A dedicated fitness enthusiast has subjected himself to a gruelling endurance test for the sake of science.
Sam Culley shared a video in which he endeavoured to answer a seemingly simple question: which challenge is tougher to complete, walking 50,000 steps, covering 50 kilometres, or burning 5,000 calories in one day?
To discover the answer, the British man resolved to set off from home at 6am and walk until he’d achieved at least two out of the three goals.
Sam undertook the challenge partly for enjoyment, secondly to push his limits, but primarily because he was genuinely curious to find out which of the three fitness objectives would be the hardest to accomplish.
He got up at the crack of dawn to complete the experiment – armed with just a head torch and a bag of nutritious snacks. Regrettably, he forgot his earphones and the lack of distraction really made him feel every single step he was walking!
The challenge
By the 15-kilometre mark, Sam began to feel the pressure. Thankfully though, the halfway point for steps soon arrived and he still appeared in fairly good form.
However, the calories were significantly trailing behind. By the time he reached 25 kilometres, his tripod had given way, although he maintained that his legs hadn’t.
At the 30-kilometre point, he paused to replenish his energy with protein bars and crisps and changed his socks in an attempt to keep his feet in decent condition.
The challenge intensified around the 35-kilometre mark, exacerbated by a sudden downpour. However, the first significant victory of the day was achieved: 50,000 steps were reached at approximately the 41-kilometre point after nearly nine hours of walking.
Sam’s father joined him towards the end of the experiment, accompanying his son for the last few kilometres. Together, they accomplished a total of 50 kilometres in ten hours and nine minutes, with a grand total of 61,685 steps.
By the conclusion, he had burned a total of 4,746 calories, but just over 3,000 of these were active calories.
Final results
Sam’s experiment demonstrated that it was ‘easiest’ to achieve 50,000 steps – a finding that makes perfect sense.
Steps are a measure of how many times your feet move, not a direct measure of distance. For most individuals, 50,000 steps equate to about 35–40km (depending on stride length), which is still a considerable distance, but typically less than 50km.
50km is a fixed, longer distance. For most people, this would be closer to 65,000–70,000 steps. Therefore, walking 50,000 steps covers less distance than 50km, making it easier.
The number of calories burned depends on factors such as your weight, speed, terrain, and more. On average, most people can burn around 3,000 calories by walking 50,000 steps.
To burn 5,000 calories, a much longer walk would be required – sometimes exceeding 80,000 steps.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
