What is 75 Hard? This 'mental toughness' program is helping people get in shape (2023)

The 75 Hard Rules

Frisella says the rules of 75 Hard are simple, but that doesn't mean the plan is easy.

There are five daily tasks (plus one over-arching rule!) which much be executed consistently for the entire 75 days.

1. If you skip a day, you must start over. If you miss a task, you must start over at day one. "You cant tweak the program to your liking ... it's supposed to be inconvenient and it's supposed to be hard," said Frisella. "In life, conditions are never going to be perfect; you're always going to have to do things that you don't want to do and the minute you start tweaking or compromising, that's what opens the door to quitting."
2. Pick a diet to follow, with no alcohol or cheat meals. You must choose a diet based on your goals and stick to it. But there's a second caveat to the rule: No cheat meals and no alcohol. In a culture that depends on after-work drinks or wine once the kids are in bed, Frisella acknowledges the difficulty of this task. "Not a drop. Not a beer. Not a wine. Not a glass when you get home. Nothing for at least 75 days," he said. "There's a number of reasons for this: Empty calories, psychological addiction, physical addiction. Also, we’re talking about detoxing your body for 75 days ... You don’t understand how foggy you are because of this (alcohol-drinking) lifestyle."
3. Drink a gallon of water daily. "Make sure you start early and be consistent throughout the day so that you're not chugging a gallon of water before you go to bed," Frisella said, which, he admits, he had to do a few times himself.
4. Complete 2 daily workouts. One of the most time-consuming parts of 75 Hard is the workouts: Two 45-minute workouts of your choice must be completed per day and one of those workouts must be done outside, regardless of the weather. "This is the point of the program — conditions are never perfect," said Frisella. "And one of the reasons that most people can’t get through life in an effective way is because the minute conditions are tough, they throw the towel in on their plan."
5. Read 10 pages per day of a non-fiction book. "This is not entertainment time, this is not 'Harry Potter' time, this is learn new stuff time," Frisella explained. "The book has to be a self-development book of some kind and it has to be for personal growth." He also stresses that it needs to be a physical book, not an e-book you read on your phone or tablet.
6. Take a progress photo every day. "This is not just to show your physical transformation ... once you start getting some progress, fitness or business or anywhere else, you start to forget the little details as you go," said Frisella. These photos will help you remember the daily progress of your journey, he said. He also encourages people to take photos that show their body, recognizing that this may be difficult, but that these photos are for you only and don't need to be posted.

The intensity of the program seems to be attractive to people who are seeking dramatic change. Since Frisella created the program in 2019, there have been more than a million posts on Instagram using the #75Hard hashtag and TikTok is filled with videos of people documenting their daily routines and success stories.

Frisella says he's not surprised.

"If you follow the program exactly as it's laid out, you will be a completely different person," he said. "You will look different. You will talk different. You will f------ think different. You will be a different human completely."

Experts say there are pros and cons to this kind of program

Dr. Jordan Metzl is a sports medicine physician and author of "Dr. Jordan Metzl's Workout Prescription," and as a fan of mental and physical commitments, he can see the perks of a program like 75 Hard.

"In general, people have way more in their tank than they think they do," said Metzl. "I have found that different people respond to different concepts. Some like encouragement, others like a group, while others find that just belonging to a club helps tremendously."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, adults who are physically active are healthier, feel better and are less likely to develop chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. Though you should always consult with a health care professional before starting a new diet or fitness program.

The organization recommends adults aim for at least 75-300 minutes of exercise per week depending on the intensity of each workout, adding that there are additional health benefits to reaching more than 300 minutes weekly.

Metzl said it's OK to attempt to reach higher amounts of active time.

"As long as you're paying attention to your body and making sure pain isn't changing the way you move, this should be fine," Metzl added. "Obviously aches and pains that worsen need to be checked out, but this seems more of a commitment to commitment, which I think is a great thing to try."

Kelley Kitley is a licensed clinical social worker and women's mental health expert sees pros and cons to programs like 75 Hard.

"This model could be helpful for people who are trying to create major behavior changes," Kitley told TODAY Health. "It's very structured and easy to follow as well as offers an accountability component with taking pictures to visually see progress made. And, as a cognitive behavioral therapist, I love the reading component to help keep yourself motivated and grounded."

Kitley says while an all-or-nothing mentality can be difficult to sustain long-term, she can see how the approach would benefit those wishing to kick-start their health journeys. That said, it's important to have a plan for what life will look like after completing a round of 75 Hard.

"Don't let the pendulum swing in the other direction," Kitley cautions. "Likely, you’ll be feeling incredible (if you successfully complete the program) and will want to keep up a healthy lifestyle and add some of those new behaviors into your daily living."

Other experts urge caution.

"The average person in today's society doesn't have the time to commit to that without sacrificing somewhere else in their life," Thomas Hildebrandt, a physician and Director of The Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders at Mount Sinai in New York, told TODAY after hearing the "rules" of 75 Hard.

Not only that, but Hildebrandt thinks that there may be psychological consequences for some people who attempt 75 Hard.

People with eating disorders, for example, may be triggered into relapse by the success-failure rollercoaster that 74 Hard is likely to create for them. Hildebrandt fears that, even for people with no history of disorder, the kind of failure experience built into 75 hard may cause people to internalize their failure and therefore reduce motivation.

So, if you're looking to get fit and 75 Hard is appealing to you, Hildebrandt recommends looking at your goals first. "Most people want a better life," said Hildebrandt and most people don't actually need strict rules to get there. "At the end of the day, the best outcomes come from the things that you can truly enjoy and integrate into your life, he said.

Hildebrandt said that some people may enjoy the challenge of plans like 75 Hard. "There are people who are driven in that way," he said. But if the intense rules don't feel like fun to you, that's okay. Hildebrandt said that most of us don't need a mountain to climb — we just need more movement in our lives. "At the end of the day, it's just about moving."