If you’re struggling the stick to your resolution this year to get fit, being rewarded for your efforts could be the incentive you need.
Tech that offers a virtual carrot in the form of cash may well be what gets you moving if you’re lacking motivation.
Studies show it’s possible to tap into psychological drives to get moving if money or other rewards are being offered.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the latest apps available to help get you going and how much you might make for your exercise efforts.
FEMAIL reveals the best fitness and health apps that will help you reach your fitness goals and pay you to stay on track too
SWEATCOIN
This recently released app literally pays you to get fit.
Payment comes in the form of a digital currency called ‘sweatcoin’ which you can redeem to buy products or services.
According to the company: ‘[You can buy] goods, services, and experiences ranging from anti-gravity yoga classes to high-tech shoes, to iPhones and Apple Watches.’
‘You can also donate your sweatcoins to some of our amazing partnering charities, making for an easy way to help others around the world.’
To give you an idea of what you’d need to do to earn your reward, two months of 10,000 steps a day would see you snag a new Fitbit Flex.
Sweatcoin is available free on iOS and Android. It needs to run in the background during workouts so it can access steps and convert them to coins.
If you’re competitive, you can also use the app to track your progress against friends to see who is clocking up the most steps.
Sweatcoin: This app allows you to track your steps and convert this to cash which you can use to redeem a variety of goods and services
If you don’t want to spend your ‘coin’ on goods, the app also allow s you to donate to charity
HEALTHYWAGE
If losing weight is your goal, but you’re struggling for motivation HealthyWage could be the app for you.
While the app is free, you will need to undergo a verified weigh-in first. After that you need to set a goal (it’s time sensitive), and use your own money to bet against your success.
The idea is that you bet money to win for weight lost during a set time frame. If you reach your goals, you are paid out with money via money via PayPal or Amazon credit.
The app, available on iOS and Andriod, allows you to participate as an individual or as a team.
HealthyWage: The app allows you to set a goal and bet against yourself. If you reach your goals you are then paid out
DIETBET
This app runs along similar principles to HealthyWage in that you ‘bet’ on yourself to lose weight.
According to DietBet’s site, the company has paid out more than $21 million to players worldwide.
The premise of DietBet is simple, you join the site and you either set up a fitness challenge of your own or join an existing one.
The app is free and also available on iOS and Android platforms.
According to DietBet’s site, the company has paid out more than $21 million to players worldwide.
CHARITY MILES
What if you could do some good for the world, while being good to your body?
This is the purpose of Charity Miles – an app designed for the type of person who ‘likes to make a difference’.
Everything from walking the dog to a 5K run can help you earn money for charities, with the funds donated by corporate sponsors.
All you have to do is pick which charity you would like to support and off you go. The free app has already raised a whopping $2.5million for charity.
Everything from walking the dog to a 5K run can help you earn money for charities, donated by corporate sponsors, thanks to the app Charity Miles
PACT
There are apps that allow you to earn money for charity, and then there’s Pact – an app that lets you make some extra dough while you lose those kilos.
The free app simply asks that you make a pact to yourself each week to either exercise more or eat healthier.
Pact then keeps it’s tabs on you throughout the week to see if you succeed. If you fail to meet your pact, it gives the money you pledged to pay to other members.
And if you succeed? You get a reward, generally ranging from 30 cents to $5, from other members.
The more pacts you make and accomplish, the more money you earn.
The free Pact app asks you to make a pact to yourself each week. If you break your pact, it gives the money you pledged to pay to other members who met their goals