How scoring works
What earns points in a ByStep challenge, the points for each sport, the limits and how the final result is set.
ByStep turns your steps and workouts into points. The challenge owner picks the rules. The app shows the rule on the challenge page.
In short
- Steps pay first. 6,000 steps give 250 points. See steps.
- Each workout pays for each minute, by sport and effort. Find your sport.
- A long workout pays less after its first hours. A walk, a hike or a recorded run with a distance pays for 6 hours. Other workouts pay for 3. See long workouts.
- Strength days and streaks add bonus points.
- A day has a points limit. See the limits. The highest total wins.
Changes that start soon
- From 26 October 2026: a typed workout pays only the time that your watch did not record.
- From 2 November 2026: a workout must last 10 minutes or more. The minimum is 15 minutes until then.
- From 2 November 2026: typed workouts earn at most 3,500 points a week (Monday to Sunday).
- From 2 November 2026: a recorded workout earns the same points in Elite and Custom as in Every Effort.
Challenge types
Every Effort
Steps and workouts. This page explains it in full.
Elite Workouts
Recorded hard workouts and strength sessions that you log live in ByStep. No steps.
Custom
The owner picks one measure: workouts, distance, energy or steps.
Steps
| Steps | Points |
|---|---|
| 6,000 | 250 |
| 8,000 | 333 |
| 10,000 | 417 |
| 12,000 | 458 |
- Steps after 10,000 pay half.
- Steps after 60,000 pay nothing.
- Steps give at most 1,458 points a day.
- A workout that you walk, hike or run does not pay its steps twice.
Workouts
Each minute of a workout pays points. The rate depends on the sport. A harder sport pays more.
- A workout must last 15 minutes or more. A shorter workout earns nothing.
- A recorded workout comes from your watch or phone. A typed workout is one that you add by hand.
- Typed housework pays 3.2 points a minute at any intensity. Recorded housework follows its energy.
Effort (MET)
MET shows how hard you work. 1 is sitting still, 3.5 is a normal walk and 9 is a steady run. Each sport has a typical MET. The sports table gives the points for each minute.
Recorded workouts
A recorded workout pays at least the rate of its sport. Your effort can raise the rate. It cannot lower it.
- Your watch measures the energy of the workout. The energy counts in full, up to the top rate of the sport.
- Pace and climb count in full for a run, walk or hike. A faster run pays more, up to 4:08 per km.
- The pace of other sports counts at three quarters.
- A slow run, under 6 km/h, has a lower minimum. It falls from the run rate at 6 km/h to the walk rate at 4 km/h and below.
- A faster swim or a higher swim heart rate earns a swim the effort bonus.
- A walk or hike reaches the top of its range only with a climb.
When your pace, climb or heart rate confirms effort above the typical effort, the extra counts 1.5 times. The Hard and Elite grades on your receipt show that you earned it.
Typed workouts
A typed workout uses the intensity that you pick. The intensity changes the sport rate.
| Intensity | Share of the sport rate |
|---|---|
| Easy | 85% |
| Moderate, or no pick | 100% |
| Hard | 110% |
| Elite | 120% |
- A typed workout also adds the usual steps of its sport to your day.
- The sports table shows the points for each intensity.
Walks and hikes
A walk or hike pays the hiking rate when it climbs 40 m per km or more. Other walks and hikes pay the walking rate.
- An outdoor hike with no climb reading pays the hiking rate when it lasts 90 minutes or covers 6 km.
- A typed hike follows the same 90-minute or 6 km rule.
Strength sessions in ByStep
A strength session that you log in ByStep pays as a strength workout when it has 3 or more working sets and meets the minimum length. The start of the session sets the minimum. It pays up to 120 minutes.
- A workout from your watch or another Health app that covers the same time pays instead.
- Sets from Hevy or from a connected AI app earn nothing.
Long workouts
Each workout pays less after its first hours.
| Workout | Full rate | Reduced rate | Nothing after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most sports | Hours 1 and 2 | Hour 3 at half | 3 hours |
| Walk or hike | Hours 1 and 2 | Hours 3 and 4 at half, hours 5 and 6 at a quarter | 6 hours |
| Recorded run with a distance | Hours 1 and 2 | Hour 3 at 75%, hours 4 to 6 at half | 6 hours |
The steps of a long workout pay as steps after its last paid hour.
Points for each sport
Tap a sport to see its typed points and steps. The large number is the points for each minute at the typical effort. An activity that is not listed counts as Other activities.
Loading the points table...
The table loads from ByStep, so it matches the live rules. The same data is at https://api.bystep.fit/scoring/every-effort.
Limits
| What | Limit | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 4,000 | Day |
| Points from typed workouts | 1,500 | Day |
| Points from typed workouts | 3,500, from 2 November 2026 | Week (Monday to Sunday) |
| Typed workout minutes | 720 | Day |
| Housework minutes | 60 | Day |
- The week limit counts typed workouts and strength sessions that you log in ByStep. Recorded workouts, steps and the strength day bonus do not use it.
- Typed workouts pay in the order that you add them, not in the order of the days.
- The workout that reaches the limit pays the points that are left. A typed workout that you add after that pays nothing that week.
Strength day bonus
A day with 20 minutes of tracked strength earns 150 points. It pays on up to 2 days a week (Monday to Sunday). Typed strength earns no strength day.
- Workouts on the same day add up. A short workout counts toward the 20 minutes.
- A watch or phone workout counts at 3 MET or more with no walking pace. A ByStep session counts with 3 or more working sets.
- Typed strength, cross training and a ByStep session that the weekly limit cuts to 0 do not count. Strength and calisthenics count.
- The bonus is fixed: a 3-hour stay earns the same as 20 minutes. It counts toward your daily goal and inside the day limit. It counts on every day of the challenge, including days that already have points.
- The bonus shows on the strength workout with the most strength minutes that day. A late sync can move it to another day of the same week. The week total stays the same.
Streak bonus
A day counts when you reach your daily goal or 6,000 steps. Before you have a goal, no day counts, also at 6,000 steps.
| Streak | Bonus a day |
|---|---|
| Day 3 | 200 |
| Day 7 | 250 |
| Day 14 | 300 |
- One rest day in any 7 days keeps your streak. It pays nothing.
- Any other missed day ends the streak.
Your daily goal
- Your goal is 55% of your middle day (the median) of your last 7 closed days, rounded to 10 points.
- It is never below 250 or above 1,500.
- You get a goal after 5 closed days with data.
- It changes once a week.
Worked examples
Strength workout and steps
You weigh 70 kg. You walk 8,000 steps and record a 45-minute strength workout with no calorie reading.
| Part | Calculation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | 8,000 steps at 250 points for 6,000 steps | 333 |
| Strength | 45 minutes at 6.4 points | 288 |
| Day total | 621 |
The workout has no energy reading, so it earns no strength day.
Steps only
You walk 12,000 steps and do no workout.
| Part | Calculation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| First 10,000 steps | 10,000 at 250 points for 6,000 steps | 416.67 |
| Next 2,000 steps | Half rate: 2,000 at 125 points for 6,000 steps | 41.67 |
| Day total | 458 |
A long ride
You record a 300-minute ride at the typical effort. Cycling pays 9.6 points a minute.
| Part | Calculation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Hours 1 and 2 | 120 minutes at 9.6 points, full rate | 1,152 |
| Hour 3 | 60 minutes at 4.8 points, half rate | 288 |
| After hour 3 | 120 minutes, nothing | 0 |
| Ride total | 1,440 |
A streak day
Your goal is 250 points. You score 621 points, as in the first example. The day counts. If it is your third counting day in a row, you also get the 200 point bonus. The day total is 821.
Edge cases
Elite Workouts
Elite pays each recorded hard workout by its sport, minutes and effort. From 2 November 2026, a recorded workout earns the same points in Elite as in Every Effort: energy above the typical effort counts in full, and pace, climb or heart rate confirms the extra. Until then, energy above the typical effort counts three quarters, and confirmed effort earns no extra. It pays no steps and no streak bonus. A workout must meet the minimum length. The day limit applies.
- Counts: running, hiking, cycling, swimming, HIIT, rowing, stairs, boxing, football, basketball, rugby, handball, hockey, tennis, squash, padel, climbing, cross training and strength sessions that you log live in ByStep.
- Earns nothing: walks, runs slower than 6 km/h, flat hikes, typed workouts and steps.
Custom
The owner picks one measure for the challenge.
- Workouts: the points of each workout by sport, minutes and effort, as in Elite. From 2 November 2026, a recorded workout earns the same points as in Every Effort. Until then, energy above the typical effort counts three quarters, and confirmed effort earns no extra.
- Distance: 100 points a km for a run, walk or hike, 33 for a ride and 400 for a swim. Other sports earn nothing. A workout pays at most 1,500 points an hour.
- Energy: 1 point for each active kcal. This is the default.
- Steps: the points of your steps.
The day and typed limits apply. The owner can turn on strength days and streaks. A Custom challenge made with an older app adds points from its own rules for workouts, minutes, distance or active calories. The challenge page shows them.
Rule changes
Each rule applies from the date in its entry. Some rules start before their release, so the points of an open challenge can change. A final result does not change.
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