75 Hard vs 75 Soft vs 75 Medium: Which Challenge Should You Pick?
75 Hard vs 75 Soft is the wrong first question. The right first question is: which 75-day challenge will you still be doing on day 40? Because a challenge you quit teaches you exactly one thing — that you quit — and a "soft" challenge you finish beats a "hard" one you abandon every single time.
Here are the rules of all three variants side by side, who each one genuinely suits, and the part every version of this challenge leaves out: the accountability system that actually gets you to day 75.
The three challenges in one table
| 75 Hard | 75 Medium | 75 Soft | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workouts | Two × 45 min daily, one outdoors, no rest days | One × 45 min daily, outdoor sessions encouraged | One × 45 min daily, one rest day per week |
| Diet | Your chosen diet, zero cheat meals, zero alcohol | Sensible diet, a few planned flexible meals | Eat well; alcohol only on social occasions |
| Water | 1 gallon (~3.8 L) daily | ~3 litres daily | 3 litres daily |
| Reading | 10 pages non-fiction (no audiobooks) | 10 pages, usually non-fiction | 10 pages of any book |
| Progress photo | Every day | Usually daily | Optional / weekly |
| Miss a task? | Restart from day 1 | Varies — many restart the week | No reset; keep going |
| Best for | Experienced trainers chasing a mental test | Consistent exercisers wanting structure with sanity | Beginners and busy schedules building the habit |
One honest caveat: only 75 Hard has official rules. 75 Soft and 75 Medium are community variants, so exact rule sets drift from post to post. Whatever version you run, write your rules down before day 1 — a challenge whose rules you can renegotiate mid-way isn't a challenge, it's a mood.
Who should pick 75 Hard
Pick 75 Hard if you already train consistently, your schedule can genuinely absorb 90 minutes of daily exercise, and what you're after is the mental test — 75 days of keeping your word with zero flexibility, where one slip sends you back to day 1. It is the most brutal and, for the right person, the most transformative of the three.
Do not pick it as your re-entry to fitness after three sedentary years. The full rules, benefits and cautions are here: the 75 Hard challenge rules explained.
Who should pick 75 Soft
Pick 75 Soft if you're building the exercise habit from scratch or your life realistically can't hold two daily workouts — young kids, shift work, heavy travel. One daily 45-minute session with a weekly rest day is demanding enough to change you and sustainable enough to finish. Seventy-five consecutive days of showing up is a serious achievement at any intensity, and it builds the identity that makes a future 75 Hard attempt realistic.
The risk with 75 Soft is the opposite one: the rules are forgiving enough that, with nobody watching, "flexible" quietly becomes "optional". Softer rules need stronger accountability, not weaker.
Who should pick 75 Medium
Pick 75 Medium if you already exercise a few times a week and want real structure without 75 Hard's all-or-nothing reset. One honest daily workout, a mostly-strict diet with planned exceptions, water, reading, photo. It keeps the daily-non-negotiable spine while removing the parts most likely to break a normal life.
The best challenge is the one you'll still be doing on day 40. Pick for finishability, not for how it sounds when you announce it.
Picked your challenge? Lock it in.
Whichever 75 you choose, KOMIT locks the commitment, tracks your daily check-ins, and shows your partners every day you show up — or don't. Free to download on Google Play and the App Store.
Get KOMIT →A 30-second decision test
Still torn? Answer these four honestly — your challenge picks itself:
- Did you train at least four times a week for the last two months? No → Hard is off the table. Yes → keep reading.
- Can a normal Tuesday absorb 90 minutes of exercise plus meal prep? No → Medium or Soft. Yes → Hard is viable.
- Have you finished a 30-day commitment — any commitment — in the last year? No → start with Soft and bank a finish first. The muscle you're missing isn't in your legs.
- Does the day-1 reset excite you or terrify you? Excite → Hard. Terrify → that fear is information; respect it and pick Medium.
And whichever answer you land on, notice what the test never asks: how motivated you feel today. Day-1 motivation is universal and worthless. The test asks about capacity and track record, because those are what day 40 will actually be built from.
The part all three challenges leave out
Hard, Medium or Soft — every variant shares the same failure mode: it's self-administered. You are the athlete, the referee and the only witness. When day 23 goes wrong, the only person who knows is the one person guaranteed to accept your excuse.
That's why the completion problem isn't really about rule difficulty. Private goals die quietly; visible ones don't get the option. The evidence for this is remarkably consistent — committing to another person and holding regular check-ins with them multiplies completion odds, which we unpack in the science of accountability. A challenge tracked in your Notes app is a wish. The same challenge in front of a partner is a contract — the difference between the two is the whole reason accountability apps beat habit trackers for goals like this.
How to run any 75-day challenge with real accountability
- Write your exact rules before day 1. Which variant, which diet, what counts as a workout. Ambiguity is where excuses breed.
- Lock it into KOMIT as a 75-day commitment. Locked means locked — no editing the rules on a weak day.
- Check in daily, yes or no. One binary answer covering your rule set for the day.
- Invite at least one accountability partner. They see every check-in and every miss automatically — no "how's the challenge going?" texts required.
- Give them permission to call you out. Agreed in advance, so on day 23 the "gym or excuses?" message isn't awkward — it's the deal.
Already know which challenge you're running? Stack the odds properly with our 9 tactics from people who actually finished 75 Hard — they apply to Soft and Medium too.
75 days. One witness minimum.
KOMIT is free to download on Google Play and the App Store. Lock in your challenge, invite someone who won't accept your excuses, and go.
Start day 1 →FAQ
What's the difference between 75 Hard and 75 Soft?
75 Hard: two daily 45-minute workouts (one outdoors), zero cheat meals, zero alcohol, a gallon of water, 10 pages of non-fiction, daily photo — and any miss restarts you at day 1. 75 Soft: one daily workout with a weekly rest day, eat well with alcohol only on social occasions, three litres of water, 10 pages of any book — and no day-1 reset.
What is the 75 Medium challenge?
An unofficial middle ground: one 45-minute daily workout, a sensible diet with a few planned flexible meals, around three litres of water, 10 pages of reading and a progress photo. Because it's a community variant, rule sets vary — define yours precisely before you start.
Is 75 Soft still worth doing?
Absolutely. Seventy-five consecutive days of training, reading and controlled eating beats two maximum-intensity weeks followed by quitting. The best challenge is the one you finish.
Which 75-day challenge should a beginner pick?
If you currently train less than three times a week, pick 75 Soft or 75 Medium. Results come from completing all 75 days, not from choosing the scariest rule set. Finish a Soft round first; earn the Hard attempt.
How do I stay accountable during a 75-day challenge?
Make it visible. Lock the challenge into KOMIT, check in daily, and invite a partner who automatically sees every check-in and every miss. The app is free to download on Google Play and the App Store.