Gamify Your Workouts

Hey League!

As someone who sometimes struggles with inertia, I occasionally find it helpful to gamify aspects of life. By “inertia,” I mean that sometimes I have a hard time starting or stopping various tasks. I’ll just continue along the laws of physics: An object at rest (or in motion) tends to stay as such unless acted upon by an outside force. For some people, gamifying fitness can be that outside force that pushes them to take the first step.

If you don’t already know, gamifying means to turn a task you don’t always enjoy into something more appealing by adding a game or fun aspect to help with motivation. It is somewhat like the gold star chart from back in elementary school, where the idea is to reward yourself with something that is briefly fun to help encourage you to develop a habit.

I’ve never been great with discipline despite a desire for it and having attempted to develop it for much of my life. If I value what I am currently doing more than I value the other thing I should be doing, it’s hard for me to change tasks. Sometimes, I have to talk myself into it, which is where gamifying comes in.

Gamifying can look like a lot of things, such as using an app, a widget on a smart watch, or a small treat as a mini reward for reaching a small goal.

One of my chaotic quirks is that candy is a food group for me. Especially at this time of year because Easter candy is the best (and also the worst)! I love Cadbury Mini Eggs and black jelly beans. I will eat half the bag if I’m mindlessly watching a movie. Yet not enjoying them would remove a small pleasure from my life that I’m not willing to give up. So, I turned candy into a gamified fitness reward.

I pick up some jelly beans and/or mini eggs and enjoy them during my workouts on the days I struggle to get moving. For something small like a jelly bean, I’ll have one between sets when I am strength training. For the mini eggs, I’ll have one after I finish each full set of exercises. I only do this for dedicated workouts, not all the times I throw in some body weight squats because I need to get away from the computer for a few minutes.

For example:
10 Front Squats - 1 jelly bean
10 One-Arm Rows - 1 jelly bean

10 Pike Pushups - 1 jelly bean

10 Squats, 10 Rows, 10 Pushups = 1 mini egg.

I get to enjoy my favorite little treat, I get a small boost of sugar after getting through a hard set, and I eat less candy while enjoying it more compared to eating half the bag and having regrets.

I also use my Apple watch in similar ways. I wasn’t sure I’d like the watch, but the idea of closing the 3 rings every day was somehow appealing. And it works! At least for me. When the notice pops up that I need to stand up, I do so. I try to spend the full 10 minutes moving since the alert comes up at 10 minutes to the hour, every hour. I might do some pocket monkii reps, some farmer carries up and down our hill with a ruck plate, or some mobility work. It’s always funny being in a room with a bunch of people with Apple watches because everyone looks at their watch at the same time when they get the alert!

I’ve even rewarded myself gold stars on a calendar when I was going through a 4-month fitness program. There was no way I was going to have a gap on that calendar. It was an effective way to stick with my goals on the days I wasn’t stoked to work out.

I don’t use them myself, but I’ve seen quite a few apps that serve the same purpose. You can enter whichever tasks you want to prioritize and then you can play a mini-game or fill in a piece of a jigsaw puzzle or other similar actions that serve as a small reward and encourage you to take the first step. I’m not a huge app person as I don’t like living in my phone, but I’m curious which of these types of apps others find helpful. Maybe there is a gem out there I am missing out on!

Do you find this kind of system helpful for you? What do you use?

Game on!

-Kim

Gamify Your Workouts

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