What is the “great lock in” fitness trend and OMG is October now the new January?

What I read:

What is the great lock in fitness trend and is it actually sustainable?: Social media’s latest viral fitness challenge seems achievable, but according to experts it still might do more harm than good

The basic idea:

You “lock in” your new good habits before the new year. Starting three months before January 1, the idea is that you’ll have the strength, resilience and routine to start the new year right by the time January comes around.

What are the habits?

• 9 hours sleep a night
• 3 litres of water a day
• No sugar
• No fast food
• No smoking
• No alcohol
• Daily cold showers
• Workouts 3-5 times a week
• No screens one hour before bed
• 10k steps a day

My thoughts:

That’s a lot of NOs.

I might add one, NO COLD SHOWERS. For me, anyway. You do you.

What’s wrong with the usual 8 hours sleep a night and 2 litres of water a day?

Seriously, it feels very restrictive and unsustainable to me.

Is there anything about it I like? I’ve always liked focusing on health and fitness in the fall. As an academic September feels more “new year” to me than January. And I’ve never liked thinking of December as binge month and January as the Big Change.

But for more thoughts about making sustainable changes, read the article from The Independent, linked above.

Happy Friday?

How do you feel about challenges like this one? Anything in it that works for you?