What are the 75 Medium challenge rules?
75 Medium is a 75-day challenge with one daily workout, a flexible eating plan, a water goal and a little reading every day. It sits between the strict 75 Hard and the gentler 75 Soft, and it has no official owner, so the rules below are the version most commonly shared, with the variations you will see.
| Rule |
Most shared version |
Common variations |
| Workout |
One 45-minute workout every day |
45 to 60 minutes; any activity counts |
| Outdoors |
At least one workout outside each week |
Some versions drop it |
| Diet |
Follow an eating plan you choose about 90% of the time |
No alcohol in some versions, "limited" in others |
| Water |
About half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces |
"Plenty of water" or a goal you set yourself |
| Reading |
10 pages of non-fiction |
10 minutes of self-development reading or audio |
| Progress photo |
Optional |
Daily, or only on day 1 and day 75 |
| Mind |
Not in every version |
5 to 10 minutes of meditation, prayer or journaling |
Health writers who have looked at it, including Cleveland Clinic and Healthline, describe the same core: one workout instead of two, an eating plan followed most of the time instead of perfectly, and a short daily habit for the mind. Pick your version before day 1 and write it down, because "what counts" is the question that ends most attempts.
Where did 75 Medium come from?
75 Medium is a social media spin-off of 75 Hard, the branded program by Andy Frisella with two workouts a day, a strict diet, a gallon of water and a restart at day 1 after any miss. People who found that too much created 75 Soft, and then 75 Medium as the step in between. There is no book, app or founder behind it, which is why the details vary from site to site.
75 Hard vs 75 Medium vs 75 Soft
|
75 Hard |
75 Medium |
75 Soft |
| Workouts |
Two 45-minute workouts, one outdoors |
One 45-minute workout, one outdoors a week |
45 minutes a day, one active-recovery day a week |
| Food |
Your diet, no cheat meals |
Your eating plan about 90% of the time |
Eat well |
| Alcohol |
None |
None or limited, by version |
Only on social occasions |
| Water |
1 gallon (about 3.8 liters) |
About half your body weight in ounces |
3 liters |
| Reading |
10 pages of non-fiction, no audiobooks |
10 pages or 10 minutes, audio often counts |
10 pages of any book |
| Photo |
Every day |
Optional |
Not a rule |
| Miss a day |
Start over at day 1 |
No official rule; most keep going |
Keep going |
| Time a day |
About 2.5 hours |
About 1 to 1.5 hours |
About 1 hour |
If you train a few times a week already and want structure without two-a-days, 75 Medium is the realistic middle. New to exercise or coming back after a break? Start with 75 Soft. The 75 Soft vs 75 Hard guide has a longer comparison and a quick decision check.
What happens if you miss a day of 75 Medium?
Nothing official. Unlike 75 Hard, 75 Medium has no rule that sends you back to day 1, and Cleveland Clinic's sports medicine physician advises adjusting the plan rather than starting over. Decide your own rule before you begin. Two that work:
- Never miss twice. A missed day is fine; two in a row means the rule is too big, so shrink it.
- Hard-day versions. Write a smaller version of each rule now: a 20-minute walk instead of the workout, two pages instead of ten. A small version still counts.
How much water is half your body weight?
Take your weight in pounds, halve it and drink that many ounces. It is a rule of thumb from fitness culture, not a medical guideline, but it scales better than one gallon for everyone.
| Body weight |
Daily water goal |
About |
| 120 lb |
60 oz |
1.8 liters |
| 150 lb |
75 oz |
2.2 liters |
| 180 lb |
90 oz |
2.7 liters |
| 220 lb |
110 oz |
3.3 liters |
For comparison, the National Academies set adequate total water intake at about 3.7 liters a day for men and 2.7 liters for women, and that includes water from food. Sip through the day rather than catching up at night: drinking a lot in a short time can lower blood sodium, which Cleveland Clinic explains in detail. The water tracker counts glasses toward your goal.
A sample 75 Medium day
- 7:00 Large glass of water with breakfast; your eating plan starts here.
- 12:30 A 45-minute workout at lunch: a brisk walk outside on Wednesdays counts as your outdoor session.
- Afternoon Refill your bottle twice.
- 19:00 Dinner from your plan. A slice of cake at a friend's birthday sits in your 10%.
- 21:30 10 pages of a non-fiction book in bed, then a tick on your tracker.
That is about 75 minutes of effort spread through a normal day, which is the point of the middle version.
Is 75 Medium safe?
For most healthy adults, one 45-minute workout a day and a flexible eating plan are reasonable, but 75 days without a rest day can still lead to overuse injuries. Plan easy sessions such as walking, stretching or yoga on tired days. Skip the challenge, or ask your doctor first, if you are pregnant, have a heart, kidney or liver condition, take medicines that affect fluids, or have a history of disordered eating; progress photos and diet rules can make body worries worse. Stop and get checked if you have pain that lasts, dizziness or chest pain.
How to track 75 Medium
Ticking each rule every day is the simplest way to see where the plan breaks. The free 75 Medium tracker opens with these rules, keeps going after a missed day and prints a one-page 75-day checklist. When the 75 days are over, keep the rule that helped most for good; the 30-day habit building plan turns one of them into a daily step, or you can build your own plan. More ideas are in our habit building guides, and the Winter Arc challenge is a softer seasonal alternative from October to December.
