The 75 Soft challenge is four daily habits held for 75 days. You eat well and drink alcohol only on social occasions. You train for 45 minutes a day, with one active recovery day a week. You drink 3 liters of water and read 10 pages of any book.
A missed day does not send you back to day one. That makes it the gentle version of 75 Hard. It has no official rule set, and it is the vaguest of the 75 day challenges. “Eat well” and “social occasions” are not rules you can count.
This page gives you the four rules, then turns each vague one into a number. A rule sheet to copy, your end date, and a plan for a missed day follow.
The 75 Soft Challenge Rules
These are the 75 Soft rules as Cleveland Clinic listed them in November 2023. You do all four every day for 75 days.
- Eat well, and drink alcohol only on social occasions. There is no set diet and no banned food.
- Train for 45 minutes every day. One day a week is active recovery: easy movement in place of a hard session.
- Drink 3 liters of water. That is 101 ounces.
- Read 10 pages of any book. Fiction counts.
This list has no progress photo, no outdoor workout, and no restart. If you miss a rule, you carry on the next day.
Where Rule Lists Differ
There is no official version of 75 Soft. Healthline calls it an unofficial version of 75 Hard and says the rules can vary between sources. Four points move from list to list:
- Workouts: 45 minutes a day with one active recovery day in most lists. Healthline's example asks for 30 minutes or more, four times a week.
- Water: 3 liters in most lists. Some use half your body weight in ounces.
- Diet: “eat well” in most lists, a diet that is 90 percent healthy in others.
- Extras: some lists add a photo on day 1 and day 75, or 5 minutes of meditation. Some accept 10 minutes of audio in place of 10 pages.
With those extras, a list is close to 75 Medium. Pick one version before day one and write it down. This page uses the four rules above.
Who Created 75 Soft
Nobody owns 75 Soft, and its origin is not fully settled. TODAY reports that it is widely credited to Stephen Gallagher, a fitness influencer in Ireland. He posted it on TikTok in 2021. At least one magazine traces an earlier version to a lifestyle blog in 2019.
75 Hard is a different case. Andy Frisella created it in 2019, and its name is a trademark. This site is not affiliated with it.
Turn the 75 Soft Rules Into Numbers
A rule you cannot fail is a rule you cannot keep. Two of the four rules have no number in them. Fix that before day one.
Turn “Eat Well” Into Two or Three Rules
“Eat well” has no pass or fail, so replace it with two or three food rules of your own. A personal trainer quoted by TODAY advises the same: one to three nutrition habits that fit your life.
Each rule has to pass one test: can you answer it with yes or no at night? Three shapes pass:
- A count per day: vegetables with two meals.
- A cap per week: takeout at most twice.
- A fixed line: no sugary drinks on weekdays.
These show the shape, not a diet. Pick rules that fit your food and your health. Tick the food box only when every rule held that day.
Turn “Social Occasions” Into a Cap
“Social occasions only” fails the same test, because any evening can be called social. Set the cap before day one with two numbers:
- Events: how many occasions in your 75 days count. Open your calendar and name them: a wedding, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July.
- Drinks: the most you will have at one event.
Outside the named events, the number is zero. An example: 6 events with at most 2 drinks each caps the run at 12 drinks. Zero events is a valid cap too.
3 Liters in Ounces
3 liters is 101 US fluid ounces, or about 12.7 cups. That is three 1 liter bottles, or six 16.9 ounce bottles.
75 Hard asks for one gallon, which is 128 ounces or 3.8 liters. So the 75 Soft water rule is 27 ounces lower, about 79 percent of the gallon.
Cleveland Clinic gives a general daily figure of 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men. It shifts with activity level and body type. If 3 liters does not fit you, set your own number and write it down.
The Workout and the Active Recovery Day
Six training sessions of 45 minutes add up to 270 minutes a week. The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults. So 75 Soft lands inside that range, near the top. 75 Hard asks for 630 minutes.
The seventh day is active recovery. Cleveland Clinic describes it as low intensity exercise in place of a day off: stretching, swimming, walking, or yoga. The test is one line: nothing hard that day.
Fix the weekday now, such as Sunday. Rule lists do not say how long the recovery session lasts, so decide that too. 45 minutes keeps your daily slot in place.
The training days need no gym. A sports medicine physician quoted by TODAY says walking, yoga or strength training all count. If you do not train now, start easy and build up.
The 75 Soft Rule Sheet
Copy this rule sheet and fill it in before day one:
Then run this line once a day, in writing:
The daily line does real work. An analysis of 138 studies found that monitoring your progress raises the rate at which goals are reached. The effect was larger when people recorded their progress physically. With no restart rule, this written record is the only thing keeping score.
Want it on paper? The 75 challenge tracker page has printable sheets. To give each rule a fixed time of day, use the method on the consistency page.
75 Soft Start and End Dates
Day 75 is your start date plus 74 days. The full run is 10 weeks and 5 days. The 75 day soft challenge has two seasons: January, and a summer run between May and August. These are the end dates for both:
| Start (day 1) | End (day 75) | Why this start |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, October 18, 2026 | Thursday, December 31, 2026 | The last start that finishes inside 2026 |
| Sunday, November 1, 2026 | Thursday, January 14, 2027 | First of the month |
| Friday, January 1, 2027 | Tuesday, March 16, 2027 | New Year's Day |
| Monday, January 4, 2027 | Friday, March 19, 2027 | First Monday of the year |
| Saturday, May 1, 2027 | Wednesday, July 14, 2027 | Start of the summer season |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2027 | Saturday, August 14, 2027 | First of June |
| Friday, June 18, 2027 | Tuesday, August 31, 2027 | The last start that finishes inside August |
Write both dates on your rule sheet. For any other start date, use the end date calculator on the tracker page.
What to Do When You Miss a Day
Log it and keep counting. 75 Soft has no restart rule. Cleveland Clinic states it plainly: you are not penalized, and you do not have to start the 75 days over. The research backs that rule.
A 12 week study followed 96 volunteers who each built one new daily habit. The behavior took a median of 66 days to become automatic. Missing one day did not materially affect the process. A 75 day run puts you nine days past that median.
- Mark the miss by rule. Three of four rules kept is not a zero day.
- Never miss twice. One miss is noise. The same rule missed two days running is a pattern.
- Do not double up. No 6 liter day and no 90 minute session to make up for it.
- Set a finish line. A common one is 90 percent: 68 complete days out of 75.
If one miss turns into a week, the recovery protocol covers the first 24 hours after a lapse.
Is 75 Soft Too Easy? Does It Work?
Nobody has tested it. A PubMed search on October 13, 2026 found no study with 75 Soft in its title or abstract. So every claim about 75 Soft results is a story, not data.
What research does cover is the parts, and the soft parts hold up:
- The training dose is real. 270 minutes a week sits in the upper half of the WHO range.
- Flexible is not weaker. One study covered more than 54,000 people on a weight reduction program. Flexible control of eating went with lower body mass index and less binge eating. Rigid, all or nothing control went with more of both. These are associations, not proof of cause.
The weak part is the vagueness, not the softness. An undefined rule cannot fail, so nothing has to change. 75 Soft is too easy only when you leave it uncounted.
75 Soft Results You Can Count
The honest results are the ones you can count on day 75:
- About 65 training sessions, close to 49 hours.
- 750 pages, around three books of 250 pages.
- 225 liters of water.
Do not expect a set weight loss. The rules set no calorie target, so the scale may not move.
75 Soft vs 75 Hard at a Glance
75 Soft keeps the 75 days and loosens every rule. In each line, 75 Soft comes first:
- Workouts: one 45 minute session a day with a weekly recovery day, against two sessions a day with one outdoors.
- Water: 3 liters, against 1 gallon.
- Diet: eat well, against a diet of your choice with no cheat meals.
- Alcohol: social occasions only, against none.
- Reading: 10 pages of any book, against 10 pages of nonfiction.
- Photos: none, against one every day.
- Missed day: keep counting, against a restart from day one.
75 Medium sits between the two. If you already train six days a week, a harder version fits you better. To choose between all three, read 75 Hard vs 75 Soft. The exact rules of the original are on the 75 Hard challenge page.
Is the 75 Soft Challenge Safe?
Cleveland Clinic calls 75 Soft much safer and more manageable than 75 Hard for many people. It is still a daily workout and a fixed water target for 75 days. Two risks stand out:
- Too much exercise too soon, above all if you do not train now. Experts quoted by TODAY name it as the main risk.
- A water target that does not suit you. Healthline notes that the amount may not be safe with some conditions, such as chronic kidney disease.
This page is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor before you start if you have a medical condition or are pregnant. The same goes for a history of disordered eating.
The Lock In Protocol
A soft rule becomes a real rule once it has a number. Before day one, write down what eat well means in two or three lines, cap the alcohol, and fix the weekday for recovery. Then mark four boxes every day. When a day goes wrong, log it and keep the count running. With no restart rule, the written count is the whole system.
Key Takeaways
- The 75 Soft challenge is four daily habits for 75 days: eat well with alcohol only on social occasions, 45 minutes of exercise with one active recovery day a week, 3 liters of water, and 10 pages of any book.
- There is no official version. Rule lists differ on workouts, water, photos, and meditation, so pick one list and write it down before you start.
- Give the two vague rules a number. Turn eat well into two or three food rules you can answer with yes or no, and set an alcohol cap before day one.
- 3 liters is 101 ounces, which is 27 ounces less than the gallon of 75 Hard. Six training sessions add up to 270 minutes a week, inside the WHO range of 150 to 300.
- A missed day does not reset the count. Log it and never miss twice. Day 75 is your start date plus 74 days, so a start on January 1, 2027 ends on March 16, 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 75 Soft challenge?
The 75 Soft challenge is a 75 day habit challenge and the gentle version of 75 Hard. The common version has four daily rules: eat well and drink alcohol only on social occasions, exercise for 45 minutes with one active recovery day a week, drink 3 liters of water, and read 10 pages of any book. There is no official version, and a missed day does not restart the count.
What are the 75 Soft rules?
The four 75 Soft rules are: eat well and drink alcohol only on social occasions, exercise for 45 minutes every day with one day of active recovery each week, drink 3 liters of water a day, and read 10 pages of any book a day. Some rule lists add a photo on day 1 and day 75 or five minutes of meditation.
Can you drink alcohol on 75 Soft?
Yes, on social occasions only. The rule does not say how many occasions or how many drinks, so set a cap before day one. Name the events in your 75 days that count and fix the most you will drink at each one. Outside those events, the number is zero.
Do you have to restart 75 Soft if you miss a day?
No. 75 Soft has no restart rule. Cleveland Clinic says you are not penalized and you do not have to start the 75 days over. Log the missed day, keep counting, and do not miss twice in a row. A common finish line is 90 percent, which is 68 complete days out of 75.
How much water is 3 liters in ounces?
3 liters is 101 US fluid ounces, or about 12.7 cups. That equals six 16.9 ounce bottles. The 75 Hard rule is one gallon, which is 128 ounces, so the 75 Soft challenge asks for 27 ounces less.
Does the 75 Soft challenge work?
No study has tested 75 Soft as a program, so nobody can promise results. Its parts hold up. Six sessions of 45 minutes are 270 minutes of exercise a week, inside the World Health Organization range of 150 to 300 minutes. Tracking your progress also raises the rate at which goals are reached. It works best when you turn the vague rules into numbers.
References
- The 75 Soft Challenge: the four rules, active recovery, and why there is no restart, with a health and sports psychologist (Cleveland Clinic, November 2023)
- What is the 75 Soft Challenge? Origin, rules, and expert views from a sports medicine physician and a certified personal trainer (TODAY, updated January 2025)
- 75 Soft Challenge: an alternative rule list, why the rules vary between sources, and who should ask a doctor first (Healthline, medically reviewed, February 2025)
- World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (PubMed)
- Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts and Wardle. How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010.
- Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? Meta-analysis of 138 studies (PubMed)
- Flexible and rigid control of eating, validated in more than 54,000 participants of a weight reduction program (PubMed)
