75 Hard rules: the complete daily checklist, and what ends your run

The rules at a glance

75 Hard is a 75-day, all-or-nothing daily challenge. It was created by entrepreneur Andy Frisella, and "75 HARD" is a trademark of his company, 44Seven Media. This site is independent and not affiliated with it. Everything below is paraphrased from the sources listed at the bottom.

Task	The rule as usually published
Diet	Pick a plan and follow it for all 75 days. No cheat meals. No alcohol.
Workouts	Two workouts a day, 45 minutes each. One must be outdoors.
Water	One gallon (3.8 litres) a day.
Reading	10 pages of a non-fiction or self-improvement book.
Photo	One progress photo every day.
Restart	Miss any task on any day and you start again at Day 1.

The official info page confirms the diet, the two workouts, the outdoor rule, the "zero modifications" principle and the restart. It does not list water, reading or photos; those come from the full rule set people receive after signing up and from the many write-ups of it. So check the version you are following.

Your daily checklist

Run through this every night before bed. If one line is empty, it is not a finished day.

1. Ate only from my chosen diet. No cheat meal, no alcohol.
2. Workout one finished, at least 45 minutes.
3. Workout two finished, at least 45 minutes, outdoors.
4. Drank the full gallon.
5. Read 10 pages of non-fiction.
6. Took the progress photo.

You can tick this list for free in the 75 Hard checklist, print a 75-day sheet, or work out your Day 75 date with the 75 Hard calculator. If you would rather have it in your pocket, the app section further down shows how Ninety does it.

What counts as a restart

The rule is blunt. If you do not complete the programme as written, you start over on Day 1. It does not matter whether you are on Day 2 or Day 74. The official page also says there are no substitutions: you cannot swap one task for another.

Grey areas are where runs actually die, so we covered them separately in what to do when you miss a day on 75 Hard. The short version: a skipped task is a miss, and a partial workout or an accidental off-plan meal is a grey area that the strict reading also counts against you.

Where the sources disagree

Search for the rules and you will find small differences. Knowing them saves arguments with yourself at 9 pm.

• Audiobooks. Cleveland Clinic's summary says audiobooks do not count. Some other write-ups are vaguer. The safe move is to read the pages.
• Workout spacing. Cleveland Clinic's summary says the two workouts should be three hours apart. Other guides only say two workouts, one outdoors.
• A walk as a workout. Garage Gym Reviews says a 45-minute walk can count as a session. Read the workout rules guide before you rely on it.
• Number of rules. Five or six, depending on whether alcohol is split from the diet rule.
• Photos. Daily in 75 Hard. Some softer versions only ask for a Day 1 and a Day 75 photo.

When two sources conflict, take the stricter reading. A rule you cannot argue with is easier to keep than one you have to interpret every night.

Where it comes from and what it claims

Garage Gym Reviews names Andy Frisella, CEO of the supplement company 1st Phorm, as the creator, and the official page says no payment is needed to follow the programme. The stories you see online are personal results, not programme guarantees. Cleveland Clinic notes that success stories are mostly anecdotal and that there is little to no scientific evidence that the programme itself is beneficial. The habits inside it (daily movement, reading, hydration, less alcohol) are ordinary. The packaging is what makes it a challenge.

Reading the rules honestly

Two things the rulebook will not tell you. First, the gallon is above the general fluid advice that Cleveland Clinic cites, and two workouts a day with no rest day is a heavy load for a beginner. We looked at both in is 75 Hard worth it and in the gallon of water guide. Second, the restart rule is the reason people quit. Some experts argue that forced restarts can feed a cycle of perceived failure when life gets in the way.

None of that means you should not do it. It means you should know which parts are the challenge and which parts are risks you manage.

Make Day 75 easier than Day 1

The people who finish usually have a system, not more willpower. Three things help.

• Fix the times. Put both workouts, the reading and the photo into your calendar on Day 0.
• Prep the gallon. Fill the bottle in the morning and mark the times it should be empty by.
• Count it where you will see it. A counter you look at every morning makes skipping feel bigger than it is.

That last one is where an app earns its place. Ninety shows Day X / 90 and your streak at the top of every day, and lets you mark your own disciplines as hard rules or soft rules. If you stumble, it offers a way back instead of deleting your story.

If you want to change the rules

75 Hard allows no modifications, so a changed version is a different challenge. That is fine. 75 Soft and 75 Medium exist for exactly this reason, and if you are starting from zero the beginner prep plan tells you what to do in the seven days before Day 1. If you are comparing ways to track a run, see the best 75 Hard tracker options.