Archive for February 2013

GymPact; one year on

by in , , 0

<I>Long-term - Part of an occasional series that reviews mechanisms after extensive usage</i>

120 workouts. 52 weeks. 2 misses. A lot of excuses invalidated. GymPact is certainly a vital part of my personal suite of enforcers.

GymPact is a service based around a smartphone app (iPhone or Android). You set yourself a challenge to work out a certain number of times per week and put your own money on the line. As long as you prove you've worked out you get a small reward - but miss a session and you're fined.

The app allows you to report your activity either by proving you are at the gym using your phone's Sat-Nav tool, by timing a run by locking into your RunKeeper app or by using the phone's sensors to ensure you are moving for more than half an hour within a 90min period.

Just like other enforcers, the system only works if you want it to. There's no commitment beyond the week - you can always cancel - and the mechanism relies on trust to a certain extent.

It is of course open to scamming, but that's hardly a real issue. It's possible to go to the gym and do nothing but drink at the café. However, this is quite a bit of work just to earn 43 cents.

The system's real value is in giving you a benchmark against which you can measure your excuses. Feeling a little poorly? A mate's invited you to the pub? Well, great - are they more important to you than the $10 you've staked to say you'd go to the gym 3 times this week?

I've used GymPact for a full year now. For me, its value is in keeping me thinking in a longer timeframe. My most dangerous points are when I go to the gym early in the week; I somehow fool myself into thinking this gives me a free pass to skip any further exercise throughout the week. GymPact doesn't forget. To me, this is what makes it so powerful - it nudges me to make the right choices.

If you fancy giving it a go, sign up through this link and you'll instantly win $5 - which you'll forfeit if you don't meet your first targets!

Download here:

Why we love to run

by in , , , 0

As a lead-in to its its new running blog, the Guardian has posted a fascinating article about the reasons that separate those who run for fun and those of us who just can't understand it.

Is there something in this that us scoffers can take to heart, perhaps adapt and adopt in our own lives? To me, the most interesting suggestion was that running is something we should do for distance, rather than speed. The hunting style of primitive humans - chase down the prey until it collapses of exhaustion - lends itself to longer jogs rather than shorter sprints in the modern world.
It's tough, it hurts – and yet more than two million of us in the UK run at least once a week. Why? Adharanand Finn explains the enormous pleasure it brings – and how we're actually hardwired to do it.
"Daddy, where are you going?" my son asked me recently as I was lacing up my running shoes on a cold, wet Sunday morning. "Running," I said. "Why?" he asked.
Read more in the original article.

GymPact now lets you work out at home

by 0

GymPact, one of my favourite commitment contracts, has updated to allow you to record workouts at home - or anywhere else, for that matter.

Their app update (already available on iTunes and coming soon to Android) has a new option that uses your phone's accelerometer to check that you're moving. Move fast enough for 30mins within a 90min period and you've counted another workout for the week.

This is a great addition to GymPact's arsenal of fitness avoidance excuse-busters; Even if you're not a runner or a gym rat you can log your activity.