75 Soft challenge
Seventy-five days of four daily habits — one workout, eating reasonably, three litres of water and ten pages of a book — with a rest day every week and no restart if you miss one. The gentler cousin of 75 Hard, and a far more finishable month and a half.
75 Soft is a community adaptation, not an official programme. It’s widely credited to TikTok creator Stephen Gallagher, who built it as a more manageable answer to 75 Hard — and because it spread through social media rather than from one owner, the rules vary between versions. So the rules below are labelled as the version used here, with the two details that genuinely differ called out where they come up. If you’ve seen a slightly different list elsewhere, neither of you is wrong.
Before you start
General information only, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting, especially if you’re pregnant or postpartum, injured, have a medical condition (including kidney or heart conditions), take medication, or have a history of disordered eating. This page is for adults. Stop and seek advice if you feel unwell or are in pain — see who should talk to a doctor first below.
What is the 75 Soft challenge?
It appeared as a direct response to 75 Hard, which asks for two workouts a day, a diet with no exceptions and no alcohol, a gallon of water, ten pages of non-fiction, a daily progress photo — and a restart from day 1 if you miss any single task. It works for some people and defeats a great many others.
75 Soft keeps the shape — a long run of daily habits, four tasks, a book — and removes what makes 75 Hard punishing: the second workout, the no-exceptions diet, the daily body photograph and, above all, the restart rule. The length stays at 75 days, which is the point: still a serious commitment, just a survivable one. With no official owner there’s no definitive rule set, so what follows is the most commonly described version.
The 75 Soft rules (the version used on this page)
- Train 45 minutes a day, with one rest or active-recovery day a week. Any kind of training counts.
- Eat well, flexibly. No banned foods, nothing to count. Alcohol only on social occasions rather than cut out entirely.
- Drink three litres of water a day (about 100 fl oz) — see the caution below, because this isn’t right for everyone.
- Read ten pages a day — any book, fiction included, a real departure from 75 Hard’s educational non-fiction.
- Miss a day and you carry on. No restart, no penalty.
Two rules that vary between versions
Audiobooks. Some versions exclude them as 75 Hard does; others count any book in any format.
Alcohol. Stated variously as “social occasions only” and “drink responsibly when you’re out” — the same idea at different strictness. Decide which you mean in writing, rather than resolving it on a Friday.
75 Soft vs 75 Hard
What most people arrive wanting. The 75 Hard column follows Frisella’s own published rules rather than the summaries circulating online, which routinely drop details.
| 75 Soft | 75 Hard | |
|---|---|---|
| Workouts | One, 45 minutes | Two, each at least 45 minutes, at least three hours apart |
| Outdoors? | Not required | One of the two must be outdoors, whatever the weather |
| Rest days | One a week | None |
| Diet | “Eat well”, flexible, nothing banned | A diet of your choosing, zero deviations, no cheat meals |
| Alcohol | Social occasions only (varies) | None at all |
| Water | 3 litres | A gallon (about 3.8 litres) |
| Reading | 10 pages, any book | 10 pages of educational non-fiction; audiobooks don’t count |
| Progress photo | Not required | Daily |
| Miss a task | Carry on | Restart at day 1 |
The two differences that change the experience most are the second workout and the restart rule — together they take 75 Hard from about an hour a day to two or three, and make a single bad Tuesday cost forty days of progress. Removing both is most of what 75 Soft is.
Who 75 Soft suits
- People who want structure without extremity — four daily tasks, one a 45-minute block, is a programme you can hold alongside a job.
- Anyone with a schedule they don’t control — shift work, small children, caring responsibilities, a long commute. The three-hour gap between workouts is what rules those people out of 75 Hard.
- People returning to exercise after a break, illness or injury.
- Anyone who’s restarted 75 Hard repeatedly. Finishing 75 Soft once teaches more than failing 75 Hard three times.
- People who find all-or-nothing framing counterproductive. If a missed day sends you into a spiral rather than back to the gym, a programme without a restart penalty is the better tool.
A realistic daily schedule
About an hour and a quarter of real commitment — the honest number, and the reason people finish.
| Time | What’s happening |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | Up. First glass of water — three litres doesn’t happen by accident. |
| 7:15 | Breakfast, reasonably. Water bottle filled for the day. |
| 8:30 | Work. Bottle on the desk, refilled through the morning. |
| 12:30 | Lunch. Nothing banned, nothing counted. |
| 17:45 | 45-minute workout. Gym, home, a run, a class, a long walk. |
| 18:45 | Shower, dinner. |
| 21:30 | 10 pages. Takes about fifteen minutes. |
| 22:00 | Last of the water earlier rather than now, unless you want the night interrupted. |
75 Hard’s day needs two sessions three hours apart plus a photo, and lands nearer three hours once you count changing, travel and food prep. The gap between the programmes is mostly that.
Does 75 Soft work?
What people report is consistency, and a routine that outlasts the challenge. Four small daily tasks for 75 days does build the habit of doing what you said you’d do, and the structure drags other habits along — sleep, planning, water — because it occupies a regular slot in the day.
What the evidence doesn’t show is anything about this protocol. There are no trials on 75 Soft, and there couldn’t easily be, since there’s no fixed version to test. The components have general support — exercise, hydration, reading, consistency — but the combination and the 75-day length are design choices, not findings. Anyone calling it evidence-based is overstating it.
And there’s a selection effect worth naming: the people who finish and post about it are the people it worked for, which makes every challenge look more universally effective than it is.
Risks and things to watch
Gentler isn’t risk-free.
Seventy-five days is still a long commitment — two and a half months, longer than most people’s enthusiasm lasts unaided. The middle third is where it goes quiet, and planning for that beats motivation.
Three litres isn’t right for everyone. Less than 75 Hard’s gallon, but still more than many need and more than some should have. Large volumes of water can dilute blood sodium, and the risk is higher with kidney or heart conditions, on some medications including certain diuretics and antidepressants, or if it’s drunk fast rather than across the day. Check with a doctor if that might be you, and don’t force it.
“Eat well” is vague, and deliberately so. For most people the vagueness is the kindness — there are no rules to break. But for some, an undefined instruction becomes something to interpret ever more strictly, and a 75-day streak gives that a structure to attach to. If the rule starts tightening on its own — more foods quietly off the list, rules you didn’t set at the start — take that seriously rather than treating it as discipline.
And one small thing: comparison. 75 Soft lives on social media, where other people’s versions are visible and usually more impressive. It isn’t a competition, and no version of it is worth more than the one you’ll finish.
Who should talk to a doctor first, or skip it
Don’t start this if you’re under 18 — it’s designed for adults. Talk to a doctor before day 1 if you are:
- Pregnant or postpartum — exercise volume and fluid intake both need individual advice
- Living with a kidney or heart condition, or anything else affecting fluid balance — the water target specifically needs clearing
- Taking medication, particularly anything affecting fluid balance, blood pressure or appetite
- Injured, or recovering from illness or surgery you haven’t been cleared from
- New to exercise, or returning after a long gap with any health concern
And one that gets its own paragraph. If you have a history of disordered eating, a 75-day streak attached to a food rule is worth approaching with real care, and may not be right at all. 75 Soft is considerably safer than 75 Hard here — no no-exceptions diet, no daily body photograph, no restart penalty — but it still pairs a vague eating instruction with a long tracked commitment, and that can take hold. A doctor or registered dietitian is a better starting point than a tracker.
How to prepare and stay consistent
- Put the 45 minutes in your calendar for all 75 days, at a realistic time, before you start.
- Decide your rest day in advance — a fixed one holds better than “whenever I need it”.
- Write down what “eat well” means in one sentence, make it something you could keep for a year, then don’t tighten it.
- Settle the audiobook and alcohol questions before day 1, not mid-month.
- Use a bottle whose capacity you know, and front-load the water.
- Pick the book and a backup. Ten pages of something unbearable is a common failure point — and fiction counts, so there’s no reason to suffer.
- Tick the tracker as each task is done, not at bedtime.
What if you miss a day?
You carry on. That’s the rule in this version, and it’s the biggest single reason people finish 75 Soft and don’t finish 75 Hard.
Both approaches have a point, though. The restart rule removes negotiation — if tomorrow is day 1 again, “I’ll do it tomorrow” stops being an option, which is exactly what works for people who bargain with themselves. The cost is that it punishes an illness, an injury or an impossible day, and makes a missed Tuesday feel like a verdict rather than a Tuesday. 75 Soft trades that pressure for a programme that survives real life.
If you miss several days running, the useful response is to find which task keeps slipping and why — usually the workout, usually the time of day — rather than to start again.
Printable 75-day tracker
All 75 days, a box for each of the four tasks. Print it and put it somewhere you walk past — the failure mode here is forgetting, not refusing.
Common questions
Is 75 Soft easier than 75 Hard?
Considerably — roughly a quarter of the daily time, with rest days, no restart penalty and no daily photograph. But 75 days of anything isn’t easy, and the honest comparison isn’t easy versus hard so much as finishable versus mostly not.
What counts as a workout on 75 Soft?
Anything you’d call deliberate exercise for 45 minutes — a walk, a gym session, a class, a run, a sport, swimming, cycling. No type is specified, which is one of its better features: the session you’ll actually do beats the one that sounds more serious.
Can I do 75 Soft while working full time?
Yes — largely the point. One 45-minute session plus about 15 minutes of reading is manageable most weekdays, and the weekly rest day absorbs the one that isn’t. It’s the main practical difference from 75 Hard, where two sessions three hours apart defeats people with fixed working hours.
Is 75 Soft worth it?
If you want a long, structured run at building daily habits, it’s a reasonable framework, and likelier to be finished than its stricter sibling. If you want a specific physical outcome, a programme designed around that outcome beats four generic habits. And if you already keep a routine, 75 Soft mostly formalises it.
Can I change the rules?
There’s no official version to deviate from, so yes — decide yours at the start and write it down. A changed rule is a choice; a rule changed mid-month is usually a negotiation.
What to try next
If 75 days is more than you want to commit to now, a 30-day version is the sensible proving ground — those are coming. Meanwhile the 30-day workout challenge covers the training with an actual plan rather than “45 minutes of something”, the 30-day habits challenge does the water, sleep and eating side without a diet, and 30 days off alcohol handles that part alone. For the stricter original, 75 Hard.
Sources
- The 75 Soft Challenge: Your Complete Guide — Marathon Handbook. The attribution to Stephen Gallagher and the rules: 45 minutes daily with a weekly rest day, “eat well”, alcohol on social occasions, three litres of water, ten pages.
- 75 Soft Challenge — Garage Gym Reviews. Second source for the same attribution and rules, and for the no-restart approach to missed days.
Tayiba Shabir
Tayiba writes LifestyleRoot’s home, living and habit guides — practical plans you can actually follow, without the hype. She isn’t a doctor, and this guide cites its sources rather than claiming expertise.
75 Soft — 75-Day Tracker
Columns: W 45-minute workout · E ate well · H₂O three litres · RD 10 pages. One rest or active-recovery day a week — tick W on that row anyway. Miss a day and you carry on; there’s no restart. This chart is designed to be printed.
Days 1–25
| Day | W | E | H₂O | RD | Day | W | E | H₂O | RD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 14 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 15 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 16 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 17 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 18 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 19 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 20 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 21 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 22 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 23 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 11 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 24 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 12 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 25 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 13 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Days 26–50
| Day | W | E | H₂O | RD | Day | W | E | H₂O | RD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 39 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 27 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 40 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 28 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 41 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 29 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 42 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 30 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 43 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 31 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 44 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 32 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 45 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 33 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 46 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 34 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 47 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 35 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 48 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 36 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 49 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 37 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 50 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 38 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Days 51–75
| Day | W | E | H₂O | RD | Day | W | E | H₂O | RD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 64 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 52 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 65 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 53 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 66 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 54 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 67 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 55 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 68 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 56 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 69 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 57 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 70 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 58 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 71 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 59 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 72 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 60 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 73 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 61 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 74 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 62 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 75 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 63 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
My version, decided before day 1 — Rest day: __________ · “Eat well” means: ________________________________ · Audiobooks: ☐ count ☐ don’t count · Alcohol: ☐ social occasions only ☐ responsibly when out
Start date: __________ · Target finish: __________ · Book: ______________________
75 Soft is a community adaptation, not an official programme, and versions vary. General information only, not medical advice. For adults. Check with a doctor first if you’re pregnant or postpartum, injured, have a medical condition including kidney or heart conditions, take medication, or have a history of disordered eating. The three-litre water target isn’t right for everyone. · lifestyleroot.com/habits-challenge/75-soft-challenge/