75 Day Challenge: Every Version Explained

If you've heard people talk about "the 75 day challenge," you've probably noticed they don't all mean the same thing. There isn't a single 75 day challenge — it's a family of 75-day habit programs that range from gentle and flexible to brutally strict. This guide explains every version in plain English, shows how the rules differ, and helps you pick the one that actually fits your life.

What is the 75 day challenge?

The "75 day challenge" is an umbrella name for a group of self-improvement programs that all run for 75 consecutive days and build a small set of daily habits — typically a workout, a diet standard, water, and reading. What changes between versions is the *intensity* and how they handle a missed day. The three main versions are 75 Soft (the gentlest), 75 Medium (the middle ground), and 75 Hard (the strictest). Shorter and seasonal spin-offs like 45 Soft, 30 Soft, and the Winter Arc borrow the same idea over a different length.

The three main 75 day challenges at a glance

75 Soft — the flexible version

75 Soft is the most popular and most sustainable version. The daily tasks are: one 45-minute workout (any activity, with a weekly active-recovery day), healthy but flexible eating, 3 liters of water, and 10 pages of reading. Alcohol is fine on social occasions, and — most importantly — there's no restart if you miss a day. You simply pick back up tomorrow. It's built for consistency over intensity, which is why completion rates are higher than the stricter versions. See the full 75 Soft Challenge rules for details.

75 Medium — the middle ground

75 Medium is a step up from 75 Soft without the extremes of 75 Hard. It keeps a single daily workout but drops rest days, bans alcohol, adds 5 minutes of daily meditation, and asks you to follow any diet at 90% adherence. Like 75 Soft, a missed day is not a restart. It's the natural "level two" once 75 Soft feels too easy. Full breakdown in our 75 Medium Challenge guide.

75 Hard — the extreme version

75 Hard, created by Andy Frisella, is the strictest and most famous version — marketed as a "mental toughness program." It demands two 45-minute workouts a day (one outdoors, any weather), a strict no-cheat diet, no alcohol, a gallon of water, 10 pages of a physical non-fiction book, and a daily progress photo. The defining rule: miss anything and you restart from Day 1. It produces dramatic short-term results but carries real overtraining and burnout risk. Compare it head-to-head in our 75 Soft vs 75 Hard guide.

Shorter and seasonal versions

Not every "75-style" challenge lasts 75 days. If the full length feels daunting, the same habit framework shows up in shorter and seasonal formats:

• 45 Soft Challenge — the same soft rules over 45 days.
• 35 Soft Challenge — an even shorter 35-day version.
• 30 Soft Challenge — a 30-day reset, popular as a monthly "glow up."
• Winter Arc Challenge — a flexible ~90-day seasonal version, usually run October to January.
• 30 Flirty Challenge — a playful, fully customizable 30-day wellness take.

Which 75 day challenge should you do?

Choose 75 Soft if you're new to challenges, have a busy schedule, or have struggled with all-or-nothing plans before. It's the most sustainable and the best starting point for the vast majority of people.

Choose 75 Medium if 75 Soft feels too easy and you want more structure — no alcohol, daily meditation, no rest days — but not the two-a-day workouts or restart penalty of 75 Hard.

Choose 75 Hard if you're an experienced athlete looking for a short, extreme mental-toughness test and you have no history of disordered eating or overtraining.

For most people, a completed 75 Soft beats an abandoned 75 Hard every time. The real payoff of any 75 day challenge is the habits you keep after Day 75 — not surviving the strictest rules.

How to track a 75 day challenge

Whichever version you pick, the thing that actually gets you to Day 75 is tracking — a visible streak is one of the strongest motivators there is. The free Soft75 app lets you check off your daily tasks with milestone celebrations and a private, offline-first experience, and it works just as well for the medium and shorter versions since the daily habits overlap.

Ready to start? Read the full 75 Soft Challenge rules, or compare the strict and gentle versions side by side in our 75 Soft vs 75 Hard guide.