Being paid to train is a dream of many amateur athletes.
Money is a strong motivator. Imagine how much stronger it becomes if you can also be penalized with it.
During a Mayo Clinic study, participants who were paid or penalized $20 for reaching or failing a weight loss goal were nearly 3 times more likely to even complete the 12 month program than those who had no financial incentives.
Consider a professional athlete. For them, financial motivation can mean having food on the table or not. If they are consistent and smart with their training, hopefully the reward is good race results and prize or sponsorship money. However if they do not train or race well, there is less financial reward.
Now, amateur athletes can have a small taste of one of the strongest motivators – Money.
With Gympact, participants can choose how many days per week they wish to exercise and choose how much money they are penalized if they do not make this goal. Typically if you exercise six days per week your reward may be around $2.50 for that week. Missed days cost you $5 each, and this money is divided out among those that reach their pact!
Earndit is another great motivator, but it uses credits instead of dollars. These are spent on gift cards from various brands, charitable donations, or entries into drawings for often very good prizes.
The beauty is both of these can simultaneously use RunKeeper. Most of the Earndit giftcards require a purchase higher than the reward, such as a $100 gift card for a purchase of $175 or more. With enough patience, you can let the Gympact dollars accumulate into a high enough amount that you could use it to pay for the remaining balance on a purchase through Earndit!
You can use RunKeeper to track distances while outside or use your phone’s GPS to log in at a gym location. Either way, you may find a great motivator in these two programs!
“Over the last 211 workouts I through Gympact I have earned nearly $70, which I have used to purchase a few rewards from Earndit. While not a lot of money, it’s accumulating without me doing any extra work. In fact, Gympact has gotten me out for many 30 minute recovery runs that otherwise probably would have been skipped, and I’m glad I did them!”
-Kyle Kranz, SKORA Ambassador