298 75 Hard Challenge Rules PDF
298 75 Hard Challenge Rules PDF
298 75 Hard Challenge Rules PDF
For 75 days straight, complete all of the following tasks. If you miss doing a task for a day, restart
start from day 1.
1. Follow a diet
2. Workout twice a day for at least 45 minutes with one workout outside
3. Drink 4 liters of water per day
4. Read 10 pages of nonfiction each day
5. Take a progress picture each day
Given that original intention and approach of the challenge has been very successful for some people
variations of the challenge have risen that make the challenge a great opportunity for anyone hoping to
break out of a rut and build new habits.
For 75 days straight, complete all of the following tasks. If you miss doing a task for a day, restart
start from day 1.
In this post, we’ll review the 75 Hard Challenge, the new and improved version that I highly recommend,
and my experience with the challenge – committing to skipping alcohol, committing to exercise and
recovery, and practicing some great mental fitness routines over 75 rut busting days.
Read on to discover how the pros, cons, best way to approach the challenge (that I recommend) and
hear my experience!
What is the 75 Hard Challenge: A 75 day challenge aimed to improve mental toughness by
completing a set of 5 tasks everyday related to exercise, eating, and reading.
However, I am enjoying and recommend the challenge, with some modification. With a few changes
(that we recommend here) this is an excellent approach to improving your life. Read more on the
verdict here.
Read more to discover what’s great about the 75 Hard Challenge and how to make it more
beneficial for you.
"THE POSITIVE HABITS IN LIFE NEED TO BE ROUTINE AND AUTOMATIZED. They must be turned into
stable and reliable habits, so they lose complexity and gain predictability and simplicity."
Let’s look at the old guidelines and a new set of 75 Hard Challenge rules for better results.
1. Follow a diet
2. Workout twice a day for at least 45 minutes with one workout outside
3. Drink 4 liters of water per day
4. Read 10 pages of nonfiction each day
5. Take a progress picture each day
If a participant misses completing all of the tasks before they go to sleep, they must start back at day 1.
Whether the 75 hard challenge would be worthwhile for you depends on what you expect to get out
of your 75 days of commitment.
When taking on "challenges" like these, you have to choose between two types of goals. Are you doing
the challenge just to say you did something tough and prove something to yourself? Or, are you doing
this challenge to create new habits, practices, and sustainable positive results.
If you simply want to do something hard to do and you're not looking for sustainable results or
worried about health risks along the way, the 75 Hard Challenge the way it is currently written may be
fine for you.
However, suppose your goal is to build lasting positive change such as getting and staying fit or losing
some weight, keeping it off, or adding a few positive habits like reading more or drinking alcohol less
often. In that case, this challenge may need adjustments to align to the last positive change achieved
with minimal risk along the way.
The most important question to ask when assessing if this challenge is for you is, "If I continued the tasks
from 75 Hard indefinitely, would the results be positive in a way that I want long term?"
If the answer is yes, we're building positive habits and positive long-term change that's right for you.
That's great.
If the answer is "no," there are some risks, and we need to adjust.
Some of the 75 hard challenge rules are risky and require much effort that may not lead to sustainable
habits or results that will stick after the challenge.
However, suppose you approach this challenge as a catalyst to reprogram bad routines in daily life and
build in new, healthy habits and improvements (and we make a few changes to how we execute this
challenge). In that case, this challenge absolutely has the potential to be beneficial.
Whether or not this challenge will ultimately be beneficial to you depends on your goals.
IF YOU ONLY WANT A TEST OF GRIT OR A RUSH TO SNAP YOU OUT OF A RUT, TRY THESE OPTIONS
INSTEAD
75 days is a lot of time to invest in just testing whether or not you can complete something. If a
personal test or a "rut buster" is what you're after, I highly recommend these taxing challenges that
offer challenging conditions and hone mental fortitude and toughness in a much shorter period
If you're isolated and can't commit to going somewhere right now, consider these options
In my experience, I've run an impromptu marathon (alone and in a competition with a few a day's
notice), gone on a silent meditation retreat, and gone on a "road to nowhere" motorbike ride for a
week. All of these were risky, taxing, highly beneficial, gave me a real adrenaline rush, and did lead to
some lasting positive outcomes - but they didn't last 75 days either.
If you're giving something 75 days of your life, ensure it serves your long-term goals.
2 workouts a day is risky - go with 1: Beyond one workout per day, there is little benefit and significant
risk of injury. Athletes training for a Crossfit competition or the Olympics may do this, but they have a
coach, support team, nutritional resources, and a recovery plan you don't. Stick to one workout on
workout days for maximum benefits and minimal health risk
75 days of exercise without rest is risky - schedule recovery days: Worthwhile exercise may break your
body down slightly. More importantly, it stimulates recovery or metabolizes stored energy (breaking
down fat). This recovery, growth, and improvement only happen when you rest. If you exercise for 75
days straight, you are blunting your gains. At worst, you are weakening yourself and moving closer to
potential injury day by day.
"Diet" is too vague and a potential trap for trends - choose specific, healthy eating habits: Most "diets"
are fads passed around on the internet that may result in a pound lost for now but are unsustainable
long term due to health or interest reasons. Not being specific about an approach to nutrition and not
choosing a science-backed option that creates habits we can maintain long term is a waste and, at worst
detrimental to our health. Also, the eating plan should take into account the fitness approach.
Taking a picture of yourself every day is a potentially negative distractor, focusing on instant
gratification and the "are there results yet" mentality. Focus on the process instead. Long-term change
should embrace the process (daily habits) and ignore the result until the end. Instead, take a picture
once at the beginning and once at the end, and use our checklist recommendation below.
Don't take a picture every day feeding the "instant gratification need" - use a daily checklist as your
proof that you're doing the work, and let that be enough. Understand that the results will come. If you
have done the work each day, you have results to be proud of. You don't need a picture to distract you
from that.
Now that we've identified the trouble spots, let's improve on a potentially good thing.
HOW WE'RE IMPROVING WITH THE NEW 75 HARD CHALLENGE RULES
In our improved 75 hard challenge guidelines, we'll build on the good start already created and correct
some of the faults we just talked about by adding some worthwhile changes. Then, further down the
page, we'll share the new guidelines.
WHAT THE 75 HARD CHALLENGE GETS RIGHT THAT WE'LL KEEP GOING
Despite the important points for improvement listed above, this challenge has much good already built-
in, such as working out routinely, skipping alcohol, and building a habit of absorbing knowledge daily.
The best option here is to continue with these good points and build on them. We'll make a few tweaks
so that the challenge is sustainable (from a health standpoint) and leads to sustainable habits, and we're
in business.
The most significant potential benefits of the 75 hard challenge that we want to keep are:
Breaking us out of a rut and ditching poor habits we've picked up in the last two years of instability
around the world
Building healthy, sustainable habits
Losing weight
Improving our fitness
A catalyst for skipping alcohol
Building a habit of absorbing knowledge
Here are the tasks you'll do every day for 75 days straight:
THE NEW 75 HARD CHALLENGE RULES
For 75 days straight, complete all of the following tasks. If you miss doing a task for a day, restart
start from day 1.
1. Be Thankful: Start each day listing 20 things you're thankful for, written or aloud
If you are alive and breathing right now, you have a lot to be thankful for. Suppose you are aware of all
of those amazing things. In that case, you're more likely to appreciate them and maintain a positive and
empowering outlook because of that.
Saying aloud, or writing, 20 things you're grateful for every morning - will jumpstart your day in a
positive, empowering way and put you in a headspace of appreciation and strength regardless of what
comes your way.
You can do it in the shower, while you're making breakfast, or even while you're in bed.
2. Self-Affirmations: Remind yourself that you're awesome: State 20 reasons why you're awesome and
20 things that you are/do that you should keep doing.
We receive constant feedback (usually negative) and lists of things to improve daily. However, how
often do you get reminded of the positive things you do to maintain, reinforce, or double down on?
Nobody is perfect, and no one in this life will be, so focusing on imperfections to correct to reach
perfection is not only a dead-end effort but its draining.
On the other hand, highlighting what is good, what is amazing, and what is done well to focus on and
grow is a much more pleasant way to get closer to perfection. Of course, you're not going to get to
perfection…but this approach will get you closer in a less soul-sucking way.
Imagine a garden, half crappy weeds and plants we hate, and half great plants with delicious fruits that
we love.
Imagine if, instead of pulling the weeds to improve our garden (which is miserable), we simply watered
the fruiting plants (much more enjoyable) so much that they grew over and overshadowed the plants
we disliked. We'd achieve the same result, a better garden, with a pleasant experience. Of course, it's
still imperfect, but it's better, and we enjoyed the process.
Every day, highlight 20 things that are awesome about you - on paper and out loud - to give yourself the
credit you deserve and to remind yourself to keep doing them. The ego boost will be nice, but you'll
remind yourself to "keep on keeping on" by continuing to do more of what makes you awesome. That's
how you're going to improve the "gardens" that are your mind, your body, and your life in a sustainable,
fulfilling way.
3. Move: Exercise for 2 days straight, 45 mins per day, take 1 day to stretch, rest, and recover then,
repeat
For 75 days, we'll program consistent and balanced "movement" into our lives - a balance between
exercise and recovery
By having an exercise plan of "2 on 1 off" - 2 days of exercise and 1 day of rest and stretching (mobility)
and repeating - we have the stimulus to improve physically (exercise), we set aside time to recover while
eating right, and we give attention to active recovery (stretching) - to rebuild the mobility and flexibility
many of has lost in a lifetime of neglect.
How to move…
For your "movement" or exercise days, do any kind of movement that resonates with you for at least 45
minutes. For example, if you want to walk the dog for 45 minutes, walk. If you want to hike, go hike.
Keep in mind high-intensity interval training will burn the most fat and have the best cardio benefits.
However, simply building a long-term habit of moving daily is more valuable than pounds lost in the
short term or doing a specific workout for 75 days.
If you need high-intensity workout inspiration, you can do without a gym. I recommend these:
For any effective fitness regimen, you need rest. In an adequately intense fitness program, 2 days of
exercise creates the right amount of stimuli (tissue damage, hormone production) to make good use of a
day of recovery, helping us build strength and burn fat optimally. With fitness over the 75 days, our goal
isn't destruction. Our goal is strength, stamina, and mobility gains, and habits that support that in the
long run.
This potential habit, training for 2 days, resting 1, and getting back to training, is a routine we can and
should do into old age and indefinitely. If this challenge programs in that routine, you're winning
For rest days, set a timer for 20 minutes and just stretch your trouble spots. Then check your box on the
challenge checklist for that day.
If you need help stretching, I recommend these 10-minute stretch routines by body part
4. 15 minutes of silence and reflection: Either meditate or sit in a quiet place and clear your mind
Adding the mental component of quiet time and meditation levels up our challenge, so we're not just
challenging our mind with learning and discomfort but promoting recovery from the mental and physical
standpoints - something many people overlook in their lives
The mind needs to be trained just like the body, and "mental strength" is rooted in self-discipline and
focus.
Meditation, or just simply sitting in a hammock in silence, carves out 15 minutes that simultaneously
builds mental strength through the self-discipline of keeping the mind clear and embracing silence and
chill while also allowing our minds to recover from the chaos in a way we don't normally allow time for
on a daily basis.
No matter what your goal, 15 minutes of silence will do wonders for your mind
If you want a little light instruction and a lot of interesting information on meditation, I recommend Dr.
Jon Kabat Zinn's book, Wherever You Go, There You Are.
If meditating is too "woo-woo," give yourself 10 minutes to calm down and be alone with no stress or
stimuli
5. Eat healthy by minimizing processed sugar and refined carbohydrates in your diet, start the day with
protein and fats, and eat within an 8-hour window:
In this day and age, a new fad diet hits the internet every .5 seconds and infects the population with
minimal scientific backing. We want to avoid this.
What we want is to incorporate scientifically-backed healthy eating habits that 1) we are certain
generally improve our health (based on scientific research and years of testing) 2) we can maintain and
stay healthy well after the 75 days.
"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar"
This is excellent advice for eating no matter who you are. In the long term, your weight will drop to a
healthy level, and you'll have enough fuel for the workouts and activities that make you feel alive.
Additionally, start your day with a protein, fat, and a veggie-heavy breakfast - not a sugar bomb coated
with syrup, and a side of syrup, sugary frappe
Start applying these guidelines by practicing the following habits over the next 75 days:
Helps us avoid excessive food-induced hormone spikes throughout the day that highly correlate with
disease and inflammation
Gives your body a period to burn off stored food (fat) instead of burning the food you've just eaten
Gives your body a period wherein no energy is spent digesting food, leaving that energy for the
immune systems/recovery systems to be fully engaged.
Best of all, intermittent fasting is a habit that we can apply to our lives indefinitely that will positively
benefit us
6. No Alcohol
As accepted as alcohol is in society, it has a huge list of side effects that make it questionable and
definitely detrimental in excess.
1. Any amount of alcohol kills brain cells and reduces important grey matter you won't get those brain
cells back. Anything that literally causes brain damage is worth skipping.
2. Alcohol severely affects sleep patterns which in turn causes emotional volatility, mood swings, and
reduced decision making capacity for days after drinking.
3. Alcohol consumption usually takes place in way that negatively affects recovery, and hormones, and
usually accompanies and enables a slew of other negative habits
All 3 of our reasons for skipping alcohol during this challenge are either to avoid permanent damage or
to reverse the damage.
These 75 days without alcohol will allow you to regain a clear head, level emotions, and reach peak
physical performance.
1. We're only consuming what is suggested by social media algorithms, making ourselves susceptible to
echo chambers.
2. We are conditioning our minds for short, controversial, dopamine hit-inducing "content." Along the
way, we lose the benefits that come from reading longer articles and books that communicate robust,
deep, and complex ideas that can't be communicated in a meme or with less than 1,000 words.
3. Living on short-form writing cultivates that "goldfish attention span" and the need for another "hit"
while depriving us of the mental calm that comes from a nice, long book
Reading 10 pages per day gets us back into the habit of intentionally choosing what we choose to learn
(instead of having it suggested) and committing to absorbing a complex idea made up of complex ideas
over chapters.
8. Spend 15 minutes per day of learning something new or continuing to learn something
Each of us has so many things we would love to do if we could flip a switch and skip the learning process.
I wish I could sing. I wish I could dance. I wish I could sculpt concrete. I wish I could speak French. I
wish…
Fortunately, we can't skip the learning process, and we get to experience the joy of learning something
we want to. Not something required for our job. Not something required for our degree. Not
something required by our parents, our culture, or our religion.
Use this challenge as a catalyst to start learning something you want to do. Learn to blog. Learn to do
comedy. Learn magic tricks.
For 15 minutes every day, hit Youtube, open a book, or simply practice to experience learning something
you want to learn for at least 15 minutes.
After a stint of isolation, I popped out of my cave with my surfboard, eyes squinting in the unfamiliar
sunlight, and released, "Wow! How did I get this out of shape!"
Along the way, I realized I was writing less, running less, and reading less. The banality of my limited
routines stifled my motivation and led to the current state. Nothing was quite broken, but I had the
potential to be better. I had the potential to do better.
I decided to reassess, recalibrate, and rebuild my routines and standards. I did an elimination diet to
figure out what foods fueled my body best and which didn't. I restarted a mobility program and
equipped my home gym for calisthenics and Crossfit. Most importantly, I made the decision to
jumpstart my actions - with the understanding that motivation would kick in eventually
Around the same time that I had this realization, a friend posted on the 75 Hard Challenge. He was
committing to 75 days of a list focused on self-improvement - which is exactly the kick I was on.
I was sold.
However, after glancing at the list, a few elements seemed slightly risky and questionable.
At first glance, the 75 hard challenge missed a few important points that could make or break the
challenge - specific eating habits, sufficient rest from workouts, personalization in the goals, and a long-
term positive change and sustainable habits approach.
But the basic idea, committing to positive change, was an excellent start, and there's no need to throw
out a perfect start. Also, I had already been skipping alcohol and working out for the past few weeks, so
adding some learning and "mental hygiene" components was a great opportunity for improvement. So,
I created the new 75 Hard Challenge Rules for positive long-term change, committed to the 75 days, and
haven't looked back.
The 75 Hard Challenge does require and hone discipline and willpower, but in a manageable and
satisfying way with observable results.
After a month of routine workouts (I chose the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge), no alcohol, and
skipping refined carbs, I've lost 6 pounds, feel stronger than ever, and my sleeping patterns and mental
focus have improved immensely. I've regained a love of reading - choosing it over Netflix - and my mood
has been better too. We'll see what day 75 looks like, but at this point, the challenge's benefits are well
worth the sacrifice.
With a few specific tweaks and upgrades, I highly recommend this challenge.
In my initial research of the 75 hard challenge, the most common question I was seeing was, "is the 75
Hard Challenge dangerous?"
For the average person, I do not recommend the 75 Hard Challenge as it was originally written.
However, the positive impact we can create in our lives with 75 days of commitment is immense
Building healthy, productive long-term habits is the hardest thing to do, but the best thing to do - so
that's what I'm making this challenge about, and that's what I want others to make it about as well.
Challenges are normally about the rush of touching it out - but eventually, we "rebound" and return to
our old habits, losing our gains.
I've written this post to restructure the 75 hard challenge and make it a 75-day exercise in
reprogramming, programming base, effective, healthy habits physically, mentally, and emotionally
I hope it's helped you jump into the journey with me.
If you do and want to share your experiences with me, feel free to email me at
[email protected]
I'll look forward to hearing about your results on the other side.
Good luck.