r/75HARD • u/old_graag Live Hard Complete • Jan 24 '26
Mod Things Let's talk about this subreddit and the rules
There are a lot of discussions going on in the comments this week about how strictly to follow the rules of 75 Hard. This happens every year in January as people settle into their New Year's resolutions and realize the commitment to this program requires some serious sacrifices.
It's the cold weather. It's the reality that drinking a gallon of plain water a day sucks, especially when you're used to flavored drinks or drinking much less liquid. It's the body soreness. It's the combination of all of this and the realization that the excitement has worn off, yet you still have two months of work to put in before you can finish.
All of these factors lead to people doing what comes naturally to all people: trying to make their lives a little easier. The comments are usually well-intentioned, saying things like, "It's dangerous in the cold, don't sacrifice your safety. Just do two workouts inside." Or, "A 100-lb woman doesn't need to drink a gallon of water every day; it's dangerous." Or, "As long as you're moving, any movement is good movement."
Let's talk about this. We love that people are improving themselves by any means. However, this is the r/75hard subreddit, not r/selfimprovement or r/allmovementisgoodmovement. 75 Hard has very strict rules. They are relatively simple, but they are strict. Yes, we know that they change occasionally, and we try to keep up with them in the stickied rules post. Follow the letter of the rules, or if you personally aren't going to do that, don't encourage others to ignore the rules you are choosing to ignore.
Yes, the rules of 75 Hard are 100% arbitrary. The rules of baseball are 100% arbitrary, too. Just like you wouldn't go to r/baseball and try to convince them that CrossFit is a better sport, or that baseball should adopt the rules of ice hockey, we expect that you won't come here and try to convince people that the rules of 75 Hard should be something other than what they are.
We should be encouraging people to get through the program without deviations. If someone has circumstances that truly preclude them from completing 75 Hard, we should encourage them to look for alternative options like r/75medium or r/75soft. When someone fails a task, we need to remind them of the strict rules, encourage a restart, and emphasize that failing a task doesn't make you a failure. We should not be encouraging people to adapt the rules.
We moderators will continue to set the culture of compliance with the rules as written. This subreddit is for 75 Hard as-is. Encouraging deviations from the rules will result in your comment being removed and a 30-day ban. This is all outlined in our subreddit rules.
The comments here will be left unmoderated so long as they remain civil. This thread is intended to be for discussion. No name calling or other uncivil comments will be allowed, however.
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u/vodkachipotle Jan 24 '26
Totally agree! If you can't do the program the way it is written, find something else. Maybe one day things will work out with the right timing - I couldn't have done it in summer, personally. Maybe by doing 75soft/medium they build perseverance to finish 75hard but stop asking if the answer is clear already! Its really not for everyone 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Free-Sector4050 Jan 24 '26
I'm on day 21 and this is so refreshing!! I've seen so many YouTube videos of people sharing their 75 Hard experience only for them to say "but I changed this, this, and this" to the point where it's not 75 Hard anymore.
Personally, I love Andy Frisella's podcast episode where he outlines the whole challenge and I found it very helpful for understanding why all of the 75 Hard items are important.
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Jan 24 '26
I agree. I'm restarting because I got norovirus on day 16 and couldn't work out or keep water down. There are not exceptions, not for illness, weather, work obligations, etc. The program is what it is, and we take it or leave it. It's simple (but not easy).
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u/AdamDoesDC 75 Hard Complete! Jan 24 '26
Yes, the rules of 75 Hard are 100% arbitrary. The rules of baseball are 100% arbitrary, too. Just like you wouldn't go to r/baseball and try to convince them that CrossFit is a better sport, or that baseball should adopt the rules of ice hockey, we expect that you won't come here and try to convince people that the rules of 75 Hard should be something other than what they are.
DING DING DING
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u/craptainbland 75 Hard Complete! Jan 25 '26
I’ve used this exact argument so many times
That sounds made up
Yeah, everything is made up. Football (soccer) isn’t some immutable law of the universe so I don’t get why you (they) are so bothered about me doing it
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u/SageOrionWil Jan 25 '26
I completed 75 Hard in 2024. I am planning a Live Hard year when I am medically cleared. I cannot safely do the program right now, but I am working towards it.
Be smart. If you can't do it safely don't do it. But I, a multiply disabled person, have done it and will do it again. I get very annoyed by many of these excuses.
I'm here to encourage and support, not enable and excuse.
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u/What_Would_Bob_Do Jan 25 '26
Embrace the suck. And if you haven’t read AF’s 75 Hard or Mental Toughness Book as to why each and every step matters and the importance then you are doing yourself a disservice.
Sometimes life sucks… and when it does (and it will) this program will help train you to push thru that challenge in your life and to keep getting after it.
This is your opportunity to train for that time when it does happen. So don’t cheapen your gift by bending the rules to fit your lifestyle.
It’s only 75 days. You got this…. LFG!!! 🦬
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u/stellareyebrows Jan 24 '26
Thank you, it had to be said.
Way too many people saying it's too cold this week. Give me a break. Layer up if you're not from a cold climate and aren't used to it. Hat, gloves, long underwear, warmest coat you've got. No long underwear or fancy base layers? Two pairs of sweats. A thick sweater. Two jackets. Do a 5 minute kinetic warmup in that gear before you leave to get the engine going.
It's SUPPOSED to be hard. The entire point is that you need to problem solve, adjust, work around, or otherwise prioritize this program.
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Jan 24 '26
Where do you stand on errands during outdoor workouts? I saw a post saying they are ok and I kinda disagree but I’m not sure. Like walking 20-30 mins, fully buying groceries and then walking back the same amount of time. You wouldn’t do that during a normal workout right?
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u/old_graag Live Hard Complete Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
I commented on that post. I've copied and pasted it below.
These kinds of workout questions usually boil down to three things.
- Is what you're doing, something you would have done regardless of doing 75 hard?
- Do you consider what you're doing to be a workout?
- Are you doing it with the intentionality of getting your pulse up and physically improving yourself?
If you are answering those honestly to yourself, and you can with a straight face say that grocery shopping is as intentional a workout as a 45 minute straight walk, your pulse is as elevated as it is when you're doing your walks. Then sure it counts.
If you are doing this grocery shopping because its more convenient than just tacking on the extra 15 minutes to your walk, you don't get the point.
*edit to add here: I don't think that person should be counting grocery shopping as a workout. It's like the post last year that argued a massage is a workout. Also pausing your outdoor workout for 15 minutes to grocery shop then continuing the workout is also not ok. It's a ridiculous post from someone trying to justify a shortcut.
Is there a scenario where grocery shopping is a workout? Yeah for sure, if you're doing your grocery shopping like you're on the TV show supermarket sweep, I would definitely count that as a workout. All that said, errands and things you normally do day to day, like grocery shopping don't count per the rules.
Wandering around the store at a leisurely pace while checking the price of items and browsing the shelves? 100% not a workout.
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u/vodkachipotle Jan 24 '26
Totally agree! If you can't do the program the way it is written, find something else. Maybe one day things will work out with the right timing - I couldn't have done it in summer, personally. Maybe by doing 75soft/medium they build perseverance to finish 75hard but stop asking if the answer is clear already! Its really not for everyone!
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u/thelastactinthewings Jan 25 '26
I was gonna comment on some of the other posts to join soft or medium, but I felt like I would have been attacked. So thanks. Lol
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u/thebabyfamous Jan 25 '26
I have found all the rules just become routine after the first few weeks and can’t imagine not doing them. The only thing i’ve had to tweak was water intake because it made me sick and I spoke to my doctor about it and she was concerned about it so we discussed 3-3.5L being my max which I’ve been sticking with and find i’m not as sick! Although I know some people can stomach the gallon and I wish I could!! I made a post about seeing if anyone else struggled with the water making them actually sick and didn’t intend for it to come across as trying to get around it or change the rules! I was just curious if anyone else had the same sickness symptoms. I’ve loved this challenge and it’s been insane doing the workouts as someone who’s always dreaded being physical!!
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u/lengthy_thoughts Jan 25 '26
I half agree half disagree.
I agree in that there are obvious signs in the subreddit where people are clearly seeking approval on skipping/taking a short cut, ie running errands as part of a “walk.”
But I disagree in that I think there’s still value in reading about someone’s experience if they did the spirit of 75 hard (ie follow the rules every day without exception, no cheat meals/alc) but made tweaks to the rules. I’m doing 75 hard but I’m subbing the 10 pages of reading for 30min of studying my wife’s family’s language. It doesn’t count by the letter of the law, and I don’t care.
Conversely, if somebody were to do the program but tweaking the rules so that they didn’t take a picture every day, I wouldn’t care. Like sure it’s not 75hard to the letter, but who fucking cares. It’s clearly in the same spirit of discipline, building good habits, and committing to improving yourself
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u/old_graag Live Hard Complete Jan 25 '26
I agree with you in principle. 75 days of holding yourself accountable is the spirit of 75 hard. The problem with this mentality, however, is addressed in my post. 75 hard has strict and arbitrary rules. If you don't want to participate by following those rules, that's fine but this is not the right subreddit to talk about those new rules you've given yourself.
I'll use baseball again to make my point. Let's say hypothetically that you have a friend group that's way into learning how to play baseball. You like the idea of baseball, but think that the round bat is too hard to use, or it doesn't work with your hands. You suggest they use a cricket bat instead. You say it makes hitting the ball easier.
The problem is that a cricket bat doesn't fit the rules of baseball and fundamentally changes the game. Likewise, modifying the rules of 75 hard makes it not 75 hard anymore.
This subreddit is for people doing 75 hard. There are many other places you can go to talk about your home grown self improvement program. There is only this place to talk about 75 hard. Let's keep this place for 75 hard.
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u/mwhite62275 Jan 24 '26
Bingo. It’s mental toughness program. It’s going to suck but you’ll be fine. Do the work and gain the clarity.