75 Soft vs 75 Hard vs 75 Medium: Which Challenge Is Right for You?

The 75 Soft, 75 Medium, and 75 Hard challenges all run for 75 days and build daily habits around fitness, diet, hydration, and reading — but they differ sharply in intensity, flexibility, and how they treat a missed day. This guide compares all three side by side so you can pick the one that fits your lifestyle, experience level, and goals.

What is the difference between 75 Hard and 75 Soft?

The core difference is intensity and forgiveness. 75 Hard demands two 45-minute workouts a day (one outdoors), a strict no-cheat diet, no alcohol, a gallon of water, and a restart from Day 1 if you miss anything. 75 Soft asks for one 45-minute workout, healthy-but-flexible eating, occasional alcohol, 3 liters of water, and no restart penalty. 75 Medium sits in between.

Side-by-Side Comparison: 75 Hard vs 75 Medium vs 75 Soft

The 75 Hard Challenge

75 Hard was created by entrepreneur Andy Frisella as a "mental toughness program," not just a fitness plan. The philosophy: complete extremely demanding tasks every day with zero flexibility, and you forge iron discipline and self-belief.

75 Hard daily rules

1. Two 45-minute workouts — one MUST be outdoors, regardless of weather
2. Follow a strict diet — zero alcohol, zero cheat meals, no exceptions
3. Drink one gallon of water — approximately 3.8 liters
4. Read 10 pages — physical, non-fiction/self-improvement (audiobooks don't count)
5. Take a progress photo — every day

The restart rule is what defines 75 Hard: miss any task, even partially, and you start over at Day 1. One beer at a wedding? Day 1. Only did 44 minutes? Day 1. This all-or-nothing structure is the source of both its reputation and its criticism.

The 75 Soft Challenge

The 75 Soft Challenge emerged as a sustainable alternative that keeps the transformative daily-habit core while removing the elements most likely to cause burnout, injury, or disordered behavior. It was popularized on TikTok around 2021, though — unlike 75 Hard — no single creator is universally credited with it.

75 Soft daily rules

1. One 45-minute workout — any activity, indoor or outdoor
2. Eat a healthy diet — with flexibility for occasional treats
3. Drink 3 liters of water — approximately 100 oz
4. Read 10 pages — any book, fiction or non-fiction

Active recovery days are encouraged, alcohol is fine on social occasions in moderation, progress photos are optional, and — crucially — if you miss a day, you simply continue. There is no restart. Don't mistake "soft" for easy, though: doing any task daily for 75 straight days takes real commitment. The difference is sustainability, not lack of effort.

What is the 75 Medium challenge?

The 75 Medium challenge is a middle-ground version that is harder than 75 Soft but more forgiving than 75 Hard. It keeps a single daily workout and drops the restart penalty, but adds no-alcohol, daily meditation, and no rest days. Unlike 75 Hard, reading can be audio, and progress photos are only taken on Day 1 and Day 75.

75 Medium daily rules

1. One 45-minute workout — every day, no rest days
2. Follow any diet at 90% adherence — built-in ~10% flexibility
3. No alcohol — stricter than 75 Soft
4. Drink half your body weight (lbs) in ounces of water
5. 10 minutes of personal development — reading OR audio
6. 5 minutes of meditation or prayer
7. Progress photos on Day 1 and Day 75

Unlike 75 Hard and 75 Soft, 75 Medium has no widely attributed creator — it spread through TikTok as a community remix, so treat any single-source "official rules" with a grain of salt. The consensus rules above are drawn from the most-cited versions.

Which is harder — 75 Hard, 75 Medium, or 75 Soft?

75 Hard is clearly the hardest: two daily workouts, a mandatory outdoor session, a zero-tolerance diet, and the restart-from-Day-1 rule make it the most demanding of the three. 75 Medium is moderately hard — one workout, no alcohol, and daily meditation, but no restart penalty. 75 Soft is the most accessible, built for consistency over intensity.

Cost comparison

Cost is rarely discussed but real. 75 Hard tends to cost the most: a physical non-fiction book (audiobooks aren't allowed), a gym membership or outdoor gear for two daily workouts in all weather, and often supplements. 75 Medium is cheaper — audiobooks are allowed and there's only one workout a day. 75 Soft is the most budget-friendly: one flexible workout, any book (including library or e-book), and a free tracking app like Soft75 is all you really need.

Results: what to expect

Both challenges deliver real change when followed consistently, but the shape differs:

• 75 Hard often produces more dramatic short-term physical changes from the higher training volume — along with bigger water-weight swings and a genuine risk of overtraining.
• 75 Soft tends to produce steadier, more sustainable progress with better recovery, lower injury risk, and changes that are more likely to stick after Day 75.

Weight loss is not guaranteed on any of them — many people finish without losing significant weight, because the real payoff is the habits, not the scale.

Do you have to restart if you miss a day?

Only on 75 Hard. Missing or partially completing any task on 75 Hard means restarting from Day 1. On both 75 Soft and 75 Medium, a missed day is not a restart — you pick back up the next day. This single rule is the biggest psychological difference between the programs and the main reason completion rates are higher on the softer versions.

Can you drink coffee or alcohol?

Coffee is allowed on all three, but it does not count toward your daily water goal. Alcohol is where they split: 75 Hard and 75 Medium ban it entirely, while 75 Soft permits it on social occasions in moderation. If a strict no-alcohol rule is a dealbreaker for you, 75 Soft is the flexible option.

Which challenge should you choose?

Choose 75 Hard if you're an experienced athlete, have time for two daily workouts, respond well to rigid black-and-white rules, have no history of disordered eating, and want a dramatic short-term mental-toughness test.

Choose 75 Medium if you want more structure than 75 Soft (no alcohol, daily meditation, no rest days) but can't commit to two workouts a day or the restart penalty — a solid step up once 75 Soft feels too easy.

Choose 75 Soft if you're new to fitness or building habits, have a busy schedule or family obligations, want a healthy relationship with food and exercise, or have struggled with all-or-nothing approaches before.

Many health professionals note that a completed 75 Soft beats an abandoned 75 Hard every time. The restart rule, two-a-day workouts, and zero-cheat diet of 75 Hard can drive overtraining and an unhealthy relationship with food — which is exactly why the softer variants exist.

Is 75 Soft effective for weight loss?

75 Soft can support weight loss, but it is not primarily a weight-loss program and it does not guarantee the scale will move. There is no calorie target and no strict diet — just "eat healthy" — so results depend heavily on the food choices you make. Many people finish 75 Soft leaner and stronger thanks to 75 straight days of movement and better hydration, while others see little scale change but big gains in energy, sleep, and consistency. If rapid fat loss is your only goal, a structured nutrition plan matters more than which 75-day challenge you pick. The real value of all three challenges is the habit-building, not the before-and-after photo.

What experts say about safety

Health professionals are broadly supportive of 75 Soft and more cautious about 75 Hard. The most common concerns raised about 75 Hard are that two daily workouts with no rest days can lead to overuse injuries and overtraining, that a zero-cheat-meal rule sustained for 75 days can encourage rigid or disordered eating, and that the restart-from-Day-1 penalty can be psychologically punishing rather than motivating. Mandatory outdoor workouts in extreme heat or cold add a genuine safety risk.

75 Soft and 75 Medium were designed to keep the transformative daily-habit core while removing those failure modes: built-in flexibility, active recovery, and no all-or-nothing restart. As with any new fitness or diet program, check with a doctor before starting — especially if you're pregnant, managing a chronic condition, recovering from injury, or have a history of disordered eating. The best challenge is the one you can finish safely.

Our recommendation

For most people, 75 Soft is the best starting point. It builds the same core habits — daily movement, healthy eating, hydration, and personal growth — without the overtraining, disordered-eating, or all-or-nothing psychological risks. If it starts to feel too easy, step up to 75 Medium. Reserve 75 Hard for when you specifically want an extreme, short-term discipline test and have the experience and schedule to do it safely.

The goal isn't to survive 75 days of punishment — it's to build habits that improve your life for good.

How do you start the 75 Soft Challenge?

Starting is simple: pick your Day 1, decide how you'll cover each of the four daily tasks, and set up a way to track them so a missed check-in is obvious. A few tips that raise your odds of finishing:

• Plan your workouts a week ahead so "what should I do today?" never becomes an excuse to skip.
• Stack the habits onto existing routines — read with morning coffee, hit your water goal by keeping a marked bottle on your desk.
• Track every day. Visible streaks are one of the strongest motivators for completing a 75-day challenge, and they make it easy to see the difference between a genuine slip and simply forgetting to log.

Ready to start? Download the free Soft75 app to track every day of your 75 Soft Challenge with milestone celebrations and a private, offline-first experience.