ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE DIFFICULTY

PUNISHING	So hard you have to push yourself almost to the point of hurting yourself	I decided to run a marathon when I was younger, but the training was so punishing I had to give it up after a few months, wrecked and with a knee injury.
STRICT	Difficult because there are rules that must be obeyed	Bill trains every other day in aikido and kendo and encourages me to go with him, but martial arts are so strict that I don’t feel like joining him. I don’t like having to follow so many rules.
RIGOROUS	Thorough and detailed	Becoming a Swiss Guard is really difficult because it requires a rigorous training.
TOUGH	Very difficult	My teachers at university were really tough. They made me work very hard every year.
ARDUOUS		Paul had an arduous time when he was in his teens as his parents made him do a lot of sport and play music after class every single day.
GRUELLING		We used to study a lot of subjects, then play at least 2 instruments; afterwards we’d spend 2 hours training and we also had to so some charitable work 3 times a week. And this went on like this for 3 days. It was a completely gruelling experience.
TRICKY	Delicate, embarrassing	She had to handle a really tricky problem when she found out her nephew had been cheating her manager’s husband.