Having difficulty keeping clients inspired and motivated to come to the gym for a workout? For those into social networking and smartphones, a new generation of gaming apps aims to make going to the gym extra rewarding.

Appealing particularly to those who like some friendly competition as motivation, "gamification" was identified by Entrepreneur magazine in its November 2011 edition as one of the "10 Hot Startup Sectors for New Business Ideas in 2012". Making a game of attending the gym might seem a bit of a stretch, but several new software applications are showing that there is a market among the workout crowd.

Apps such as Nexercise and Earndit seek to motivate by providing prizes and rewards for gym attendance and exercise.

Earndit's premise involves the concept of hyperbolic discounting, which the Web site explains, "means that humans discount the value of a reward that occurs far into the future, preferring instead a more immediate reward even if its absolute value is less."

As an example, giving someone the option of earning $20 today or $40 after a month, many people would choose the instant gratification of $20 fast cash, even though they might be better off with the $40 in the long run. As it applies to health and fitness, Earndit's founders say hyperbolic discounting is the underlying reason that getting in better shape over time is not a compelling enough reason to make peope exercise today.

To "play", Earndit users are asked to link an approved fitness app or device. The services automatically provides points based on how much the user exercises. Points can be redeemed for rewards and used to compete against Earndit users.

Earndit's system provides more immediate rewards for exercising. "Our hope is to foster a more active lifestyle in each of us, and in turn play a small role in improving the health of our users," according to a statement on Earndit Web site. 

The app known as Nexercise offers two types of rewards, which you may or may not be lucky to get each time you workout. That's because the Nexercise app adds a level of randomness to the fitness "game": The user may be awarded after completion of at least 15 minutes of any valid physical activity or her or she may not. Once rewarded, however, users have the option of choosing a reward from either Nexercise or its "Healthy Choice Partners", or bonus points.

Rewards are sent as vouchers to the user's email address along with redemption instructions.

Putting Your Money where Your Workout Is

An app known as GymPact takes a slighty different approach by keeping a pool of money available for those who keep their gym commitments each week, and penalizing those who don't. GymPact developers believe that loss aversion can be a better motivator: Losers forfeit their share to the larger communal pot of earnings.

To "play", GymPact's users provide a credit card user and a commitment for the number of times each week they will go to the gym. Users must check-in at a venue for 30 minutes for the workout in order for the session to be valid. Simple enough, but the catch is that each "missed" session incurs a financial penalty that can range from $5 to $50 dollars.

At the close of each week, the company charges users who did not meet their goals. The money collected is distributed among those users who kept their commitments. People who committed to more days get larger share of the pooled money. The company so far pays out anywhere between 50 cents to a dollar for each workout, retaining about 30 percent of each payout. 

For clients who value competition, such apps might be just the ticket to help them keep their workout commitments. After all, when it comes to becoming better fit, there is everything to gain.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed