I like to take up big fitness challenges, and I keep at them until I achieve what I set out to do. This year, I’ve signed up for a marathon coaching program that’ll take me from zero to running the full marathon over the course of nine months.
I started well enough and was consistently running – until I got injured a couple of weeks ago.
Since then, I’ve gotten into a bit of a rut where I find it hard to step out for walks, which are crucial for recovery. That’s when I chanced upon an idea – why not gamify my workouts to get myself out there?
Content
- Why Gamification Works
- The Perils of Gamifying Workouts
- The Best Apps to Gamify Your Workout Routine
- The One App I Won’t Stop Using
Why Gamification Works
When I say “gamify,” I mean the act of making my workouts feel like playing a video game. Gamification can be used for anything you struggle with. You can apply this idea by adding a system of rewards and achievements to the activity.
In my case, I found a few apps that blend the world of video games with real-world workouts. This includes apps that encourage you to walk while listening to an immersive story, one that blends movement with a video game, and even a running app that got me on my first run post-injury.
That helps you get out the door every day and is one way to keep you hooked to workouts.
Don’t want to get into the whole gamification thing for your fitness routine? Check out our top 10 mobile apps to stay in shape.
The Perils of Gamifying Workouts
Not everything about gamifying workouts is rosy. The biggest risk factor is addiction. I plan to stop using gamification once I’m back to running regularly because I want to work out to get fit, not play a video game.
With some of the apps I tested, I noticed I was firing them up even when I was in the house just to score a few extra points. Over time, this increased my screen time, and I realized it could hinder my progress in the long run.
Another concern is that these apps can be a bit invasive of your privacy. Some of them have prompts that encourage you to allow location access even when you’re not using those apps. You shouldn’t allow any app to track you at all times, unless it’s an essential app such as Apple’s Find My.
The Best Apps to Gamify Your Workout Routine
With that out of the way, let’s dive right in. These are the best apps to gamify your workout routine.
Pokémon Go
I’d never played a Pokémon game until I tried Pokémon Go, and I’m quite happy to say that it succeeded in getting me moving. This is an augmented reality (AR) game where you walk around, point your camera at real-world objects, and the game reveals pocket-sized monsters, aka Pokémon, waiting to be captured.
The core loop is quite effective and true to the Pokémon tagline – “Gotta catch ’em all.” There are thousands of Pokémon for you to catch and battle against, which keeps the game feeling fresh even after you play it for a while.
I found myself walking all around every neighborhood I was in while trying it, just because I wanted to catch a new Pokémon or because I saw a gym where I could start a Pokémon battle.
In the initial stages, you level up really fast, which makes the game quite addictive. That slowed down over time, but the game’s daily achievements and additional bonuses kept me hooked.
However, I had to stop playing this game for a few reasons. I realized that you can catch Pokémon without leaving the house and I was able to catch enough every day to complete the daily achievement target. After the novelty wears off, Pokémon Go becomes a grind and that’s just not fun.
Marvel Move
A clever and much-loved app called Zombies, Run uses interactive stories to help you get moving. It has three separate kinds of stories within the app – zombies, Marvel characters, and sci-fi stories. Marvel Move is a section in this app with stories around popular Marvel franchises such as X-Men, Hulk, and Thor. If that’s your jam, then you’ll enjoy listening to these stories while you work out.
I found the interactivity to be a huge draw in Marvel Move. It uses interesting techniques to keep you moving, such as encouraging you to stay moving to collect essential (but make-believe) supplies or nudging you to move faster during chase sequences. This made me feel like the main character in these stories, and I found it quite motivating to grab some of the collectibles in the game.
Read more: How to use Apple Watch sensors to track your health
In particular, I enjoyed The Ratatoskr Running Club, which is a variation on the Couch to 5K training program that involves Thor and Loki. The best part is that you can customize your experience quite a lot. If you aren’t running outdoors, you can set up the app to track you on the treadmill or choose a simulated running experience. The latter is great for other cardio workouts such as using an elliptical machine.
Active Arcade
Sometimes, stepping out is just not possible due to poor weather, safety concerns, or pollution. For times like these, you need an app that encourages you to move without leaving the house. Active Arcade is that app for me. It’s an AR app that tracks your movements as you play a game and rewards you with points.
For example, you’re hopping in one spot and the character on-screen mimics your hops. You have to hop sideways to help the character hop to the next platform or make a particularly high hop to help it reach a platform up top. Along the way, your character collects berries for an additional bonus.
This is just one of the many games inside Active Arcade. The game uses AR to great effect to get you moving and it turned a set of boring movements into a fun activity for me. This is the app that got me off the couch, and those fun movements helped improve my mental health enough to allow me to get out of the house for regular walks.
Fantasy Hike
Download: iOS
Fantasy Hike combines fitness with Lord of the Rings, and I have to say that it’s not a combo I was expecting at all. First, let’s be clear about one thing. Officially, Fantasy Hike’s story is about taking your character, Mr. Underhill, to Mount Fire.
This is a distance of 2,865 km (1,780 mi). However, every Lord of the Rings fan knows that Mr. Underhill is the travel nickname of Frodo Baggins, the lead character. Mount Fire is a play on Mount Doom.
So as you’ve surmised, Fantasy Hike is basically the story of Lord of the Rings, but without the copyright issues that come with using those names.
This game links to your Apple Health data to calculate the distance you’ve travelled. In the free version, you can log up to 1.5km per day; you can pay $4 to remove that limitation.
The app doesn’t need location access, but you should enable notifications to get notified about important plot points on your journey to Mount Fire, and about achievements you may unlock along the way. It’s a low-stress fitness app that silently does its job in the background. I know I’ll reach Mount Fire a lot faster when my marathon training resumes, but for now, the slow progress is still motivating enough.
Walkr
Walkr uses a sci-fi story of planet exploration to keep you moving. The app tracks your step count to give you in-game energy, which you can use to further your progress.
This game is all about exploring the galaxy and building a network of planets that you control. As long as you’re walking around with your phone, you’ll keep accumulating energy in the game. It doesn’t need access to location data, which is a big plus, and it only logs your motion and fitness activity to calculate your progress.
Although the game is nicely designed, I kept forgetting to open it after the initial couple of days. So yeah, it’s not the most compelling title on this list.
Nerd Fitness Journey
Of all the apps I’ve tested, Nerd Fitness Journey is the one that focuses the most on giving you that immediate dopamine hit. Right from the start, the app encourages you to do small tasks that will help you move.
When signing up, you get 20XP for doing one elevated pushup. I liked that this app allows you to decide which way you want your fitness journey to go. I chose the ‘Mindset Mastery’ path because it’s for people like me, who know what needs to be done, but struggle to execute it. This got me started with a few stretches and deep breaths and explained how to trick the mind into developing a routine.
I really liked how this app breaks down your big goals into smaller chunks, and how it rewards you for small activities like getting a glass of water. When people are struggling to work out, the last thing they need is someone who puts them down. Nerd Fitness Journey’s encouraging approach could resonate with those who need motivation more than anything else.
The subscription to Nerd Fitness Prime unlocks all of the workouts in the app, but it is pricey ($99/year).
The One App I Won’t Stop Using
At the end of testing, I got to a stage where I was walking outside every single day.
Gamifying my workout routine got me out of my rut, and pushed me towards returning to marathon training. However, I prefer not to depend too much on apps or other tools to get the job done. That’s why I’ve decided to continue using Fantasy Hike, but not any of the others. Fantasy Hike can continue logging my motion activity and progress its story. I’m excited to see what’s at the end of my journey to Mount Fire, and to see if my character has the courage to drop the ring into the volcano. Here’s to the next 2,826 kilometers!
Image credit: Pexels Latam
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Pranay Parab
Pranay Parab is an independent tech journalist based in Mumbai, India. He specializes in tutorials, reviews, and in-depth features.
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