The BOOKsteps Challenge: Mission (more than) accomplished!

Four million steps in 14 days. That was the ambitious goal set by the BOOK family team from Axel Springer in cooperation with HUMANOO for the BOOKsteps Challenge. How the steps were taken didn’t matter: you could sprint or walk, move briskly or leisurely, or even crawl forward. The only requirement was that they had to be steps, and there had to be many of them.

Reaching the Goal Together

Challenges of this kind are ideal for teams: there’s a common goal that can only be achieved together. For each member, they serve as both motivators and coaches because every step was measured and recorded in the app. There, you could see how much you had achieved on that day or overall. The BOOK family team members could decide themselves how many steps they wanted to take per day.

To the North Pole… and Beyond

The challenge was a complete success and even exceeded the set goal. Instead of the planned four million steps, a proud total of 5.8 million steps were achieved! This means that the team together covered a distance that goes even beyond the North Pole when starting from Berlin. That’s certainly a reason to be proud!

The BOOK family is no stranger to this challenge, as they already did the Steps Challenge for the second time. Last year, the team, along with Health Management from Axel Springer and HUMANOO, used the steps to make a donation to benefit children in Ukraine.

Planting Trees as Additional Motivation

Once again, a good cause was in focus, and so the colleagues committed to planting a total of 200 trees in collaboration with HUMANOO. The fitting motto was “BOOKsteps – we walk for trees.” Participants earned points, called “diamonds,” for each step, and these diamonds were then exchanged for trees.

Tree Projects in the Global South

The trees are planted in cooperation with the Impact Hero platform in over 20 countries in the global South, such as Egypt, Indonesia, or Tanzania. Impact Hero collaborates with local communities to support tree projects that help fight climate change, create ecosystems for animals, ensure healthy soil, and restore water cycles. Simultaneously, it improves the income and educational opportunities of local communities.

It’s clear that this motivated everyone! Step by step, the BOOK family accumulated so many trees that it’s almost a small forest. The team now proudly possesses a tree certificate confirming their outstanding achievement.

Bringing More Movement into Daily Life and Doing Good Step by Step

However, planting trees wasn’t the only motivation for participating in the challenge. It was also about incorporating more movement into daily life. Every single step counted! For some, it meant going for a run more often after work. Others walked part of their daily commute. Some began taking a short walk during their lunch break or used stairs more frequently. They even walked over to a colleague for a discussion instead of picking up the phone. The opportunity to change the world with their own feet was well-received by the BOOK family.

In summary, there were many reasons to participate: It was about doing something good – step by step.

• For climate protection
• For team spirit and
• For health and fun

Team members were highly enthusiastic about the challenge

“Movement for a good cause motivates,” confirmed Melanie Hoffmann, a medical editor at FITBOOK. “Suddenly, every step becomes important, and the bicycle stays in the garage. I’d gladly do it again next year.”

Nuno Alves, editor-in-chief of the BOOK family, shares a similar sentiment: “Thanks to the BOOKsteps Challenge, I spent more time outdoors than I normally would have. I adjusted my workout routine to include more running instead of lifting weights at the gym.”

Louisa Stoeffler, a PETBOOK editor, is also thrilled: “The BOOKs Steps Challenge helped me incorporate more movement into my daily life and improved my endurance. It was great preparation for my first ascent of the Zugspitze.”

Team Spirit Benefits from the Steps Challenge

Aside from team spirit, climate protection, and health, there was also a bit of competition among colleagues. Who could achieve the most steps? This friendly form of rivalry added to the motivation.

The challenge was organized in collaboration with Edgar Chambon from HUMANOO. “He made it very easy for us,” praised Susanne Resch from TRAVELBOOK, who was part of the organizing team. From scheduling to the text for the challenge in the app, everything went smoothly.

The challenge was announced during the conferences

One month before the start, the project was announced during the BOOK family’s conferences and through the Teams app. Two weeks before the challenge began, an email was sent to all team members with instructions on how to register and a detailed explanation of the registration process. For those who hadn’t participated last time and didn’t have a HUMANOO ID, it was explained what they needed to do to get one and what steps were required. This included downloading the HUMANOO app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and signing in with the ID.

For those who had participated in a previous challenge, it was quite simple: they just had to pass on their name, email address, and ID, and they were registered.

And so it began – Every step counted!

Then it was time to start: May 22 marked the beginning of the #BOOKsteps Challenge 2.0. Every single step counted, as the goal of four million steps in two weeks was already quite a challenge. That’s why some team members chose to take the stairs, even when they would normally use an escalator. Colleagues who typically used public transportation to get to work began walking during the challenge. Everyone found ways to walk or run more than they used to, even if it meant adding just 125 more steps to reach 7,000 in a day.

Some used fitness trackers to count their steps, but it also worked without one. With each passing day, not only did the total number of steps increase, but so did the motivation to achieve more.

94 percent of the team participated

In total, 38 members of the BOOK family participated in the challenge, which is 94 percent of the team – a truly impressive result. When you distribute the achieved steps among team members, it averages out to 11,000 steps per day per person!

The great success can be partly attributed to the fact that many team members still had fond memories of the challenge from the previous year and were eager to join in for a second round.

Team Spirit and Challenge

Team spirit was one aspect, but it was also about the challenge. Everyone wanted to take as many steps as possible to reach the planned goal, and maybe even a few more than their colleagues. This led to an unexpected problem: the app could only count up to 40,000 steps per day. This speaks to the commitment of the participants, who sometimes exceeded this not-so-small step count.

The result: 1.8 million steps more than planned

So it’s no wonder that in the end, significantly more steps were taken than originally planned. The team covered an incredible 5,829,763 steps, equivalent to about 4,443 kilometers. “We far exceeded our initial goal of four million steps in 14 days thanks to our fantastic team and the support of HUMANOO,” said Susanne Resch with delight.

Will the Challenge Become an Annual Tradition?

The response after this success was tremendous, and there was a lot of positive feedback for the Steps Challenge. Purpose, team spirit, and health served as strong incentives for team members to participate and contribute their part. Now, there’s even consideration of turning the BOOKsteps Challenge into a tradition, continuing it annually. Who knows, maybe next year, they’ll set an even higher step goal. The timing of the challenge in late spring, according to Susanne Resch, was well chosen and could be maintained.

Many Team Members Continue Even After the Challenge

There’s more good news: many team members didn’t stop being active even after the challenge ended. The 14 days were so enjoyable that they continued their daily step routines.

Colleagues still use their lunch breaks to stay active, they run or walk more frequently after work, and they choose stairs over elevators. Some have set a daily step goal and use the HUMANOO app, which serves as both a coach and motivator. They’ve noticed positive changes; Susanne Resch shared her experience: “I’m much more resilient now that I walk to work more often, covering nearly six kilometers.” If that’s not a reason to follow suit…

Want some more statistics?

Studies have shown that you don’t need to take 10,000 steps per day to reduce mortality risk.

Just under 4,000 steps per day noticeably reduce the risk. However, researchers found that each additional 1,000 steps further reduce the risk by a further 15 percent. Still, the optimal number is around 10,000 steps per day, and this applies to both men and women, regardless of age. Another finding is that regular physical activity also reduces the risk of dementia. 3,800 steps per day reduce it by 25 percent, and nearly 10,000 steps cut the risk in half. Walking briskly at a pace of 112 steps per minute for a total of half an hour is particularly effective.

Challenges at HUMANOO

HUMANOO offers different types of challenges. Employees can:

• Work together to achieve a step goal.
• Compete against each other or themselves.
• Form multiple teams to compete for the most steps.

Experiences show that these challenges not only provide incentives for daily activity but also strengthen team spirit because employees come together to overcome shared challenges.

Moreover, the participation rate is often very high, as these challenges have a highly motivating effect.

It’s quite easy to create your own challenges and share them with the entire company. Simply get in touch with HUMANOO, come up with a title and description, define the goal and timeline, invite employees – and you’re ready to go!