75 Hard Outdoor Workout: Best Walking Pace & BPM Guide

The optimal walking pace for the 75 Hard outdoor workout is 110 to 115 steps per minute (SPM). If you match your steps to a 110-115 BPM playlist, you stay in a low-intensity zone. This lets you actually recover instead of frying your nervous system.

I genuinely don't know how anyone survives the 75-day challenge without strict pacing. Two 45-minute workouts a day—with one forced outdoors—is a recipe for burnout. Most people fail 75 Hard around week three. Not because they lack discipline, but because they treat every single session like a CrossFit class.

What is an active recovery walk?

An active recovery walk keeps your heart rate at roughly 50-60% of your maximum (Zone 1 or very low Zone 2). You get the blood flowing and clear out metabolic waste from your morning lift, but you don't cause new muscle damage.

During 75 Hard, treating your outdoor session as rigid active recovery is the only way to survive the volume. The problem? Without a metronome or music, you'll naturally speed up. Before you know it, you're power walking at 135 steps a minute and creeping into a fatiguing heart rate zone.

The biomechanics of walking cadence

I see this constantly in the clinic: people try to walk as fast as possible to "burn more calories" and end up with terrible shin splints.

Research in the Journal of Sports Sciences shows that walking at 100-115 SPM balances mechanical efficiency with energy cost. Once you push past 130 SPM, ground reaction forces spike. You end up sending heavy impact loads straight into your knees and lower back.

"The biggest mistake people make during high-volume challenges is accumulating junk miles," says Dr. Phil Maffetone, a pioneer in heart-rate training. "If your secondary workout leaves you breathless, you are actively sabotaging your primary workout for the following day."

Walking BPM Comparison: Finding your pace

How to lock in your 75 Hard outdoor pace

I usually just rely on music to pace myself. The scientific term is auditory-motor entrainment, which is basically just your brain forcing your feet to step on the beat.

You could spend hours building the perfect 110 BPM playlist, but I prefer using a tool like GagaRun. It automatically filters your existing playlists so you only hear songs that match your target cadence. You just set it to 110 BPM and zone out.

When you step perfectly on the beat, your brain kinda shuts off. It lowers your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). That mandatory 45-minute slog in the freezing rain suddenly feels manageable.

Structuring the two-a-day schedule

If you want to make it to day 75, you need a system.

1. Do the heavy work early: Knock out your resistance training or high-intensity intervals in the morning when you actually have glycogen in your muscles.
2. Space them out: The rules require at least 3-4 hours between workouts. I prefer waiting until the evening for the second session to ensure my heart rate is completely back to baseline.
3. Pace the walk: Treat the evening outdoor session as pure active recovery. Put on 110 BPM music and refuse to walk any faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my 75 Hard outdoor workout just be walking?

Yes. The rules just say it has to be 45 uninterrupted minutes of exercise. I highly recommend walking. Trying to run twice a day for 75 days straight usually ends in overtraining syndrome.

What happens if it rains?

You still go outside. Andy Frisella, the creator of the challenge, is pretty ruthless about this. Unless it's a literal hurricane or life-threatening weather, you can't move the outdoor workout inside.

Is a 110 BPM pace fast enough to burn fat?

Yes. A 110-115 BPM cadence usually puts you right in the Fatmax zone—the intensity where your body burns the highest percentage of fat for fuel. It's incredibly efficient for body composition over a 75-day span.