David Dobrik's 75 Day
Challenge: Review
David Dobrik came out of retirement to launch a 75-day fitness challenge inside the Zela app, and the marketing was good enough that I signed up at $25 a month. I'd already been working out almost every day for two years, so the real question was whether the app adds anything you couldn't do on your own. Here's how each part held up.
The full review, including the before and after, is in the video.
The workouts: the best part
I played baseball from age six through college, and like most people I always lifted the standard way: back and biceps, chest and triceps, legs, shoulders, abs whenever. The challenge splits it differently:
- Legs and abs
- Abs and cardio
- Legs and shoulders
- Back, chest, and shoulders
- Biceps and triceps (my favorite)
Early on, these left me sore, which after two straight years of training told me something was working. The app suggests a weight and rep count for every exercise, you log what you actually did, and it adjusts the next workout from your log.
The downside: it was glitchy at launch. I like to superset (three biceps moves alternating with three triceps moves) so it hits harder and goes faster. Reordering exercises worked, but it lagged and was confusing. To Zela's credit, they shipped a string of updates during the 75 days that fixed most of it.
The meal plans: good recipes, unrealistic schedule
The app gives breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes — high-protein, unprocessed meals. If you're new to eating cleaner, this section is useful. But cooking three fresh meals a day was borderline impossible for me. Two ways around it:
- Batch-cook once a week. Make the week's meals in one session instead of cooking every day.
- Do what I did: eat their meals now and then, and just keep the rest of your diet high-protein and unprocessed.
Progress tracking: the surprise
After each workout the app asks for a front, side, and back photo, plus your weight and body-fat percentage. It keeps your day-one photo next to today's and graphs your progress against goals you set at the start.
At first it was annoying — one more thing to do when you just want to shower and eat. Later, I started looking forward to it, and caught myself pushing harder so the post-workout photo looked better. I haven't seen this in any other fitness app, and it ended up being my favorite section.
My result after 75 days
I started on January 8 at 210 pounds and finished at 195. The thing that stuck with me was that at 210 I genuinely thought I was in decent shape — that felt normal.
Could I have done it without the app? I was already training five or six days a week, so I don't need an app to tell me to go to the gym. But I don't think I'd have gotten the same result without it.
Verdict: is it worth $25 a month?
For me, yes — and the biggest reason wasn't a feature. It was the $25. On days I didn't want to go, I'd literally tell myself, "If I skip today, I'm wasting money." Add workouts I liked and the photo check-ins, and it gave me the push that knowing what to do doesn't. After the 75 days I started another 90-day program in the app, which I think is harder.
If you already have the discipline and a program you like, you can skip it. If you need outside pressure, the price is part of the product.
Keep reading
- Can You Get Strong at Planet Fitness? — my 100-day attempt at a 1,000 lb total
- 108 Cold Showers Later — another daily habit, three months straight
I'm a YouTuber in Charleston, South Carolina. I've been training since I was a college baseball player, and I film the challenges myself so you can see what actually happens. More about me · what I use.
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