HABIT BUILDING · Q&A GUIDE

75 Soft Rules (and 75 Medium): The Gentler 75-Day Challenge

The four 75 Soft rules, who started the challenge, what counts on recovery days, how 75 Medium sits between Soft and Hard, and a free tracker with a printable checklist.

Published · By DailyHabitAI editorial team

The short answer

The 75 Soft rules are four daily habits for 75 days: train for 45 minutes with one active-recovery day a week, eat well and drink alcohol only on social occasions, drink 3 liters of water, and read 10 pages of any book. Unlike 75 Hard, a missed day does not send you back to day 1.

Free tool75 Hard TrackerOpens on 75 Soft: four daily rules with a weekly recovery day, a 75-day grid and a printable checklist; 75 Medium is one tap away
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Key takeaways

  • 75 Soft is an informal social-media challenge, usually credited to Irish fitness creator Stephen Gallagher in 2021.
  • The four rules: 45 minutes of training (one recovery day a week), eat well, 3 liters of water, 10 pages of any book.
  • There is no restart rule; a miss is a pause, not a reset.
  • 75 Medium sits in between: one workout, a flexible eating plan, water, 10 minutes of learning and 5 minutes of mindfulness.
  • Neither variant has an official rulebook, so adjust the rules to your health and schedule.
A cobalt water jug, running shoes, a book, a phone and a notebook grid with the first rows ticked on an ivory table under a lakeside path

What are the 75 Soft rules?

75 Soft keeps the 75-day frame of 75 Hard and loosens every rule. It is not a branded program: TODAY credits Irish fitness creator Stephen Gallagher, who posted it in 2021 as a version of 75 Hard for people without time for two workouts a day. Because it spread through social media, you will see small differences between sites. These are the four rules most versions share:

Rule 75 Soft version What counts
Train 45 minutes a day, one active-recovery day a week Any exercise; on recovery day, a walk, stretching or easy yoga
Eat well No strict diet; alcohol only on social occasions Regular meals you would be happy to repeat; you define "well" before day 1
Water 3 liters a day About 100 ounces, spread through the day
Read 10 pages a day Any book, fiction included

The 75 Soft tracker opens with these four rules, a 75-day grid and a printable checklist.

What counts on the active-recovery day?

Anything that moves you gently for 45 minutes: a walk, a slow bike ride, stretching, mobility work or easy yoga. The point is recovery, so keep it easy enough to talk in full sentences. Pick the same weekday each week, such as Sunday, so it stays a plan and not an excuse. If you like to count your walks in steps, the steps to miles converter turns them into distance and time.

What does "eat well" mean in 75 Soft?

It is deliberately loose. Most people write one sentence before day 1, such as "three meals, vegetables at lunch and dinner, dessert on weekends", and tick the rule when the day matched it. Alcohol is limited to social occasions, so a drink at a friend's birthday fits and a nightly glass alone does not. This page does not make weight or diet claims; if you have a medical condition or a history of disordered eating, check any food rule with a doctor or dietitian first.

Is 3 liters of water a day a good target?

For many adults it is close to what they already take in. The National Academies put total water from all drinks and food at about 2.7 liters a day for women and 3.7 liters for men, with roughly 20% coming from food. Three liters of drinks on top of food is generous for a small adult on a cool day and modest for a large one who trains in the heat. Sip it through the day and let thirst adjust it. Drinking a large amount in a short time is the real risk: about a gallon within an hour or two can lower blood sodium dangerously.

What happens if you miss a day of 75 Soft?

Nothing dramatic: you note it and carry on. Cleveland Clinic describes 75 Soft as having no penalty for a missed step and no restart. That matches habit research: in a study of 96 adults, one missed day did not materially change progress. The useful rule is not to miss twice in a row. If you miss the same rule three times in a week, make it smaller or move it to a better time of day.

What are the 75 Medium rules?

75 Medium is the community's middle ground between Soft and Hard. There is no official version, so rules vary more than for 75 Soft. The most common set looks like this:

Rule 75 Medium version
Workout One 45-minute workout a day, any activity; many add "one outdoors each week"
Food Follow an eating plan most of the time (often written as 90%), limit alcohol
Water A daily water goal that fits your body and activity
Learning 10 minutes of reading or self-development content; audio usually counts
Mind 5 minutes of meditation, prayer or journaling
Progress Optional; many take a photo on day 1 and day 75

The tracker has a 75 Medium preset with these five daily boxes. Like 75 Soft, most people keep going after a miss.

75 Soft, 75 Medium or 75 Hard: which one?

Use this quick check:

  1. You are new to exercise, or returning after a break: start with 75 Soft, or even a 30-day challenge with one habit.
  2. You train a few times a week already and want structure for your mind too: 75 Medium adds a short mindfulness habit without a second workout.
  3. You train daily, have about two and a half free hours and like strict rules: 75 Hard, after the safety checks in 75 Hard rules explained.

The full side-by-side comparison, with time per day for each, is in 75 Soft vs 75 Hard.

How to start 75 Soft this week

  1. Pick a start day. A Monday or the first of a month is easy to remember; 75 days from today is shown in the tracker.
  2. Choose your recovery day. Put it on the calendar now.
  3. Write your "eat well" sentence. One sentence, specific enough to answer yes or no each night.
  4. Mark a bottle. Three one-liter marks make the water rule easy to check at a glance.
  5. Put a book where you end the day. Ten pages at bedtime is the rule people keep most easily.
  6. Print the checklist. A one-page 75 Soft printable with 75 numbered days goes on the fridge; choose Save as PDF for a file.

When the 75 days are over, keep one rule for good. The 30-day habit building plan turns it into a small daily step, or build your own plan. For an autumn version with rules you choose, see the Winter Arc challenge; more ideas are in the habit building hub.

Frequently asked questions

Who created 75 Soft?

It is usually credited to Stephen Gallagher, an Irish fitness creator known on TikTok, who posted it in 2021 as a version of 75 Hard for people without time for two workouts a day. It is an informal challenge with no official rulebook or app.

Does 75 Soft include a progress photo?

Not in the common version. Some people add one on day 1 and day 75 to compare. If daily photos make you feel worse about your body, leave them out; they are not part of the four rules.

Can I do 75 Soft with walking?

Yes. A 45-minute brisk walk counts as training in most versions, and a slower walk is a good active-recovery day. Mixing walks with strength work twice a week makes a balanced week.

Is there a printable 75 Soft checklist?

Yes. The free tracker opens on 75 Soft from this page and prints a one-page checklist with the four rules and 75 numbered days, with or without dates, on Letter or A4. Choose Save as PDF in the print window to keep a file.

Is 75 Medium harder than 75 Soft?

Slightly. It keeps one daily workout but adds a stricter eating plan and a 5-minute meditation, prayer or journaling habit. It is still far lighter than 75 Hard, which has two workouts a day and a restart after any miss.

Sources and evidence

  1. TODAY: 75 Soft challenge rules — 75 Soft is credited to Irish fitness creator Stephen Gallagher (2021); the four rules: eat well with alcohol only on social occasions, train 45 minutes with one active-recovery day a week, 3 liters of water, 10 pages of any book.
  2. Cleveland Clinic (2023): The 75 Soft challenge — The same four rules; a missed step has no penalty and does not restart the 75 days.
  3. Cleveland Clinic (2026): 75 Medium challenge — There is no official version of 75 Medium; common versions use one 45 to 60 minute workout, an eating plan followed most of the time, water and 10 to 20 minutes of personal development.
  4. National Academies (2004): Dietary intake levels for water, salt and potassium — Total water intake of about 2.7 liters a day for women and 3.7 liters for men from all drinks and food, about 20% from food; thirst guides most people.
  5. Cleveland Clinic: Water intoxication — About a gallon of water within an hour or two can cause low blood sodium in some people.
  6. Lally et al. (2010): How are habits formed — In 96 adults, missing one day did not materially affect habit formation.

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