A passionate fitness buff embarked on a challenging endurance mission in the name of science.

Sam Culley released a video showcasing his attempt to tackle a seemingly straightforward question: which feat is more demanding—walking 50,000 steps, trekking 50 kilometers, or burning 5,000 calories in a single day?

Determined to find out, the British fitness enthusiast set his alarm for an early start at 6 a.m., with the aim of achieving at least two of these goals by day’s end.

Sam embraced the challenge not only for fun and to test his stamina but mainly out of sheer curiosity to discover which of these three physical endeavors would prove most difficult.

Rising with the sun to commence his trial, he was equipped with a headlamp and a stash of healthful snacks. Unfortunately, he left his earphones behind, making each step feel more pronounced as he lacked audio entertainment.

The challenge

By the time he reached 15 kilometers, Sam was starting to feel the strain. Yet, as he hit the halfway mark in steps, he was still in relatively good spirits.

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.