75 Hard Challenge: What It Involves and Whether the Hype Holds Up
75 Hard promises life-changing gains through 75 days of strict daily habits. Here's a balanced look at the rules, real benefits, and risks before you commit.
On this page · 5 sections
What the 75 Hard Challenge Actually Is
The 75 Hard challenge is a 75-day lifestyle program created by entrepreneur Andy Frisella in 2019. Rather than a progressive workout plan, it works as a daily checklist of habits you must complete without exception. Miss a single day and you restart from the beginning.
The full rules list is short and repeats every day:
- Complete two 45-minute workouts, one outdoors.
- Read at least 10 pages of any book.
- Drink a full gallon of water.
- Take one progress photo.
- Follow a diet of your choosing.
- Avoid cheat meals and alcohol.
The challenge itself is free to follow, but official extras sit behind a paywall. The companion app is around $6.99 on the App Store, and an e-book guide runs about $19.95 on the creator's website.
What the Science Actually Supports
No peer-reviewed studies have examined 75 Hard as a packaged program. Still, several of its individual habits line up with research on health and behavior change.
Built-In Outdoor Activity
Requiring one outdoor workout each day is a small rule with solid backing. Research on green exercise environments shows that physical activity outdoors can lower perceived exertion and lift mood compared with indoor sessions.
High Daily Movement Volume
Two 45-minute sessions push total daily activity well above average. Large meta-analyses link higher daily step counts and consistent movement to lower all-cause mortality and reduced chronic disease risk. The program doesn't specify intensity, so walking, yoga, or lifting all count.
Approach-Oriented Goals
Most daily tasks ask you to add a behavior rather than subtract one. Studies on New Year's resolutions and goal framing suggest approach-oriented goals tend to boost self-efficacy and follow-through compared with restriction-only rules.
Multi-Habit Focus
The plan touches fitness, hydration, nutrition, reading, and alcohol intake. Bundling several positive behaviors at once may help build a broader health routine that outlasts the 75 days, and short-term alcohol abstinence often carries into longer-term reduction.
Flexibility in Diet Choice
75 Hard tells you to follow "a diet" without naming one. This mirrors flexible dietary restraint, which is generally associated with better adherence and outcomes than rigid, narrow rules.
Habit Formation Window
The roughly 10-week duration sits within the range research identifies for habit formation. Repeating the same small set of behaviors daily can help lock in automaticity, though timelines vary widely between individuals.
Where 75 Hard Falls Short
The same features that motivate some participants frustrate others, and several rules rest on shaky evidence or carry unintended downsides.
Rigid Start-and-Stop Structure
Behavior research shows that goals with hard end dates can backfire, leading to overindulgence before the start or a quick return to old habits afterward. Daily pass-fail rules can also punish people for circumstances outside their control, which is demoralizing rather than motivating.
Vague Exercise and Diet Guidance
Without specific programming, beginners can easily pair mismatched habits, such as low-protein eating with heavy resistance training. Meta-analysis work consistently favors periodized, structured resistance programs over open-ended effort when the goal is strength or hypertrophy.
Lofty, Unverified Marketing Claims
The program is sold with sweeping promises about transforming every area of life. Emotional appeals aren't evidence, and programs that promise sweeping character change rarely match the marketing.
Daily Progress Photos and Body Image
Daily self-monitoring, especially visual tracking, has been linked in some studies to heightened body dissatisfaction and negative self-talk. Conflicting data exists, but anyone prone to appearance-based esteem issues may want to skip the photo rule or adjust it.
Shame-Based Accountability
The official messaging uses harsh language for missed days, and there is little science showing that public shaming improves long-term behavior change. A gentler, more personalized plan with a coach or registered dietitian often produces better buy-in.
Who It's Best Suited For
The challenge may be worth trying if you already have a fitness foundation and need a structured push to get back on track. People who thrive on checklists, fixed routines, and clear daily targets often do well with the format.
It's probably not a good fit for true beginners, anyone with medical conditions that need personalized programming, or people sensitive to body image pressure or strict pass-fail rules. If that sounds like you, working with a qualified trainer or dietitian one-on-one is usually a safer route.
Common Questions
Does walking count toward the workouts?
Yes. The rules don't restrict exercise type, so walking easily covers the 45-minute outdoor session or even both workouts if you prefer low-intensity movement.
What does 75 Hard cost?
The daily rules are publicly available at no cost. The official app is around $6.99 and the supporting e-book is about $19.95. Both add guidance but aren't required to follow the program.
What happens if you miss a day?
The program requires a full restart from day one. There is no partial credit, which is central to its strict philosophy.
