75 Soft challenge: the rules, how it differs from 75 Hard
The 75 Soft challenge rules as they usually circulate, how they differ from Andy Frisella's 75 Hard, and how to run the 75 days with friends.
75 Soft is a gentler version of 75 Hard: 75 days of eating well, moving every day, drinking water and reading, without the rule that sends you back to day one after a single slip. It has no author and no official page. The rules below are the unofficial version that WebMD lists, and you can adjust them, which the original does not allow.
The original: 75 Hard
75 Hard is a program created by Andy Frisella, an entrepreneur and podcaster, who presents it as a test of mental toughness rather than a fitness plan. The rules are given to people who sign up on his 75 Hard page. That page spells out several of them directly:
- two workouts a day, one of them outdoors, and they "could literally be as simple as going for two 45-minute walks";
- a meal plan of your choice, with "no cheat meals and no alcohol";
- if you fail a task, "you start over on Day 1".
The full list, as reported by TODAY, adds three more daily tasks: drink a gallon of water, read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, and take a progress photo.
Frisella's page discourages softer variants: changing the rules "just to say you completed it", he writes, defeats the point. 75 Soft keeps the 75 days of structure and drops the restart rule and the second workout.
The 75 Soft rules
Since nobody owns 75 Soft, versions differ. This is the unofficial set that WebMD lists:
- Eat mindfully. Make sensible food choices and drink alcohol only on social occasions.
- Move for 45 minutes a day. Walking and yoga count. One day a week can be an active rest day.
- Drink three liters of water a day.
- Read 10 pages a day of anything that isn't on your phone.
- Take a photo on day one and on day 75.
The rule that sets it apart is the one about failure. Missing a goal doesn't send you back to the start, and you pick up the next day.
75 Soft vs 75 Hard
| 75 Hard | 75 Soft (common version) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the rules | Andy Frisella | Nobody; it varies |
| Exercise | Two 45-minute workouts, one outdoors | One 45-minute session, one rest day a week |
| Diet | Any plan, no cheat meals | Eat well, no fixed plan |
| Alcohol | None | Only on social occasions |
| Water | A gallon a day | Three liters a day |
| Reading | 10 pages of nonfiction | 10 pages of anything off the phone |
| Photos | Every day | Day 1 and day 75 |
| Miss a task | Start over on day 1 | Carry on the next day |
Does a 45-minute walk count?
In 75 Soft, yes. WebMD's version names walking and yoga as exercise. Even in 75 Hard, Frisella's own page says the two workouts can be two 45-minute walks; what matters there is that you do both and one is outside.
Whatever version you follow, pick the minimum you can do on your worst day of the 75, and count that.
Before you start
- Write your rules down. Because 75 Soft has no fixed version, decide on day zero exactly what counts. "Three liters" and "eat well" need a definition you'll still agree with on day 50.
- Set the start and end dates. Day 75 should be a date on the calendar.
- Plan the hard days. Birthdays, travel and illness will land somewhere in 75 days. Decide in advance what a minimum day looks like.
- Check with a doctor if it applies to you. Frisella's own page tells people to consult their physician before starting 75 Hard. The same goes for 75 Soft if you have a health condition and plan to change how you eat or train.
Doing it with friends
In a shared challenge, the others see whether you checked in. If five people agree on one version on day zero, nobody can quietly soften it on day 30.
One way to set it up:
- Agree on the rules and the start date in a group chat.
- Track one daily habit, "75 Soft day done", checked only when all the day's tasks are done.
- Post a check-in each evening, with a photo of the book or the walk if you like.
- Once a week, look at who checked in most, and who might need a nudge.
Running 75 Soft in Break3
Break3 is a habit tracker, free for now, that works in the browser and in Telegram. Create a custom habit called "75 Soft" with an end date 75 days out, then turn it into a group challenge and invite up to 49 friends; each invitation lasts 7 days. Everyone keeps their own streak, check-ins with notes and photos go to the shared feed, and a weekly board shows the top 10 by check-ins over the last 7 days. If you'd rather track the parts separately, there are presets for exercise, reading and drinking water.
The streak rules are close to the spirit of 75 Soft. One missed day is forgiven automatically. A freeze, set ahead of time, protects the streak for 3 days, which covers a planned trip. If the streak breaks anyway, you can restore it within a week, once every 90 days per habit. Milestones on days 3, 7, 14, 21, 30 and 60 mark the way to 75.
If you're doing 75 Hard instead, the forgiven day goes against Frisella's restart rule. If you miss a day, start a new habit from day one yourself.
More on the mechanics in how streaks work, and on the timescale in how long it takes to form a habit: 75 days is a little over the 66-day median in Lally et al., 2010.