75 Hard Challenge: What to Know Before You Try It

Do you have plans over the next two and a half months? Because if not, 75 Hard may be your ticket to a serious mental and physical reset. And while this program has taken off over the last handful of years, it's not for everyone. It can be grueling. Exhausting. Difficult. Restrictive. And if you're looking to build muscle and a sustainable routine, it may not be the best route to take.

Whether you're ready to dive in or just curious about all the before-and-after photos flooding your feed, we'll cover the ins and outs of 75 Hard, how to tackle it, and whether or not it's the right thing to do for the next 75 days.

We tapped Lauren Jacaruso, REP Fitness Partnerships and Affiliates Manager, HYROX competitor, marathon runner, and former collegiate athlete, for her thoughts on 75 Hard since she's tackled it twice.

What is 75 Hard?

Over the last handful of years, posts on social media have flooded our screens, counting down the days with before and after pictures praising/cursing the 75 Hard Challenge.

75 Hard isn't a fitness program designed by a certified trainer — it's described as a discipline and "mental toughness" challenge, created by podcaster and 1st Phorm founder Andy Frisella. There are five strict rules that dictate how much water you drink, what you eat, how much exercise you get (a lot), photos you take, and pages you read, and if you fall off and don't complete each task on one day — even if you're at day 70 out of 75 — you have to go back to start all over again from day 1.

75 Hard is... HARD — mentally, physically, emotionally — but the goal of the program is to help you build consistency with a routine that nourishes your body and mind. "75 Hard was good for me," says Jacaruso. "I would recommend it to people if they want to get back into a routine — but not for someone new to fitness/wellness [because] you have to know your body and know not to push it too hard."

75 Hard Rules

There are five rules that make up 75 Hard, and If any of them are broken, you must start back at day 1.

Diet: Pick a structured nutrition plan that supports your goals and follow it religiously for the entire program. This can be keto, paleo, Whole30, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean, flexitarian — whatever you like! However, the calories or macros are not specified. Plus, no cheat meals or alcohol for the entire 75 days. 

Workout: Two 45-minute workouts every single day — one must be outdoors. "It doesn't need to be two hard, intense workouts every day," says Jacaruso, "Which I feel like is where people go wrong." Instead, listen to your body and when you're in need of time spent recovering, tackle some mobility work and go for an easy walk through your neighborhood.

Water: Drink one gallon — 128 ounces — of water each day. That's about 16 glasses of water from a standard 8-ounce cup, which can be split up so you're tackling one to two glasses of water every hour you're awake.

Read: Read 10 pages of a non-fiction book each day — using an e-reader is okay, but audiobooks don't count. Choose a book on business, self-help, science, or biography — anything rooted in real-world facts and information. The idea here is to build discipline with learning and support personal growth.

Photos: Take a progress photo each day so you can go back and see if this challenge has made a visual difference.

75 Hard Results and Benefits

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You may get wonderful results from 75 Hard — many people have, including Jacaruso (as seen above, with progress photos from day 1 on the left and day 75 on the right). "It got me back into a routine and aware of my daily activity," she says.

In addition to taking progress photos, Jacaruso took measurements to see how this challenge changed her body:

To maintain your progress, you'll need to incorporate a routine beyond this program that provides you with the training, nutrition, AND RECOVERY, that suits your goals and schedule.

Benefits of 75 Hard include:

• Motivation: If you need a kick in the pants to start working out again, tackling this challenge can help you get going.
• Performance nutrition: Cleaning up your diet can help you lose weight, build muscle, and improve recovery, performance, and heart health.
• Time management: Having a variety of things you have to tackle each day can help you better manage your time — less time scrolling, more time reading, meal prepping, and working out.
• Visible results: Taking a photo everyday can help you see how this program changes your appearance, with many users reporting and showing noticeable changes in body composition after the 75 days.
• Guided discipline: While 75 Hard has been criticized for not being structured enough, the five basic rules provide general guidance for daily activity. Plus, knowing that you must complete each task each day (or risk starting back at 1) can help keep you on task.
• Reading routine: 10 pages a day of a non-fiction book can help you learn. Plus, if you find a really great read (check out anything from Mary Roach), it may be tough to stop at just 10.
• Accountability: Taking photos and sharing results online can help keep you accountable, which is a key factor in behavioral change.
• Sober curious: Taking a break from alcohol can help reset your habits and your relationship with drinking. "75 Hard is the reason I'm sober now," says Jacaruso. "I didn't miss alcohol when I was done with it, so I never went back — and now I've been alcohol free for 5+ years."

75 Hard Drawbacks

"75 Hard is great for someone who needs some help to get started and is excited about the challenge, but it probably isn't sustainable for most people," says Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT and master's candidate in Sports Performance and Conditioning at Southern Utah University. Here are additional drawbacks Boyer notes for those considering this challenge.

No rest days: While a consistent workout routine is key for building muscle or achieving body recomposition, muscles actually grow during rest and recovery, not just during training. Skipping rest days can hinder progress and increase the risk of fatigue or overuse injuries. 

No flexibility: You don't have any wiggle room in 75 Hard — it's an all or nothing type of program. But we've learned that all-or-nothing approaches in fitness tend to fail long term for most people. In fact, research shows that when people take a mistep with this "all-or-nothing" mindset, they're more likely to stop their efforts completely rather than make an adjustment to do a little bit.

Difficult to maintain: If you can make it to 75 days, congrats! That's a mighty fine accomplishment. However, what will you do after those 75 days? This program is difficult to maintain outside of the 75 day sprint, and realistically, not ideal to maintain past that point for most individuals. Instead, find a routine and diet that suits your needs and goals and is sustainable for long-term health and wellness.

Extremely restrictive: No cheat meals. No alcohol. No missed workouts. No missed anything. Eating in a calorie deficit, on a restrictive diet, while tackling 90 minutes of exercise every. single. day. can raise physical and mental stress — heightened by the pressure to complete everything on your checklist or be forced to start all over again. This can make recovery and sleep more difficult, and in turn make your training feel harder over time.

High risk of burnout: Daily 90-minute workouts dramatically increase fatique and reduce recovery. Pair that with a rigid, no-exceptions diet, and normal social events quickly become stressors instead of celebrations. Research also shows that overly intense training or routines are associated with increased stress, low mood, irritability, and fatique.

No guidance on nutrition or fitness: You pick the diet. You pick the workouts. But what if you need help picking these things? The 75 Hard Challenge doesn't provide any guidance on workout programming — like how to make a full-body workout or how heavy you should lift (if you choose to lift, which we think you should). And you'll need to do your own research to figure out the right diet (and meal prep, since you'll be spending a lot more time on completeing each day's to-dos) to support your goals.

75 Hard Alternatives

"This is an extreme approach to diet and fitness that isn't sustainable for most individuals," says Boyer. "Building a fitness routine is about finding things that work with your lifestyle and that you actually enjoy — that you can maintain over the long run." If you're not vibing with the guidelines (or lack thereof) of 75 Hard, consider these alternatives:

75 Medium

75 Medium provides more maintainable rules to help you build healthy daily habits. This program dials back some of the intensity of 75 Hard, while also adding in prayer or meditation. Here are the 75 Medium rules:

• Follow your diet of choice 90% of the time
• No alcohol
• Exercise for 45 minutes every day — whether that's walking, tackling an Air Bike workout, lifting, or more.
• Drink half your body weight (pounds) in ounces of water each day.
• Read or listen to 10 minutes of self-development content each day.
• Take a progress photo on day 1 and day 75.
• Meditate or pray for 5 minutes every day.

75 Soft

75 Soft is a more sustainable and enjoyable approach to the 75 Hard challenge. The rules are similar, but with a more manageable approach — including no need for progress photos each day (but take them if you want!). Also, this program allows for the occasional cocktail — yahoo!

• Eat well
• Limit alcohol to social occasions
• Drink 3 liters of water per day
• Exercise for 45 minutes every day — walking, running on a treadmill, lifting, yoga, or whatever other physical activity you like. 
• One active recovery day each week.
• Read 10 pages of any book, fiction or non fiction, each day.

Takeaway

If the Hard 75 Challenge helps you jump-start a welness routine, it can be a powerful reset. The rules are simple, the goals are clear, and while there isn't flexibility in checking off your to-do list everytday, you do have flexibility in choosing your diet and workouts.

That said, if your goal is building and maintaining strength, cardio, or a more guided approach to training, 75 Hard may fall short. Like any challenge, its value depends on what you're hoping to get out of the next 75 days — and what you want your routine to look like after they're over.

FAQs

Does 75 Hard have rest days?

Not exactly. You don't take any days off during Hard 75, however, you're in charge of the type of training you tackle for your 45 minute workouts. If you're sore and your body needs a little TLC, try mobility work, yoga, or a light walk for your workout.

What are common experiences people share about 75 Hard?

75 Hard is a polarizing challenge — many people love it, many people hate it. However, tackling 75 days of disciplined workouts, healthy eating, no alcohol, and reading can help you build muscle, lose fat, and build a routine that can help you even once the challenge is done.

How do I do the 75 Hard Challenge?

Thing of this challenge as tackling daily tasks, checking off all of your to-dos with your own 75 Hard checklist. For 75 days straight, choose a diet and stick to it, workout twice a day for 45 minutes, read 10 pages of a non-fiction book, take a progress photo, and drink a gallon of water. Do this every single day, making sure to avoid cheat meals and alcohol. If you don't complete your daily 75 Hard checklist, you must go back to day 1 and start all over.