75 Medium Challenge: Rules, Checklist, and What to Drink

75 Medium Challenge: Rules, Checklist, and What to Drink

The 75 Medium Challenge is a 75-day habit program between 75 Hard and 75 Soft. The most common version: one 45-minute workout a day, a diet you follow 90 percent of the time, water equal to half your body weight in ounces, 10 minutes of reading, 5 minutes of meditation, and a progress photo on day 1 and day 75. There is no official rulebook. Published sources disagree on alcohol, water, and mindfulness minutes. Below: every version compared, the three-way breakdown against Hard and Soft, and the drinks and caffeine questions no other page covers.

Key Takeaways

• No one owns 75 Medium. Cleveland Clinic says exact rules vary by source. Pick a version and write it down before day 1.
• The 90/10 diet is where daily decisions live, including drinks. Black coffee costs zero against the 10 percent. A 54 g sugar energy drink spends most of it.
• No published 75 Medium version requires a restart if you miss a day, unlike 75 Hard.
• Seventy-five days clears the median habit-formation window (about 66 days per Lally et al. 2010 among those who reached automaticity), but the modeled range extends to 254.

What Are the 75 Medium Challenge Rules?

Cleveland Clinic puts it plainly: there is no official version, so exact rules vary. The three most-cited sources (Cleveland Clinic, Marathon Handbook, Healthline) each publish a different list.

Pick one version and commit to it for all 75 days. Switching rules mid-challenge creates more decisions, not fewer.

Who Created 75 Medium?

No named creator. 75 Hard is Andy Frisella's program. 75 Soft traces to Stephen Gallagher, an Irish fitness creator whose 2021 TikTok video introduced a gentler version. 75 Medium grew out of fitness communities as the midpoint. No trademark, no app, no single origin post. That is why rule sets vary.

75 Hard vs 75 Medium vs 75 Soft

Water targets below are converted to ounces so you can compare them directly.

The biggest difference is the restart rule. 75 Hard resets you to day 1 for any missed task. 75 Medium does not. For more, see 75 Hard drink rules, 75 Soft challenge rules, 75 Hard vs Winter Arc vs the Great Lock In, or monk mode.

How Much Water Is Half Your Body Weight in Ounces?

The Marathon Handbook version uses the "half your body weight in ounces" formula. Here is what that looks like at common weights, with 75 Hard's gallon as a reference.

The National Academies adequate intake for total water is about 3.7 L (125 oz) for men and 2.7 L (91 oz) for women; roughly 80 percent comes from beverages, including caffeinated ones. If your version says "plenty" or "moderate," you define the number. Write it down. More on hydration and focus here.

Can You Drink Coffee or Energy Drinks on 75 Medium?

Yes. No 75 Medium rule set mentions caffeine. Coffee, tea, and energy drinks are all allowed. The real question is how they interact with the 90/10 diet.

Black coffee has zero calories and zero sugar. It costs nothing against the 10 percent. A 16 oz Monster Energy original carries about 160 mg of caffeine and roughly 54 g of sugar, almost certainly a 10 percent spend. Celsius original (200 mg caffeine, 0 g sugar per 12 oz) has no sugar but a high caffeine dose.

Caffeine ceiling and cutoff. The FDA says up to 400 mg of caffeine per day is not generally associated with negative effects in healthy adults. A 2013 study by Drake et al. (n=12) found that 400 mg taken 6 hours before bed still reduced total sleep time by more than one hour. More on how long caffeine stays in your system here.

Alcohol is banned in the Marathon Handbook version. Other sources differ. Decide before day 1.

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have a heart condition, take medication, or are under 18, talk to a clinician before setting any caffeine target.

What Happens If You Miss a Day on 75 Medium?

You keep going. No published 75 Medium version includes a restart rule. Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Dakkak recommends adjusting instead of starting over. That is the defining difference from 75 Hard, where missing any single task means returning to day 1. A missed Tuesday does not erase four weeks of effort.

Does 75 Days Actually Build a Habit?

The best data comes from Lally et al. (2010): 96 volunteers tracked over 12 weeks. Among those who showed a habit-formation curve, the median time to reach automaticity was about 66 days; the modeled range was 18 to 254 days, and over half of participants did not reach the automaticity plateau during the study. Seventy-five days clears the median but not the full range. Simple behaviors lock in faster; complex ones may need longer. The challenge is a strong start, not a guaranteed finish line.

A 75 Medium Daily Checklist You Can Copy

Screenshot this or copy it into your notes app. Check each box before bed.

• 45-minute workout completed
• Diet followed (90% adherence)
• Water target hit (_____ oz)
• 10 minutes of reading or learning
• 5 minutes of meditation or prayer
• Progress photo (day 1 and 75 only)
• Day _____ of 75

Decide before day 1:

1. Which diet plan, and what counts as the 10 percent?
2. Alcohol: banned or limited?
3. Caffeine ceiling and cutoff time (e.g., 300 mg max, none after 2 PM)
4. What counts as your workout?
5. Tracking method: app, notebook, or wall calendar?

The Realistic Middle Ground

The 75 Medium Challenge works because it removes the two features that cause most people to quit 75 Hard: the second daily workout and the restart rule. It still asks for 75 consecutive days of discipline across exercise, diet, hydration, reading, and mindfulness, backed by habit-formation data showing 66 days as the median automaticity threshold.

The gap between intent and completion lives in the details: which rules you chose, whether you wrote them down, and how you handled the first missed day. Settle those before day 1, and the next 75 days become execution, not interpretation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 75 Medium harder than 75 Soft?

Yes. 75 Medium requires a daily workout with no recovery day (75 Soft allows one active-recovery day per week), sets a specific water target instead of a flat 3 liters, and adds a meditation or prayer component. The 90/10 diet framework is also more measurable than 75 Soft's general "eat well" rule.

Can you drink alcohol on 75 Medium?

Depends on your version. Marathon Handbook bans it entirely. Other sources differ. If you want a clear binary, pick the no-alcohol rule. If you prefer flexibility, count any drink against your 10 percent.

Do you have to restart 75 Medium if you miss a day?

No. No published version includes a restart penalty. Cleveland Clinic's physician recommends small adjustments instead of starting over. This is the biggest structural difference from 75 Hard, which resets you to day 1 for any missed task.

Does coffee count toward the water goal?

No published version addresses this. The National Academies includes all beverages, including caffeinated ones, in its total water figures. The strict call: only plain water counts. The practical call: coffee contributes to hydration, but track plain water separately.

How long should the 75 Medium workout be?

At least 45 minutes. Cleveland Clinic extends the window to 45 to 60 minutes. The type is up to you: strength training, running, cycling, swimming, yoga. The only requirement is duration and daily consistency for 75 days.

Can you do 75 Medium as a beginner?

Yes. A 45-minute walk counts. The 90/10 diet allows flexibility for someone still learning to cook or track macros. Start with habits you can repeat daily, and scale intensity as the weeks progress.

One Workout, One Caffeine Decision

75 Medium is built on fewer daily decisions. One workout, not two. A 90 percent diet, not a perfect one. But the drinks question is where people keep re-deciding every morning: does this can spend my 10 percent, is it too late for another coffee?

Make the caffeine decision once. Roon is a zero-nicotine oral pouch with 80 mg caffeine, 60 mg L-theanine, 25 mg methylliberine (Dynamine), and 5 mg theacrine (TeaCrine), designed for a 6 to 8 hour felt window. One pouch in the morning covers most of the day. The duration comes from methylliberine slowing caffeine's clearance: a randomized, double-blind, crossover PK study (n=12) found co-administration cut caffeine's oral clearance from 41.9 to 17.1 L/hr and extended its half-life from 7.2 to 15 hours, with no increase in peak concentration. That study used 100 mg methylliberine with 150 mg caffeine, roughly 4x the methylliberine and 1.9x the caffeine in Roon (25 mg and 80 mg), so the magnitude will differ, but the mechanism is directionally the same.

Zero sugar, zero calories, nothing to log against the 90 percent. Roon does contain sucralose, so if your diet excludes all sweeteners, it would not fit. The trade-off: morning use only, at least 8 hours before bed. Subscriptions start at $9.16 per tin ($0.61 per pouch); one-time 4-packs are $15.00 per tin ($1.00 per pouch). Try Roon for your 75 Medium run.

Related from Roon

• 75 Hard drink rules
• 75 Soft challenge rules
• Winter Arc rules
• How long caffeine stays in your system

Written by Roon Team