75 Soft Challenge: What to Know

Written by Wayne Drash
Medically Reviewed by Tyler Wheeler, MD on July 14, 2025
10 min read

You want to eat healthier, move more, and feel better. But where do you begin?

Enter the 75 Soft Challenge, a simplified wellness plan aimed at helping you build healthier habits over 75 days (two-and-a-half months). It offers a gentler approach than its viral older sibling, 75 Hard, the rigid, military-style program inspired by Ironman competitors.

Let’s be real: Most of us aren’t training to be Navy SEALs.

But many of us do want to feel mentally sharper. We want to exercise more, eat better, and read something beyond what’s on our phones.

"I like the idea that 75 Soft doesn’t have to be something that is over-the-top hard and onerous and not enjoyable," says Mike Stack, an exercise physiologist and president of the Physical Activity Alliance, a nonprofit that advises the federal government physical activity policy. "It’s an attempt to meet people where they’re at."

Russell Camhi, DO, who specializes in primary care sports medicine for the Northwell Health Orthopaedic Institute, says, "It’s a more appropriate approach, particularly for a beginner-level fitness person."

The rules of the 75 Soft Challenge are straightforward. View it as a program meant for anyone.

  • Take a photo of yourself on the first day and 75th day.
  • Be mindful of food choices and avoid alcohol except for social occasions.
  • Drink three liters of water each day.
  • Read 10 pages daily of anything besides what’s on your phone.

You are not punished if you’re unable to meet one of the daily goals. That’s different from the rules set out in the 75 Hard Challenge, which makes you start over should you stray from the plan.

"The structure and routine associated with something like the 75 Soft Challenge can help keep people motivated and moving, especially when they may be struggling with motivation and apathy," says Matthew Sacco, PhD, a sports and performance psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic. "Since the challenge does encourage social connection (online and in person), this provides a level of accountability and support, which is also protective against depressed mood."

Northwell’s Camhi says 75 Soft is best for anyone looking for an entry-level program as they try to make fitness changes to their life.

"You have to set reasonable goals and expectations," Camhi says. "75 Soft is a much better approach to do that. 75 Hard is a better fit for somebody who is looking for a fitness challenge."

This brings us to the question many ask: What’s the difference between 75 Soft and 75 Hard?

The 75 Soft Challenge is essentially a watered-down version of the more rigid, boot-camp-style 75 Hard.

Here are the rules of the 75 Hard:

  • Pick a diet plan of your choice to follow.
  • Exercise twice a day for 45 minutes.
  • Drink a gallon of water per day.
  • Read 10 pages of any nonfiction self-help book each day.
  • Take progress photos of yourself.

The 75 Hard may seem easy on paper, but it comes with strict limits.

With 75 Hard, you can’t:

  • Drink alcohol.
  • Skip a day.
  • Read a novel or listen to an audiobook.
  • Switch between meal plans.
  • Have a cheat day.

There are no exceptions. If you stray from the rules, then you must restart back at Day 1.

"75 Hard has a lot of very specific demands, mainly 90 minutes of exercise a day," says Camhi, who is also the head team doctor at Hofstra University. "It sets the bar too high. For a novice person, you’re asking for injury and failure."

Too often, he says, we fail to meet goals "because we set our goals too high."

"When we don’t achieve our goals right away," he says, "we quit and fall right back into our old habits."

That is part of the appeal of 75 Soft. It’s less intimidating and more forgiving when we do slip up.

By comparison, 75 Soft rules allow for a rest day once a week, allowing your body to recover and increasing blood flow to your muscles.

If you cheat on your diet with 75 Soft – say indulging in birthday cake or ice cream in a social setting – don’t beat yourself up. Take note of it, see how you feel, and do your best not to make it a daily habit.

Same goes for alcohol or missing a workout. And unlike the 75 Hard, walking and doing yoga count as exercise.

"The high-level premise of the 75 Soft Challenge is you’re going to do moderately healthy behaviors for 75 days, rather than doing ridiculously hard behaviors for 75 days," says Stack, who is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and chair of the Michigan Moves Coalition. "I like that it’s attempting to meet people where they’re at."

Stack says one of the best things about the 75 Soft is it gets people moving and thinking more about their daily routines.

It is also well-established that regular physical activity can boost mood by increasing endorphins, serotonin, and what is known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that acts as a fertilizer for the brain. Daily exercise also helps regulate our stress response, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. 

"If somebody is not eating healthy at all and makes a small change in their eating habits," Stack says, "that is going to result in significant physical and mental health benefits. Same thing for exercise. Same thing for hydration. It leads to reduction in all the things you can imagine – reduced incidence of depression and anxiety, improved cognitive functioning, improved mood."

Northwell’s Camhi says anyone taking part in the 75 Soft should view the challenge more as an on-ramp "to build a healthier lifestyle," rather than quitting as soon as the competition is done after two-and-a-half months.

 "You have to look at it as a way toward building a healthy habit. That’s why they say abstain from alcohol, make exercise a priority – these are all excellent goals," he says. "If you can follow them for 75 days, you’re well on your way to forming healthy habits that you can continue for the next several months."

If you’re ready to start the 75 Soft, experts suggest you talk with your medical team to evaluate your fitness level to find out the best plan for you.

"If a person is rather sedentary, they’d want to start with activities that might not be as strenuous for the cardio system (walking, yoga) vs. running," says Sacco with the Cleveland Clinic. "You’d also want to be sure that it is safe to engage in the challenge based on any personal pre-existing conditions like cardiovascular disease, joint problems, hypertension, etc. Then, the exercise should be tailored accordingly."

There are several apps, available in the App Store and on Google Play, that help you track your progress and encourage you to stay on track.

For eating healthier, experts say the rules of 75 Soft are vague. They recommend you start by creating a food journal to help figure out what you want to get out of a nutritional plan. One change can be as simple as switching from potato chips to unsalted popcorn or nuts.

Most health care providers suggest starting with the Mediterranean diet because of its focus on healthy fats and lean meats like chicken and fish – a proven track record for a healthier heart.

"Talk to your health care provider first," Sacco says. "Figure out your own risk factors."

Like any trending exercise challenge, experts advise caution.

If you enter the 75 Soft Challenge hoping to lose weight, you may be disappointed by the end.

"I would not enter into this if your goal is significant weight loss," Stack says. "We know from a lot of research that losing weight takes a lot more intensive intervention in order to sustainably keep it off."

"That may not be how it’s portrayed on social media and the internet, but decidedly, if you look at what the clinical protocols would be for weight loss, this doesn’t fit the bill," he says.

A bigger concern, Stack says, is the fact that 75 Soft and other trendy programs introduce too much change all at once and don't lead to the "long-term behavior change you’re looking for."

"The challenge with anything like this is that making behavior change is very, very challenging in any one of these areas that the 75 Soft Challenge lays out," he says. "Just focusing on making one or two small eating changes in a day is a lot for somebody."

He adds: "When you look at this broadly, you’re asking somebody to likely make four significant behavior changes – one with regard to diet, one with exercise, one with hydration, one with reading. That is a lot of cognitive overload in the behavior-change process."

Northwell’s Camhi agrees.

"For someone who is 30, 40, 50 years old and has had multiple decades of unhealthy habits, you can’t expect them to change everything in 75 days," he says.

A more realistic approach would be to focus on changing one or two habits for 75 days, then adding in another for 75 more days, and so on. "Try to create more success over a longer period of time for more sustainable changes," Camhi says.

Doing that could result in you making permanent changes, ultimately leading to a healthier and better you.

"The expectation I would frame around this: If done even moderately well, it could be a great potential on-ramp to a more aggressive intervention," Stack says. "Think of the things they’re asking you to do as something you can build up to by the 75th day. You don’t have to start on Day 1 meeting all these requirements."

The take-home message?

"Approach anything like this with a healthy degree of skepticism and try to figure out how it works for your life," Stack says. "That’s the most important thing."

The Cleveland Clinic’s Sacco also cautioned that people who are prone to have obsessive or perfectionist tendencies might become overly stressed if they miss a day. Those with a history of eating disorders might also find the challenge problematic. 

"A person’s psychological makeup can play a significant role in the risks or benefits of such a regimented program like the challenge," he says. 

He adds: "Trendy health challenges have a tendency to overemphasize short-term compliance over any significant long-term lifestyle and behavioral change. In addition, they have a tendency to overemphasize or exaggerate external validation over intrinsic motivation, which is precisely what makes these trendy challenges go viral so quickly. Yet, they highlight the idea that they lead to the very long-term gains most people want in the first place and create an impossible standard."

Just getting people active, Sacco says, "does not mean that it is a good thing, especially if it does not consider an individual’s own health status."

Experts say use the 75 Soft Challenge as a tool for making healthier choices – not as a mandate.

"The benefits can or may outweigh the risks for some people," he says, "but that only applies if you know what the risks are in the first place."

Working with a personal trainer, dietitian, nutritionist, workout buddy, and some other social support networks, Sacco says, "can help make the health changes many people want – and can help ensure long-term success."

The 75 Soft Challenge is a good way to get you moving and trying to eat healthy. It’s less difficult and more realistic for most people than the 75 Hard.

Know your risk factors. Don’t enter it expecting to lose weight.

Use 75 Soft as a motivator to keep going after 75 days. See it as an "on-ramp" to making long-term lifestyle changes.

Do you get a rest day on the 75 Soft Challenge?

Yes. You are given an active rest day to allow your body time to recover. Instead of doing nothing on those days, you can do less intense exercises, including walking, yoga, and stretching.

Can you have a cheat meal on 75 Soft?

Yes. And unlike the 75 Hard, you don’t need to restart back to Day 1.

Do walking and yoga count for 75 Soft?

Yes, walking and yoga for 45 minutes count as exercise for the 75 Soft. Not so for the 75 Hard.

Can you drink alcohol during the 75 Soft Challenge?

Yes. But you should limit your alcohol intake and only drink in social settings.

Can you lose weight with the 75 Soft Challenge?

It is possible to lose weight on the 75 Soft, especially if you’re somebody who does little to no exercise currently. But experts say that most people won’t lose weight and that weight loss should not be the main reason you start the 75 Soft.