A CHALLENGE for the mind, body and soul — but not one for the faint-hearted.

Project ‘66795’ tests your willpower and mental fortitude — and basically represents the total number of ‘burpees’ completed in one year.

To those not in the fitness world, a burpee is a full body exercise performed in four steps — start in the standing position, move into a squat position with your hands on the ground, kick the feet back into a plank position, complete a press up, immediately return the feet into squat position, and jump with arms overhead.

It may sound easy but for a few Tavistock residents this challenge has taken a huge toll on their bodies.

The idea is to perform a burpee for the day of the year, in an accumulative fashion — on January 1 they performed one burpee, January 2, two burpees, July 19, 200, July 20, 201, with the grand finale being 365 burpees in one day on New Year’s Eve — providing the grand total of 66,795 burpees in a year.

Ring leader of the Tavistock challenge is Nick Lane of NLFitness in Westbridge Industrial Estate and so far the team has raised £1,205 for MIND, the mental health charity.

‘We rounded up a team with a surprising amount of takers but these numbers soon dwindled as burpees take a huge toll on your body. Not to mention a massive amount of willpower to complete before, during or after a long day at work or whilst on holiday.

‘We’re now left with Phil Slater and I on burpees, Malcolm Pollock following the same format with press-ups and Kathy Allen doing the same with squats.

‘Anyone who has done a burpee thinks we are mad.’

The challenge was an idea thought out originally by Nick Gibbins, a surgeon from London, who came up with the idea as a simple way to get fit, but also test your willpower and mental fortitude.

‘The brutal part of this challenge is the relentless nature,’ added Nick.

‘There are literally no days off — holidays, weddings, full days at work — it doesn’t matter what else is on they must be done.

‘The reason for choosing the charity MIND is that, as a personal trainer, I am seeing more and more people start training or exercise to battle mental heath issues they may be struggling with, with great results.

‘Physical and mental health go hand-in-hand, but it seems much more common nowadays to neglect the mental side in a fast paced world with everything at your fingertips. 

‘Training and exercise can have a huge positive impact when it comes to mental health, such as increased confidence and self esteem, it can alleviate anxiety and depression, creates progressive structure and not to mention the actual endorphins released when you’re pushing yourself.

‘That is why we’ve chosen to support the charity MIND, in an attempt to raise awareness of mental health in general and encourage people to get more active, speak up if they need help or even just have a chat.

‘The money raised will help offer services and counselling to those who need it and help change public attitudes towards mental health.’

From now until Christmas, the team has around 17,000 repetitions left to complete.

If you would like to donate and support, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/project66795