75 Medium challenge: rules, tracker and printable calendar

Seventy-five days in the middle lane of the 75 family: one workout a day, a food plan you keep 90 percent of the time, water scaled to you, and a page a day. This page explains the rules, how they sit between 75 Soft and 75 Hard, and how to set up a free contract, calendar and tracker.

What is the 75 Medium challenge?

75 Medium is an informal variation of the 75 Hard program that sits between 75 Hard and 75 Soft. Like the rest of the 75 family it runs for 75 days with daily rules; unlike 75 Hard, missing a day does not send you back to day one. There is no official 75 Medium organization or rulebook, which is why you will see slightly different versions. The Cleveland Clinic describes it as a middle option for people who find 75 Hard too much and 75 Soft too loose (Cleveland Clinic).

Challenge Contract is a free tool for running it: a one-page contract you sign with yourself, a 75-day calendar, a lock-screen wallpaper and a daily check-in.

The 75 Medium rules

These four rules are the version most often shared. Every day, for 75 days:

1. Work out for 45 minutes. One session a day, not two. Any training counts: the Cleveland Clinic lists walking, swimming, biking and hiking alongside gym sessions, and suggests 45 to 60 minutes. If daily training is new to you, their sports medicine advice is to build up from 15 minutes rather than jump straight in.
2. Keep to your food plan 90 percent of the time. You choose the plan. The idea is balanced eating that limits alcohol, added sugar and highly processed food, with room left for the other 10 percent. 75 Hard allows no treats at all; 75 Medium leaves you some.
3. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. Take your weight in pounds, halve it, and drink that many US fluid ounces across the day. At 150 pounds that is 75 ounces (about 2.2 liters); at 180 pounds, 90 ounces (about 2.7 liters). That is less rigid than 75 Hard's fixed gallon, but it is still a real target: mark a bottle or use the converter table on our water challenge page.
4. Read 10 pages, or spend 10 to 20 minutes on personal development. Most versions say 10 pages. The Cleveland Clinic's version is broader: 10 to 20 minutes of meditation, journaling, inspirational reading or prayer all count.

Some versions add a fifth habit, a daily progress photo. In the Cleveland Clinic's phrasing it is "a tool, not a requirement" (Cleveland Clinic); other guides, such as Marathon Handbook, list it as optional too. For context, the CDC recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week plus two days of strength work (CDC). A 45-minute session every day is well above that, so it is fine to build up to it, and their doctors' summary of the whole program is worth keeping on the fridge: it should improve your life, not take it over.

75 Medium vs 75 Soft vs 75 Hard

All three keep the 75-day length and daily rules. The differences are how strict each rule is, and what a missed day costs. 75 Hard's official rules are published on Andy Frisella's website; 75 Medium and 75 Soft are community variations. Here is how they line up:

Which one fits is a matter of your weeks, not your character. 75 Medium suits people who want the daily-training rhythm and a real food plan, but whose job or family makes two-a-day workouts and a perfect diet unrealistic.

What about 75 Hotter?

75 Hotter is another offshoot, aimed at glowing-up rather than grit: a daily workout, protein and greens at every meal, about 3 liters of water, skincare, a self-care activity and journaling, with progress photos and weigh-ins in most versions. Like 75 Medium it has no official rulebook. If that is the one you want, build it as a custom contract and write those rules in.

When does my 75 Medium end?

How to track 75 Medium with this site

1. Open the contract builder. Start a 75 Medium contract with the four rules already filled in and the length set to 75 days. The default start is next Monday; you can change it.
2. Make the water rule yours. Write your actual ounce target, for example "Drink 75 oz of water", so a yes-or-no answer is possible every evening.
3. Print the calendar. Printing gives you your signed contract plus a 75-day calendar with a small box for each rule on every day. Use Save as PDF in the print dialog for a file instead.
4. Save the wallpaper. Put your rules on your phone's lock screen so you see them every time you pick it up.
5. Check in every evening. The daily tracker shows your streak and your perfect days. It runs in your browser, works offline and needs no account.

Printable 75 Medium calendar

The builder prints your signed contract on its own sheet. A 75-day calendar uses two more sheets in the calendar layout. The rule-rows layout uses three calendar sheets, with one row per rule and one column per day: four sheets including the contract. Letter or A4, and an ink-saver mode if you are printing at work.

Make my 75 Medium calendar

Missed a day? Never miss twice

Over 75 days, a missed workout or a birthday that breaks the 90 percent is likely. In 75 Hard that costs you the whole challenge; 75 Medium has no official restart rule, so decide before day one and write it into your contract.

The rule printed on every calendar here is never miss twice. Mark the missed day honestly, then keep all your rules the following day. One miss is a slip; two in a row is how a new habit fades. And if one rule keeps failing for the same reason, change the rule rather than giving up on the challenge.

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Start my 75 Medium contract

75 HARD is a trademark of 44Seven Media LLC. This is an unofficial checklist and tracker; not affiliated.