The 75 Hard Rules Explained: Every Task, Every Day, No Confusion

Where 75 Hard Came From

75 Hard is a mental toughness program created by entrepreneur Andy Frisella in 2019 and popularized through his podcast and social media. It isn't marketed as a fitness plan — Frisella has been explicit that it's a program designed to build discipline and mental resilience, and physical change is a side effect, not the point.

That framing matters for how you should read the rules below. They're written to be uncomfortable and inconvenient on purpose. The rule that trips people up is rarely the hardest rule physically — it's the one that requires planning ahead.

Rule 1: Follow a Diet — No Cheat Meals, No Alcohol

75 Hard does not tell you what to eat. You pick the diet — keto, calorie deficit, carnivore, vegan, intermittent fasting, whatever aligns with your goals — and you write it down before Day 1. From that point on, you follow it exactly.

• No cheat meals. Not "one small one," not "just this weekend." If it's outside the plan you committed to, it's a violation.
• No alcohol at all. Zero drinks, for 75 days, including social events, weddings, and holidays. This is the rule most people underestimate when planning their start date.
• Write the diet down before Day 1. A vague plan like "eat healthier" isn't a diet — you need specific rules you can actually judge yourself against on Day 40.

The gray area people ask about most: hidden ingredients (a sauce with sugar, a marinade with wine that cooks off). Frisella's own guidance treats intentional cheating as the violation — a genuinely accidental trace ingredient isn't the spirit of the rule being broken, but using that as a loophole defeats the purpose. When in doubt, don't order it.

Rule 2: Two 45-Minute Workouts — One Must Be Outdoors

Every day, you complete two separate 45-minute workouts. They can't be combined into one 90-minute session — they're two distinct workouts, ideally with a break between them.

• One of the two must be outdoors, rain, snow, heat, or wind. There's no indoor substitute rule for bad weather — this is the one most people quietly break first.
• Both need to be genuine workouts — a slow walk to the mailbox doesn't count, but a brisk 45-minute outdoor walk absolutely does.
• Any activity type is fine: running, lifting, cycling, swimming, sports. Mix them across the 75 days to avoid burnout and overuse injuries.

If you want a menu of specific outdoor and indoor options organized by weather and equipment, see our 75 Hard workout ideas guide.

Rule 3: Drink 1 Gallon (3.8L) of Water

One full gallon of plain water, every day. Not sparkling water, not tea, not a gallon "including other beverages" — a gallon of water specifically, on top of anything else you drink.

• Spread it across the day. Trying to drink a gallon in one sitting in the evening is uncomfortable and, for some people, genuinely unsafe — pace it from morning onward.
• If you have a medical condition that limits fluid intake, talk to a doctor before attempting this rule as written — this is the one place where personal health should override a strict internet challenge.
• A marked bottle or a simple hourly reminder removes almost all of the difficulty here — the failure mode is forgetting, not the volume itself.

Rule 4: Read 10 Pages of Non-Fiction

Ten pages a day, minimum, of a non-fiction book — specifically one aimed at self-improvement, business, or personal development in the original program's spirit, though most trackers accept any non-fiction.

• Audiobooks don't count. The rule is about the focus and retention of reading, not just information intake.
• Fiction doesn't count, even well-written fiction with life lessons buried in it.
• E-readers and reading apps are fine — the format doesn't matter, the content and the active reading do.

Need a starting list? We put together a curated 75 Hard reading list organized by topic so you're never stuck choosing a book at 10pm.

Rule 5: Take a Progress Photo

One photo, every day, documenting your physical progress. The original program doesn't mandate a specific pose or angle, but consistency (same lighting, same angle, similar clothing) is what makes the Day 1 vs. Day 75 comparison actually meaningful.

• You don't have to post it anywhere — it's for you.
• Set a fixed time (right after waking up works well) so it doesn't get forgotten in a busy evening.
• Store them somewhere organized by day number, not buried in a general camera roll, so you can actually build the comparison later.

What Actually Triggers a Restart

There's no partial credit in 75 Hard. Missing any one of the 5 rules, on any one of the 75 days, means restarting the count at Day 1 — including your other 4 rules that day, even the ones you did complete. A few specific situations people ask about:

• Falling asleep before finishing 10 pages: counts as a miss. The rule is about the day, not "when you get to it."
• Getting sick or injured: the original program has no built-in exception. Many people choose to pause and restart later when healthy rather than risk injury — that's a personal judgment call, not part of the official rules.
• Travel days: don't excuse any rule. Frisella has specifically called out travel as a common excuse people use to justify skipping the outdoor workout.
• Forgetting the photo until the next morning: still counts as a miss for that calendar day.

If the all-or-nothing restart feels too rigid for where you're starting from, it's worth reading our comparison of 75 Hard vs. 75 Soft vs. 75 Medium — the softer versions keep the same daily structure without the same restart penalty.

A Simple Daily Checklist

Print this, screenshot it, or just use it as a mental model for what "done" looks like each day:

1. Diet followed exactly — no cheat meals, no alcohol
2. Workout 1 (45 min) — completed
3. Workout 2 (45 min, outdoors) — completed
4. 1 gallon of water — consumed
5. 10 pages of non-fiction — read
6. Progress photo — taken

Six boxes, five rules, every single day. The moment you can check all six without thinking hard about it is usually around Day 20 — that's when it stops being a project and becomes a routine.

Why Tracking Matters More Than People Expect

Most restarts don't happen because someone forgets a rule exists — they happen because someone loses track of whether they actually did it that day, three weeks in, when the days blur together. That's the real function of a tracker: not motivation, just an accurate record.

We built 75 Forge around exactly these 5 rules (plus support for 75 Soft, 75 Medium, and fully custom challenges):

• Daily Task Checklist — the six boxes above, built into the app, so there's no ambiguity about what still needs doing today.
• Water Tracker — logs toward your gallon goal so you're not guessing at 9pm whether you're behind.
• Photo Progress — every day's photo stored in order, so the Day 1 vs. Day 75 comparison builds itself.
• Grid Tracker — a visual grid of your full 75-day run, so a missed day is immediately visible instead of buried in a list.
• Smart Reminders — separate nudges for each rule, timed so reading and water don't get forgotten in the evening.
• Community Chat — if you're doing this with friends, check-ins live in one place instead of a group chat that also has memes in it.

75 Forge is a free download on iOS (iOS 16+), with no ads and no tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 75 Hard have an official diet?

No. 75 Hard doesn't prescribe a specific diet — you choose one (keto, calorie counting, carnivore, whatever fits your goals) and follow it with zero cheat meals and zero alcohol for all 75 days.

Can both workouts be indoors if it's raining?

No. One of the two 45-minute workouts must be outdoors every single day, regardless of weather. Rain, snow, and heat don't count as exceptions — this rule is intentionally uncomfortable.

Do audiobooks count for the reading rule?

No. The rule requires reading 10 physical or digital pages of a non-fiction book. Audiobooks and fiction don't count, even if the book is about self-improvement.

What exactly counts as a diet violation?

Any planned deviation from the diet you committed to on Day 1 — an extra portion outside your plan, a dessert you didn't account for, or any alcohol. Accidentally eating something with a hidden ingredient (like a sauce with sugar) is typically judged case by case, but intentional cheat meals restart the count.

What's the easiest way to track all 5 rules without forgetting one?

75 Forge — a free download on iOS built specifically for 75 Hard, 75 Soft, and 75 Medium. It has a daily task checklist, a water tracker, photo progress, a grid view of your full run, and smart reminders so nothing slips at 11pm.