What Is 75 Hard? Your Complete Guide to the Fitness Program

Perhaps you’ve seen a hashtag like #75harddominators or a TikTok of someone’s transformation following the 75 Hard Challenge. But what is 75 Hard? Does it actually work, and is 75 Hard healthy?

We’ll unpack everything you need to know about the 75 Hard weight loss and fitness program, including the rules, philosophy, pros and cons, and everything in between.

The 75 Hard Challenge (or 75 Hard for short) is a diet, fitness, and self-improvement program founded by podcaster, entrepreneur, and author Andy Frisella. But it’s more than just a weight loss or fitness challenge.

Frisella’s website describes 75 Hard as “a transformative mental toughness program“ and like an “Iron Man for your brain.”

The 75 Hard Challenge claims to help people acquire these traits:

• Confidence, self-esteem, and self-belief

• Fortitude and a willingness to win

• Endurance and perseverance

The goal of 75 Hard is to incorporate disciplined habits that build mental wellness, emotional self-improvement, and physical fitness. Specifically, participants must follow strict workout, dietary, and lifestyle routines for 75 days straight (hence, the 75).

If you break any of the rules, your progress resets and you have to start all over again.

If it sounds intense, that’s because it is — which can be great for some. But the website recommends consulting a healthcare provider before embarking on the challenge, as it may not be the right approach to weight loss for everyone.

Ahead, we’ll break down all the rules of the 75 Hard approach.

So, what exactly do you commit to when doing the 75 Hard program?

Signing up is free. You just fill out a form and then get an email with all the information you need to participate, including the five key rules and daily tasks:

• Follow a structured diet

• Do two 45-minute workouts (one outside)

• Drink a gallon of water

• Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book

• Take a progress photo

Let’s go over each one in more detail.

Rule #1: Follow a Structured Diet

There isn’t one specific diet to follow when doing the 75 Hard Challenge. Instead, the program calls for strict adherence to a structured, healthy diet of your choosing.

Whether you’re a full-on carnivore or you identify as a vegan, you should be able to participate.

That said, you have to follow that nutrition plan to a T. Translation: No cheat days and no cheat meals. You also aren’t allowed to drink any alcohol while doing 75 Hard.

Here are a few popular eating plans some folks choose to follow during the 75 days:

• Ketogenic. A keto diet plan consists of high-fat, low-carb foods that help you generate more ketones (fat-burning chemicals the liver naturally produces). This helps your body maintain ketosis, which keeps your metabolism working efficiently to increase muscle mass, improve blood sugar levels, and break down fat.

• Mediterranean. The Mediterranean diet revolves around plant-based foods and whole grains. It’s been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and may help manage diabetes. This way of eating is similar to the keto diet, but it doesn’t restrict carbs as much and limits red meat more.

• Paleo. Paleo eating is designed to mimic the diet of hunter-gatherer societies. So meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables are welcome, while anything processed is not.

Rule #2: Do Two 45-Minute Workouts (One Outside)

It doesn’t matter which form of exercise you choose, so long as:

• You work out twice a day

• One of the workout sessions happens outside

• Each session is 45 minutes long

Even though the exercise requirements of 75 Hard are time-consuming, they’re also somewhat flexible. “I developed 75 Hard to run in-line with your current fitness program... no matter what it is,” Frisella says on his website.

The idea is that 75 Hard is more of a mindset with guidelines that can be applied to any fitness or diet program.

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules about what kind of workouts you do. Your 75 Hard workout plan can involve jumping rope, lifting weights, running — the choice is yours.

So how does this rule stack up against official physical activity recommendations? According to the current Physical Activities Guidelines for Americans (PAGA) from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week. That’s about 2.5 to five hours, spread throughout the week.

75 Hard has you doing 10.5 hours of exercise a week (remember: no skips allowed). So, it’s almost double what the PAGA recommends.

Rule #3: Drink a Gallon of Water

It’s no secret that staying hydrated is healthy. In fact, water is the only thing humans can’t survive without for more than three days.

Drinking plenty of H2O keeps everything running smoothly, from moistening membranes and lubricating joints to aiding digestion and supporting tons of cellular and hormonal processes.

You may have heard the popular hydration rule of drinking eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy. There’s no real science backing that up, though.

75 Hard requires one gallon of water a day, but how does it compare to official guidelines?

Research suggests women should drink 2.7 liters (or 91 ounces — just over 11 glasses) of water daily, and men should drink 3.7 liters (or 125 ounces, around 15 glasses).

Fun fact: A gallon is 3.78 liters — so the 75 Hard water rule is pretty spot-on with general guidance.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, everyone’s fluid needs vary and depend on things like:

• Weight and height

• Age

• External climate

• Activity level

So if you do two daily workouts and live in a hot or dry climate, you might need to drink more water each day than someone living in a more moderate climate who doesn’t exercise.

Rule #4: Read Ten Pages of a Nonfiction Book

This rule is pretty straightforward. You have to read ten pages of a nonfiction book (bonus points if it’s rooted in self-improvement themes) every day.

Specifically, the 75 Hard website states: “You must read something that is nonfiction, educational, and can be used to improve any area of your life.”

You also have to actually read a book the old-fashioned way — audiobooks don’t count toward that ten-page tally. But you can use a proper book with paper pages or an eReader.

And, although not in line with these specific requirements, reading might offer potential health benefits to your overall well-being.

Some research shows that reading literary fiction can improve “theory of mind,” which is basically a fancy way of saying empathy. It may also help young people expand their vocabulary and seniors stay cognitively active. Win-win-win.

Rule #5: Take a Progress Photo

This one is also self-explanatory. Simply snap a mirror pic of yourself every day during the 75 Hard Challenge.

The website claims this daily to-do “teaches you to push through those uncomfortable moments or situations, and get the job done.” It adds, “If you truly follow this program to a T, you will be able to look back and see how far you’ve come and what you’ve done.”

In the 75 Hard Challenge, taking progress pictures is all about visually documenting daily progress. It might also serve as a motivator to keep pushing through the challenge as you start to see results.

Maybe — mostly because everyone’s needs differ. 75 Hard might work quite well for folks who have the time, energy, and enthusiasm for a rule-focused routine.

However, it may not be the best option for those who are short on time or have a more unpredictable schedule. Also, some people have trouble seeing results from diet and exercise alone, and they may benefit from adding weight loss medications to their routine.

75 Hard Pros and Cons

Instead of leaving you with an ambiguous “maybe,” we’ll walk you through the pros and cons of the program so you can get a better sense of the potential health benefits and pitfalls of 75 Hard.

Pros of 75 Hard:

• Sticking to a healthy diet might lead to weight loss and certain health benefits.

• According to the 75 Hard website, some participants who complete the 75-day challenge see physical results.

• Reading is good for cognitive function, according to one study. However, this study doesn’t specify that nonfiction is the only way to reap the benefits of reading — novels might be just as good.

• Consistency is a critical factor in building physical activity habits. One study found that people who exercised at the same time every day did so more frequently and for longer durations.

• A 2016 study that explored the relationship between alcohol and behavioral weight loss found that cutting back on drinking is linked to weight loss and other health benefits.

• Drinking water is healthy, and increasing water intake instead of high-calorie drinks like sodas is linked to weight loss.

Potential drawbacks and considerations of doing 75 Hard:

• 75 Hard wasn’t created by and hasn’t been approved by a medical professional, nutritionist, or fitness expert. That doesn’t make it inherently ineffective, but since not every rule is backed by scientific data, we can’t say for sure whether it’s healthy or works.

• The duration of 75 days seems random – at least, medically speaking. If you’re looking for time-related benchmarks, research suggests it takes around six weeks for new habits to stick, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says healthy weight loss should be gradual (on average, people making weight loss efforts lose about one to two pounds a week).

• 75 Hard may not be accessible for every fitness level. For example, if you haven’t worked out in years, doing two intense 45-minute workouts for two and a half months may be unsafe. The CDC recommends starting slow, like taking a 10-minute walk after dinner. As your fitness improves, you can increase your goals.

• Working out intensely every day for a long period could lead to burnout or injury. Some research suggests that taking one or two days off (or switching up intensity levels and activities) can help build muscle and prevent injury.

According to one study, weight loss and fitness results were short-term when diets were super rigid. In other words, people tend to gain weight back if habits aren’t sustainable for the long haul.

In a similar vein, obsessive dieting and exercising might lead to mental health challenges.

Focusing on aesthetic changes and social media shareability could lead to poor body image. According to one study, participants were less likely to stick to their exercise routines and less happy with their bodies when they used appearance motivation techniques (like transformation pictures).

While 75 Hard might be the right fit for some, it isn’t for everyone. Enter: 75 Soft, a gentler version of 75 Hard.

75 Soft arose out of a desire for a balanced alternative.

For anyone who doesn’t thrive under the strict, regimented lifestyle required of Hard 75’ers, the 75 Soft approach might be preferable.

There’s much more room for slipping up with 75 Soft, and the rules differ. But there are still structured, action-oriented goals, which can also be effective.

The tenets of 75 Soft look like this:

• Try to eat more mindfully. Focus on eating more healthy foods, and avoid alcohol except for special social outings.

• Exercise 45 minutes a day. Aim for one workout a day (rather than two) in your chosen location (rather than one being outside). You can also set aside a rest day for recovery every week.

• Drink three liters of water daily. This is just over three-quarters of a gallon.

• Read 10 pages of any book each day. It can be any genre of your choosing.

There are many fitness programs to choose from, and 75 Hard is just one option. It might work for some people at the right fitness level who are motivated by lots of structure and self-discipline.

That said, committing to making healthier lifestyle changes is challenging, and it might be best to do so in a way that aligns with your values and abilities. So, if 75 Hard isn’t for you, that’s totally okay too.

What is 75 Hard? Here are some key takeaways about 75 Hard while you decide if you’re a good fit for the program:

• If you choose to do 75 Hard, you’ll commit to these five rules for 75 days straight: Follow a structured diet, work out twice a day for 45 minutes each (one session needs to be outside — rain or shine), drink a gallon of water, read ten pages of a nonfiction book, and take a daily progress picture.

• Some rules have scientific backing, but others may not be safe for every fitness level.

• If you’re having a hard time deciding if you want to do 75 Hard, try to think long-term. Will you be able to sustain these habits after the 75 days are over? This is important to consider, as healthy weight loss should lead to sustainable weight management, according to the National Institutes of Health.

• If you want to try 75 Hard, chat with a healthcare provider, dietitian, and trainer to develop a healthy plan that aligns with the program.

In sum, weight loss and getting fit aren’t one-size-fits-all endeavors. 75 Hard may be great for some, but it won’t be a fit for everyone. And that’s okay!

Keep in mind that both weight loss and getting in shape should involve getting plenty of sleep, staying hydrated, eating a balanced diet, and being physically active. Remember: Balance is key.

If you’re interested in weight loss medications, start with our free online assessment to see which prescription drugs might be available to you.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment. Learn more about our editorial standards here.