The 75 Hard Rules, Explained Task by Task
Quick answer: Five daily tasks for 75 days: two 45-minute workouts with one outdoors, a gallon of water, a diet of your choice with no cheat meals and no alcohol, ten pages of non-fiction, and a progress photo. Miss any task on any day and you start again at Day 1.
The rules are simple to list and easy to misremember. Almost every argument people have during a run is about a definition they never wrote down.
Here is each task, what it asks, and the places people get it wrong.
Where the rules come from
75 Hard is a mental toughness program published by Andy Frisella. The program's own site describes a 75-day run with two daily workouts including one outdoors, a gallon of water, reading, a meal plan with no cheat meals, no alcohol, and progress photos — and states plainly that failing a day means starting over at Day 1. Cleveland Clinic's independent write-up lists the same five rules with the specific numbers.
75 Hard is a registered trademark of its owner. Unbroken is an independent app and is not affiliated with the program or endorsed by it. We describe its rules because it is the version most people mean when they say "the challenge".
Rule 1: Two 45-minute workouts, one of them outdoors
Two separate sessions of at least 45 minutes each, every day, for 75 days. One must be outside. Cleveland Clinic's summary also notes the sessions should be separated by around three hours.
What counts. Any deliberate training that fills the 45 minutes: lifting, running, cycling, swimming, classes, or a brisk walk. Walking is a workout, and using one session for walking is how most finishers get through eleven weeks without a rest day.
What does not count. Ninety minutes in one block instead of two sessions. Forty minutes because you ran late. Movement accumulated across the day — a step count is not a session.
Outdoors means outdoors. Open air, whatever the weather. A garage, a gym near a window, and a treadmill do not count. The rule exists because bad weather is the part you would otherwise avoid. Buy a jacket and a head torch before Day 1 rather than arguing with the rule in November.
The load is high. MedlinePlus puts standard adult activity at 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week plus strength work on two or more days. Two 45-minute sessions a day is roughly four times the lower figure, with no rest days. Cleveland Clinic notes the obvious consequence: this can overtax beginners, and inadequate rest can lead to overuse injuries. Make one session genuinely easy, every day, from Day 1.
Rule 2: One gallon of water
A US gallon: 128 fluid ounces, about 3.8 liters. Water, not coffee, not juice, not a total that counts what is in your food.
Know your bottle. Four refills of a liter bottle. Eight of a 500ml one. Guessing does not work, and neither does catching up at night.
Know where the number sits. MedlinePlus gives the reference intake for water as 91 to 125 fluid ounces (2.7 to 3.7 liters) a day for adults, and that figure covers all sources, including food and other drinks. A gallon of plain drinking water is above that range for most adults.
Know the limit. Drinking very large volumes quickly is genuinely dangerous, and the safe approach is to spread intake through the day rather than force it. The detail, with sources, is in drinking a gallon of water a day. If you have a heart or kidney condition, or take medication affecting fluid balance, ask a doctor about this rule specifically before you start.
Rule 3: A diet of your choice, no cheat meals, no alcohol
The program does not prescribe a diet. You pick one. The rule is that you follow it — no cheat meals, no alcohol, for 75 days.
Write it down. "Eating healthy" is not a plan. Your plan needs to be specific enough that another person could look at your day and say whether you followed it. A rule that cannot be broken cannot be kept.
No alcohol means none. Not at a wedding, not one glass. This is the rule that catches people who planned everything else.
Plan the social occasions. Eat before, bring your own, or order the same compliant thing every time. The diet does not break from hunger. It breaks from an empty fridge and a late menu.
Rule 4: Ten pages of non-fiction
Ten pages a day of a non-fiction, personal development book. Cleveland Clinic's summary specifies a physical book rather than an audiobook.
It takes about fifteen minutes and it is the task most often missed, precisely because skipping it has no physical cost. Nobody feels the absence of ten pages at 11:40pm.
Move it to the morning. Keep the next book bought and waiting so you never lose a day to having finished one.
Rule 5: A daily progress photo
One photo a day. Same place, same light, same time.
The point is a record you cannot argue with later. Daily change is invisible; 75-day change is not.
One caution: Cleveland Clinic raises the risk that daily photos feed body-image problems rather than motivation, and quotes sports performance psychologist Matthew Sacco on the gap between expectation and what willpower alone can deliver. If that applies to you, take the photo and do not look at it until the end, or swap the task for another daily proof.
The rule behind the rules: midnight, and starting over
Two structural rules make the five tasks into a challenge rather than a to-do list.
The day ends at midnight. Done or not done. No editing yesterday, no making it up tomorrow, no counting a 12:30am workout twice.
A miss restarts the run. Not the task — the whole thing, back to Day 1.
That second rule is what removes negotiation. With no partial credit, there is nothing to shave. It is also the rule that makes the program brittle: Cleveland Clinic notes the all-or-nothing structure creates real pressure and leaves no room for illness, injury, or life, and that the program has little scientific evidence behind it.
Unbroken keeps the same boundary — the day seals at midnight, your witnesses see what you logged, a missed task restarts the run — with one difference: the days you banked go into the Record, and nothing resets those, including a restart.
The gray areas, settled in advance
Decide these before Day 1, in writing:
- Split sessions. Two 25-minute runs do not make a 45-minute workout.
- Walking the dog. Counts if it is 45 continuous minutes at a deliberate pace.
- Sport. A 60-minute football match counts. Sitting on the bench does not.
- Sparkling water, tea, coffee. They are not the gallon. Drink them if your diet allows, and drink the water separately.
- Audiobooks and fiction. Not in the strict version.
- Physio or rehab sessions. Count them if they fill 45 minutes and you decided so in advance.
- Time zones and travel days. Pick one home time zone for midnight and keep it for all 75 days.
Where the rules are hardest
Illness and injury are the real test of a rulebook, because the strict version has no provision for either. Whatever you decide, decide it before you are ill: read sick during your challenge and what the restart rule really means in advance.
If the strict rules do not fit your life, the honest move is a softer version chosen deliberately, not a strict version quietly bent. 75 Hard vs 75 Soft sets out the trade.
Once your rules are written, put them where you will see them. Ready to run them? Prepare properly first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 rules of 75 Hard?
Two 45-minute workouts a day with one outdoors, one gallon of water, a diet of your choice with no cheat meals and no alcohol, ten pages of non-fiction, and a daily progress photo — every day for 75 days. Cleveland Clinic lists the same five rules and the restart condition.
Can both workouts be indoors?
No. One of the two sessions must be outdoors in the strict version, in whatever weather you get. A garage or an open gym door does not count. Plan your kit for rain and darkness before you start.
Does walking count as a workout in 75 Hard?
Yes, if it is a continuous 45-minute session at a deliberate pace. Steps accumulated across a day do not count. Using one daily session for walking is the standard way people manage eleven weeks with no rest days.
What happens if I miss one task?
In the strict version you restart the run at Day 1 the next day. There is no partial credit and no repairing yesterday. If you want a different rule, write it down before you start rather than deciding on the night you miss.
Is 75 Hard safe for beginners?
It is a heavy load, and Cleveland Clinic notes it can overtax beginners and cause overuse injuries without adequate rest. If you have been inactive, are pregnant, are managing a health condition, or take medication affecting fluid balance, talk to a health care professional before you start and adapt the rules in advance.