Do walking challenges work? What two randomised trials found

A walking challenge is a set of rules: a goal, a score and other people. Whether it works depends on which rules, for whom, and for how long. Two randomised trials led by Mitesh Patel at the University of Pennsylvania tested exactly that, with step counts from wearables and phones rather than memory.

One result goes against the app we make. Chonky Corgo's Pack is a team format, and the larger trial found that teamwork among strangers faded once the game ended. That finding is here as plainly as the rest.

What did the BE FIT family trial test?

The BE FIT trial tested a walking game played by whole families. BE FIT enrolled 200 adults from 94 families in the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running study of families in Massachusetts. Their mean age was 55.4. Half the families played a points game for 12 weeks, then everyone was followed for 12 more weeks without it.

Every BE FIT participant measured a baseline first, then chose a higher daily goal: 33%, 40% or 50% above baseline, or any goal at least 1,000 steps higher. The game ran on points held and points lost. Each Monday the family received 70 points, 10 for each day ahead. Each day the study picked one family member at random. If that person had hit their goal the day before, the family kept its points. If not, the family lost 10. A family with 50 or more points at the end of the week moved up a level, from bronze toward platinum, and dropped a level if not.

How many extra steps did the families walk?

BE FIT families in the game raised their daily steps by 1,661 over their own baseline, against 636 for the control families. After adjustment, that is 953 more steps a day (95% CI 505 to 1,401). Game families met their goals on 53% of days. Control families met theirs on 32%.

The gain shrank once the points stopped, but it did not vanish. Twelve weeks after the game ended, BE FIT families still walked 494 more steps a day than the controls.

What did the STEP UP trial test?

The STEP UP trial tested three social versions of one walking game against a control group. STEP UP enrolled 602 adults from 40 US states, all with a body mass index of 25 or higher. Their mean age was 39, and 71% were men. The game ran for 24 weeks, followed by 12 weeks without it.

Every STEP UP player picked a goal 33%, 40% or 50% above their baseline, or at least 1,500 steps higher, and earned points and levels for hitting it. The social rules were the only thing that changed between the arms.

• Support, 151 people. Each player named a family member or friend, who got a weekly email report on their walking.
• Collaboration, 150 people. Teams of 3 who typically did not know each other. Each day one teammate was picked at random, and if that person had missed their goal the day before, the whole team lost 10 points.
• Competition, 150 people. Groups of 3 strangers who got a weekly email leaderboard ranking them by points.
• Control, 151 people. Step feedback from the wearable and nothing else.

Which format added the most steps?

Competition added the most. STEP UP's competition arm walked 920 more steps a day than the control group during the game (95% CI 513 to 1,328). Support added 689 and collaboration added 637. Competition was also the only arm still clearly ahead of the controls in the 12 weeks after the game stopped.

Collaboration's follow-up figure had a confidence interval from -248 to 468 steps. In plain terms, the teamwork gain had gone. STEP UP's support arm sat in between, with a follow-up P value of .04 that the paper still reported as short of significance.

Why did competition beat teamwork?

STEP UP's authors point to who the teammates were. The collaboration teams were strangers introduced by email, and the discussion section suggests competition may work better than collaboration when people have no existing social ties. A shared penalty carries little weight when you have never met the people you are letting down.

The STEP UP paper makes the family comparison itself. STEP UP's discussion cites BE FIT, where nearly the same teamwork rule ran inside real families and added 953 steps a day, and then notes that STEP UP's players did not know each other beforehand. The two trials differ in people, length and goals. So this is a reading of both papers, not a result either one tested head to head.

Does the extra walking last after the game ends?

Partly. Every game arm in both trials walked less once the points stopped. STEP UP's competitors kept 569 extra steps a day and BE FIT's families kept 494. STEP UP's stranger teams kept 126, which was not a real difference. Plan the end of a walking challenge as carefully as the start.

The fade is familiar. Studies of Pokemon GO found real step increases that shrank as the novelty wore off, which is covered in how to make walking more fun. A challenge with a finish date has the same cliff built in.

Who were these trials about?

Neither trial is about everyone. BE FIT families came from the Framingham Heart Study, had European ancestry and needed a smartphone or a computer, and the authors list those as limits. STEP UP recruited adults with a body mass index of 25 or more, mostly men, with a mean age of 39.

Both trials studied adults. Both tracked steps with wearables or phone apps, ran the game through texts or emails rather than a game app, and measured steps against a control group. STEP UP's disclosures list consulting fees from Deloitte for several authors, and Deloitte staff are among its co-authors.

What does this mean for Chonky Corgo's Pack?

Chonky Corgo's Pack is a team format, so STEP UP is evidence against part of our design. A Pack needs Sign in with Apple and holds up to 6 people, and every member's steps hit one shared daily boss. Our reading of both trials is that a Pack suits a family or friends, not strangers.

Packs that want a race can use the Daily Dash, which ranks by steps. We have run no trial of our own. Treat the Pack as a design bet that leans on BE FIT, not as evidence.

How do you set up a walking challenge that works?

Copy the parts both trials shared. Each person set a personal goal above their own baseline, points were handed out first and lost on missed days, and the game had a fixed end. Then choose the social format by who is playing: competition for loose groups, shared stakes for people who already care about each other.

1. Measure a baseline firstUse a week or two of normal days. Both trials did, and every goal was a step up from that number, not a fixed 10,000. What is a good step goal covers how to pick one.
2. Raise each goal by a third to a halfBE FIT offered 33%, 40% or 50% above baseline, or at least 1,000 more steps. STEP UP offered the same percentages, or at least 1,500 more.
3. Hand out the points firstBoth games gave points up front and took 10 away for each missed goal, so players were protecting a score rather than building one from zero.
4. Match the format to the groupStrangers did best with a weekly leaderboard. Families kept their gain with shared points and one random member carrying them each day.
5. Decide what happens after the last daySteps fell in every game arm once the game stopped. Pick the next challenge before the first one ends.

What else do people ask?

Three questions people ask after reading about these trials, answered from the two papers. Each answer names the trial it comes from, because the two studied different people, ran for different lengths of time and tested different rules. A number from one trial does not carry over to the other.

Is competition or teamwork better for a walking challenge?

Among strangers, competition. In the STEP UP trial, competing groups added 920 steps a day and kept 569 after the game, while stranger teams added 637 and kept a non-significant 126. Families in BE FIT did well with shared points, so the answer depends on who is playing.

How long did the walking challenges in these trials last?

BE FIT ran its family game for 12 weeks, then followed everyone for 12 more weeks without it. STEP UP ran its game for 24 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of follow-up. Both trials measured daily steps the whole time.

Do walking challenges keep working after they end?

Partly. BE FIT families still walked 494 more steps a day than controls 12 weeks after the game, and STEP UP's competitors kept 569. STEP UP's stranger teams fell back to 126 extra steps, which was not a significant difference. Every game arm walked less once the points stopped.