Is the 75 Hard the Answer to Success?

Confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, self-belief, fortitude, and grit are the keywords that define the 75 Hard challenge.

Andy Frisella created the 75 Hard challenge in 2020. While the initial craze has faded somewhat, people still participate in this viral challenge, hoping to drastically improve their lives and achieve their goals.

As the name suggests, the challenge is hard. You must stick to the strict regimen for 75 days with no days off. However, is this approach actually effective, and can the results be maintained long-term?

What is the 75 Hard challenge?

Andy Frisella is a podcaster, entrepreneur, and CEO of 1st Phorm International, a sports performance and nutritional supplement company. He claims to inspire, educate, and teach people how to work hard, overcome challenges, and build resilience, drawing on his personal experience of starting his business from nothing.

In January 2020, he created a free challenge, 75 Hard, to help others work toward their goals, health, success, and, most importantly, build mental toughness and discipline.

The 75 Hard challenge is marketed as a mental toughness program, but it is also a test of physical endurance and lifestyle discipline. Participants must complete a set list of tasks every day for 75 days without fail.

The philosophy

Frisella promotes this challenge as more of a mental and physical transformation. The program is hard and “not for everyone.” He uses assertive language, common among other CEOs and entrepreneurs, praising discipline, grind, and mental toughness.

He says the program was built on the premise that mastering your mind and sticking to your goal, day in and day out, will lead to growth and success in fitness and life. He portrays the challenge as a mental battle, claiming that the physical demands are just tools to build unbreakable willpower.

In simple terms, the philosophy is a prime example of the hustle culture mentality, which often blends self-sacrifice and suffering with discipline and a sense of superiority. This approach can help build discipline in some individuals or kick them out of a slump, but it also teaches rigidity over self-care and adaptability, and frankly, may lead to burnout or missing out on life for many.

Is getting your second 45-minute workout instead of grabbing a coffee with your close friend who is only in town for a day, and not straying from your diet, really discipline and a route to success? Sounds like rigid isolation to me.

The target audience

The 75 Hard is primarily marketed for people who are dissatisfied with their life and progress, and feel stuck, regardless of what it is: fitness, business, or life in general. However, looking at social media, the challenge often attracts:

• Fitness enthusiast who want to take their physique and training to elite levels
• Entrepreneurs drawn to the success stories and the no-excuses mindset
• People after a drastic physical and/or emotional overhaul
• People who are motivated by social media challenge culture and public accountability

The tough love narrative, which states that you can change your life by being more disciplined and hard on yourself, usually gets people hooked. This narrative also resonates with type A personalities or those who like strict rules and schedules. These people are often motivated by win-at-all-costs messaging and feel a sense of superiority for doing more than others.

What are the benefits of the 75 Hard challenge?

Given how difficult this challenge is and its potential to become toxic, why do people keep doing it?

The promised benefits in the sign-up page for 75 Hard are:

Make huge strides in your career & have a job that you are proud of
Feel completely confident about yourself and your actions
Learn how to manage your day, so you can get more done, and quit wasting time on meaningless things
Develop amazing relationships with the people who matter in your life
Gain independence and the ability to take complete ownership of projects & tasks
Completely overhaul the way you think & act
Learn how to be honest with yourself and gain the self-awareness to stay on track
Be in the best physical shape of your life as a result of the mental transformation you have made

Andy Frisella

Many people also report feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment after completing this challenge and feeling a sense of belonging to a community that participates and completes the challenge. Lastly, many say they have signed up for the challenge and share their progress online to feel accountable because they lack motivation or determination.

What are the dangers of the 75 Hard challenge?

Despite the promise of success, the challenge comes with significant physical and mental health concerns.

1. Physical risks. The demand of two workouts a day for more than two months without rest days will likely lead to overtraining, exhaustion, or even injuries. Make sure that at least 1–2 days per week, those workouts are walking and stretching only.
2. Promotes unhealthy habits. The all-or-nothing you fail if you miss one thing mindset can foster guilt, shame, obsessive perfectionism, or even disordered eating and exercise behaviours.
3. One size fits all. The strict regimen does not account for personal differences, health conditions, schedules, goals, or needs.
4. Lack of guidance. Despite big words and convincing language, the challenge does not actually provide any professional guidance.
5. Overhydration. Drinking water is essential and healthy, but a gallon a day is likely too much for most people, especially those who are smaller or have health issues.

Here's what I find wrong with the 75 Hard challenge as a fitness enthusiast

Another downside is the language used. Frisella aims to motivate people with his tough love, no-nonsense approach. However, statements like the following are absolute nonsense:

If you modify the program just to say you completed it, did you succeed? No. That's the problem with your whole life ... you constantly modify your plans & goals so you can say you completed them. By doing that, you never achieve what you're actually capable of, and you'll end up feeling worse about yourself, because you know deep down you cheated. You don't accomplish anything great by changing the rules in your favor just to check the box.

Andy Frisella

Progress and success are not linear. Fitness and nutrition are a lifelong journey. Occasionally having a meal that is not a part of your meal plan or missing a workout is not failure. Never allowing yourself to rest or enjoy a meal out is the fastest way to develop an unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, and your body.

As a committed fitness enthusiast, I know firsthand how discipline is built: waking up early, prioritizing home-cooked meals, sometimes saying no to drinks, and making time for a workout even when it’s inconvenient. However, knowing when to skip a morning workout to get enough sleep or when to ditch your meal prep to catch up with friends is equally important. Genuine commitment and discipline show when you do not see it as a failure and go completely off the rails. You enjoy the outing, the sleeping in, and you go straight back to your routines because the goal is to feel good and love life rather than ticking off boxes.

Yet, the 75 Hard does not allow for any adaptations of flexibility. Frisella has a rigid stance on altering the challenge:

NO ... Because that's the entire problem. You are trying to compromise and adapt things to suit your needs before you ever even start. When you make a small compromise to yourself... You create a pattern of compromise across every single area of your life.

Andy Frisella

But not everyone can carve out time for two 45-minute workouts a day. Many people work long hours, face long commutes, have childcare responsibilities, or lack access to safe outdoor spaces. For them, it is not about mental toughness to squeeze the workout in; it is about a lack of time and resources to hire help, move closer to work, or start their own business.

Furthermore, the rule that if you miss a single point, you fail and need to start from zero is as toxic (and stupid) as it gets. Fitness, discipline, and life do not work like that. Being resilient means adapting to life's challenges, including shifting your schedule rather than chasing the perfect fitness routine.

Oddly, the challenge is supposed to improve all areas of your life, including work and relationships. However, none of the activities focus on these. With work and completing all of the tasks daily, I do not see much time for friends or family, unless everyone you care about is doing the challenge with you, which I strongly doubt. Also, you will likely be too tired and burnt out to go above and beyond in your career, chores, and relationships.

This grind culture mentality alienates and possibly even endangers several groups: people with mental health issues, those recovering from eating disorders, individuals with chronic illness, or those with limited time and resources. Younger audiences, bombarded by ‘before and after’ images and challenge hype on social media, may absorb lessons about worthiness and ‘success’ that can easily tip into obsessive or harmful behaviors.

The lack of guidance on how to transition after the challenge and how to maintain results may lead people to develop an unhealthy obsession with always following this regimen out of fear of being a failure if they do not. Lastly, if the challenge did not achieve the desired success, there is no real advice or ways to personalize it to your goals.

How to achieve long-term success?

Other strategies exist to achieve your goals and long-term success, whether in fitness, health, relationships, or career.

1. Identify the main goals and priorities
2. Build gradual habits, adding more over time
3. Plan rest and allow yourself to enjoy holidays and special events
4. Seek individualized personalized advice and coaching
5. Focus on intrinsic motivation and self-compassion
6. Schedule stuff that is for pure enjoyment only

It is essential to balance and enjoy yourself to stay motivated with your fitness, nutrition, and other goals. The 80/20 rule is a nutrition approach that suggests following a plan 80% of the time, focusing on whole foods and nutrients, and allowing yourself to indulge ‘for the soul.’ However, a similar approach can be applied to fitness, too.

When it comes to career goals, each case is individual. The best starting point would be to talk to someone in your desired career and research how to get there, making yourself an actionable plan. While having a fit and healthy body helps, two workouts a day may be taking away your time from extra courses, and reading only nonfiction if you love to read fiction may steal your passion for reading and make it a relaxing hobby.

75 Soft challenge

A spin-off of the 75 Hard is the 75 Soft. Sticking to your chosen goals for 75 days is a commitment to build habits and improve your health. This unofficial approach allows for much more flexibility if you are motivated by ticking off days and social media communities. Examples I have seen often entail a similar routine:

• A workout or a walk each day
• 2 L of water daily
• 8 h of sleep at night
• 10 pages of any book
• Home-cooked meal on weekdays

Concluding remarks

While challenges like 75 Hard can provide short-term motivation with their assertive language and hustle mentality, the relentless no days off approach is more likely to produce burnout than lasting growth. Real, sustainable success is built not just on discipline and drive, but also on self-worth, adaptability, and the courage to embrace failure and learn from it. Perfectionism and rigid routines rarely yield long-term results; rather, they often lead to unhealthy habits and disappointment. Actual progress comes from building habits that support your unique lifestyle.

Ultimately, 75 Hard is a one-size-fits-all program that does not allow for personal goal setting or meaningful customization. Instead of empowering individuals to pursue what truly matters to them, it demands strict adherence to someone else’s rules, regardless of whether those rules align with one's own needs or circumstances.