Get paid to exercise!

Haven't you always wanted to get paid to something you should already be doing?  Isn't this why we all really joined the BETA research project so that we could be motivated by getting something for ourselves?  Nature of humans is to put themselves first and then others.  My first thought on joining this program was WOW I get a free gym membership for a year!

Today I found an interesting concept and it is about getting paid to exercise.  It is a new program that is available for iPhones!  The concept is that you set your own goals for how many days a week you will exercise at a gym and then check in every time you go to the gym with your iPhone.  The catch is if you miss a workout then you have to pay $5.00!  Yup - don't we all hate to lose money?  So how do you get paid?  At the end of each week they calculate how much people paid who did not attend their workouts and then divide it up amount the people to made their weekly commitment and then payout to those people.  What could be easier!  Maybe this could pay for a small portion of your gym membership.

I haven't downloaded the app yet however I will be checking it out to see how it works.  I like the idea of keeping you motivated by a reward.  Reward is better than punishment and it is a proven theory that we are work harder to achieve your goals when there is a reward that we are working towards.

I'll get back to you on how this all works once I have downloaded the app but for now if you want to check it out here is where you can find the info  Get Paid to Exercise

I guess you are also wondering where I am in my program and how many weeks I have left.  I am sad to say that my commitment to the BETA program will be done on Feb 10th - that's 5 weeks from today!  To me it seems like this program has gone way to fast and I would really like to continue however my 52 weeks will be up and the only thing outstanding is my final testing and results.

Looking back I have only missed one or two workouts since I started the program and it was because I was sick.  I guess the reward concept paid off and now I need to continue so that I can keep up the level of fitness that I have achieved.  Over the past two weeks the trainers were on vacation and we were on our own to meet our commitment and I can say that I have not missed one workout. 

I think I might be in the groove now with exercise however I need to be accountable to make sure that I continue to keep this up.  You say, isn't a good fitness level and probably better health enough to keep you motivated?  I guess not or I wouldn't have been in the bad fitness shape I was in before I started this program so yes for me I need to have motivation that is more tangible.  I am a goal oriented person and need the "carrot" to keep me motivated!  What about you?

During the Christmas break I visited a number of gyms in the SE to decide on which gym I might like to join when it is time.  In my next post I will provide some feedback on the gyms I attended and what my thoughts were on how they fit my needs.