75 Soft challenge

What are the 75 Soft rules?

There's no official version. 75 Soft grew out of social media, so the rules change depending on where you look [1]. Here are the two versions you'll see most often.

Both lists come from the articles linked below [1] [2]. The best part of either one is that missing a day doesn't end it. WebMD puts it plainly: you aren't punished if you miss one of the daily goals [2].

Pick your version before day 1

Since there's no official rulebook, the first thing to do is decide exactly what your 75 Soft looks like and write it down. If you leave it fuzzy, it's really easy to keep shrinking the rules on the days you're tired.

Here's what I'd nail down. The first is how much and how often you'll exercise, and what counts. WebMD says walking and yoga count, and that a weekly rest day is part of the plan [2]. The second is what "eating well" means for you, in a way you can answer yes or no at the end of the day.

Before you start

75 Soft is a gentle challenge, but it still asks you to change 5 or 6 habits at once. An exercise physiologist WebMD talked to warned that it can cause cognitive overload, and a doctor in the same piece suggested starting with one or two habits if all of them at once feels like too much [2]. There's no shame in that. A version you finish beats one you quit in week 2.

How Sporadic can help with 75 Soft

Sporadic won't track your water or your reading. What it does is keep you moving. You pick a stack, and we send you short exercise challenges at random times through the day, like 15 squats or 10 push-ups, each with a deadline to finish.

For 75 Soft, that's handy in two ways. On your rest days, it keeps you active without a full workout. And on your workout days, it gets you off the couch when the 30 minutes feels like a lot to start. The free Get Up, Get Active stack sends 2-4 challenges a day with no equipment needed.

You can also use Sporadic to hit the exercise rule itself. Build a Custom Stack with the workout you're planning, like a walk or a run, or make your own exercise called something like "Workout" and set it to 30-45 minutes. Pick the days you're working out, set the time you want the reminder, and give yourself the whole day to get it done. Then on workout days you get a notification, do the workout, and mark it complete. Miss one and you'll see it, which is exactly what you want for a 75 day challenge.

You can even run both. Use the Custom Stack for your real workouts and Get Up, Get Active for some extra movement on the days in between.

If you're doing 75 Soft with friends, invite them to the same stack. You'll get the same challenges and keep a streak going together, so everyone can see who's keeping up. Sporadic also tracks your progress along the way, with your lifetime totals, your daily average, and graphs for each stack and exercise, so by day 75 you can see exactly how much you did.

For more on short bursts of movement, read what are exercise snacks. And if you've started and stopped challenges before, how to stay consistent with working out might help.

Frequently asked questions