You've heard of programs that take months to see changes, but Spartan CEO Joe De Sena believes you can reset your brain and body in just one week. What does it take? Commitment. To push past your greatest fears, you need to stop thinking and start doing, or in the words of De Sena himself: Fire, Ready, Aim. 

Welcome to 7 HARD, a life-altering program designed by De Sena to challenge both your mental and physical abilities and transform you into a modern-day Spartan warrior capable of taking on anything. Follow these seven rules for seven days to complete one evolution of the program. The real Spartans, the true diehards, will complete four full evolutions. How many evolutions will you commit to?

The Rules of 7 HARD

Follow these rules every day for seven days, except on the sixth day.***

1. Run 2 miles.
2. Perform 30 pull-ups.
3. Do 60 push-ups.
4. You must work up a sweat before showering, and it must be a 3-minute cold shower.
5. Eat only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
6. Drink a liter of room-temperature water with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before your daily run.
7. Sleep for a minimum of 8 hours.

***On day six, follow all of the same rules except for the run. Instead, perform 5 hours of any long, slow, HARD endurance activity. For example, the 2 miles becomes 10-15 miles, depending on your pace.

Why Should YOU Commit?

At the end of your first seven days, you'll feel beaten and broken down, exhausted, and stripped away to your humanity. But what will you gain?

• Discovery of your True North, or your core values
• Conquering of your fears
• Maximization of your precious time
• Delayed gratification
• An optimized frame of reference
• The ability to embrace adversity
• Unlocked grit
• Unbreakable integrity
  
  

Humans are wired to find the path of least resistance, to avoid pain and suffering. So why then do we admire those who commit to hard things? The Navy SEALS, firefighters, astronauts, martial artists, athletes? Why are we intrigued by the "marathon monks" of Japan's sacred Mount Hiei, who prove their commitment to the community by completing 100 marathons in 100 days wearing wooden sandals?

We are drawn to hard things precisely because they are hard, because we are also wired for sacrifice, struggle, and pushing ourselves beyond our limits. The philosopher Seneca realized this when he wrote that only a boxer who has been bloodied and bruised can be confident of winning.

"Only those who've been downed in body but not spirit know they can truly do what's required to succeed," he says. 

The first step for all of us on our way to achieving something meaningful? Commit to doing something hard. In the case of our Spartan community, most of them started by signing up for a race, then holding themselves accountable to their promise.

So, start now by finding and committing to race below. Then, start Joe's 7 HARD Challenge as your first step to a harder, more satisfying life.