a lot. You lie on your belly and lean on your forearms. Sphinx opens your chest and strengthens your lower back, helping your spine keep its natural curve and reducing stiffness.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

Cobra is a deeper backbend than Sphinx, making your whole back stronger and more flexible. When you lift your chest using your back muscles, it stretches your chest and stomach, improving how your spine moves.

Seated Twist

Seated twists gently turn your spine, making it more flexible and releasing tightness. This pose helps your insides and stretches your back muscles, keeping your spine hydrated and mobile, and improving posture by balancing your muscles.

Cat Pose (Marjaryasana)

Often done with Cow Pose, Cat Pose gently rounds your spine, stretching your back and releasing tension. It improves spinal flexibility and coordination, helping to warm up the back muscles and improve overall spinal mobility.

Child's Pose (Balasana)

This restful pose gently stretches the lower back and hips, decompressing the spine. It calms the mind and body, providing a gentle release for spinal tension and encouraging relaxation, which can greatly benefit overall back health.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

This pose strengthens the back muscles, glutes, and hamstrings while opening the chest and shoulders. It helps to lengthen the spine, counteracting the hunching often seen with desk work, and improves overall spinal support and posture.