Health Update: Health Update: 75 Hard, 75 Soft and 2026 viral fitness trends explained – What Experts Say– What Experts Say.
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Morgan Manning doesn’t reach for her phone upon waking up.
Instead, the 26-year-old gets ready, journals, prays and reads.
“It puts my mind in a good mental state to start the day,” says Manning, who lives in New York City.
Manning, who works in marketing and media, is starting her 2026 with “75 Soft,” a more flexible version of the viral “75 Hard” wellness challenge created in 2019 by Andy Frisella. This time of year, the viral “transformative mental toughness program” spikes in popularity, with hundreds of thousands of TikTokers posting how they tackle 75 Hard’s six rules: Eat a strict diet, drink a gallon of water daily, eliminate “cheat” foods and alcohol as well as read 10 pages of a nonfiction book daily.
It also requires you to work out twice daily for 45 minutes, including one outside activity. You must take progress pictures and start over from day zero if you fail.
Keeping up with the 75 Hard routine just isn’t sustainable for Manning, she says. She wanted a more moderate entrance to 2026 wellness.
“I think people are realizing it’s OK to be gentle with yourself,” Manning says. Her TikTok launching her challenge received over 60,000 views.
She was amazed by how many others were doing the same thing, many via TikTok videos featuring audio by creator Stephen Gallagher explaining the adjusted rules: “Eat well and only drink on social occasions. Train for 45 minutes everyday, 75 days without a day off and one day for active recovery every week. Drink three liters of water a day. Read 10 pages of any book.”
As we start 2026, many of us desire a wellness regimen – but one that doesn’t exacerbate the burnout we already feel, according to Fatima Cody Stanford, obesity medicine physician scientist, educator and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“Many people are entering 2026 depleted rather than unmotivated,” Stanford says. “After years of cumulative stress, burnout and an ‘optimize everything’ culture, there is growing recognition that sustainability matters more than intensity. A softer start lowers the activation energy for behavior change, reduces all‑or‑nothing thinking.”
A hard start isn’t for everyone
Many of us aren’t entering 2026 with the extra free time and physical power necessary for a major wellness relaunch, Stanford says. This drives the appeal of 75 Soft.
“Twice‑daily 45‑minute workouts increase the risk of overuse injury, fatigue and dropout, especially when layered onto already demanding lives,” she says. “The health benefits of physical activity plateau well before that level for most individuals. Consistency matters far more than volume.”
How to start a 2026 wellness routine
75 Soft is by definition a short-term challenge. Tackling difficult things is OK within our limits, but Stanford encourages reaching for routines right now that will stick.
“Challenges should function as on‑ramps, not finish lines,” Stanford says. “That means simplifying rules, identifying the single behavior that felt most doable, and intentionally scaling it down once the challenge ends. … Habits are built through repetition under imperfect conditions, not through short bursts of maximal effort.”
Whether “resolutioners” stick around beyond a 75-day program is a matter of managing expectations.
“Start by removing pressure,” Stanford says. “Mental fatigue is not a discipline problem, it’s a signal. Movement does not need to look like a ‘workout’ to be therapeutic or beneficial. Begin with something that restores rather than depletes: a short walk, gentle stretching or simply standing and breathing between tasks.”
For Manning, she’s added her own tweaks to 75 Soft of getting 10,000 steps a day and taking time to connect with her faith, things she hopes to keep all year. For exercise, she’s doing a mix of weight training, high-intensity workouts and Pilates. These are the boundaries that work for her body and lifestyle, she says, adding it’s not sustainable for her to go “hard” every day.
“Working out even one time a week can take a lot of discipline,” she says.
Start by considering what your mental, physical and schedule capacity allow, according to Stanford. Weigh these criteria when anticipating how to maintain a plan through 2026: “People stick with routines that feel achievable, respectful of their bandwidth and compatible with real life.”
And if you’re feeling really sluggish, remember the decisions you make today make a big difference for longevity.
“These choices influence cardiometabolic health, inflammation, muscle mass, cognitive function and mental health over the course of decades,” Stanford says. “Small actions done consistently compound in powerful ways.”
Manning hasn’t missed a day of 75 Soft yet and aims to keep it up until March 16. So far, she’s loving the results.
“I just feel good.”