Thanks to behavioral finance apps that let you bet on your weight loss and exercise efforts, as well as apps that let you earn rewards by tracking your steps, you can get rewarded for staying healthy.
Indeed, you need to put some of your own money into the betting app. Basically, you up the ante to bet on yourself. But if you do your job and achieve the goals you set, you’ll get that money back. And perhaps there will be more. Some participants took home thousands of dollars.
On the other hand, apps that track your steps aren’t that expensive. But many argue that it’s enough to stay motivated. So if improving your fitness is your goal, all of these apps might be worth a try.
In preparation for swimsuit season, here are three apps that “bet on your fitness” and two that will pay you to track your workouts. Here’s how they work, what they promise, and what they pay.
healthy wages
If you want to score big on your health bet for money, your best bet is a site called HealthyWage. The site’s signature challenge, HealthyWager, boasts a top prize of $10,000.
Granted, the chances of getting a $10,000 salary are very slim. That’s because the pot is divided among all the winners, and between 40% and 77% of people who use this site win by losing the weight they need. Of course, if you came here to lose weight, that’s a win too.
There are five ways to participate here: Corporate Challenge, Group Challenge, Step Bet, Jackpot Challenge or ‘HealthyWager’. Rules regarding corporate and group issues vary depending on the group involved. However, the rules for each of his other three challenges are fairly standard.
The Jackpot Challenge details your goals, costs, and schedule upfront. For example, the one-month challenge costs him $100 to participate, and to win he may need to lose at least 4% of his body weight. The 3-month challenge costs $25 a month ($75 total) and requires him to lose 3% of his body weight. The value of the pot is known in advance. However, the payout depends on how many people win.
Step challenges also vary in duration, ‘bet’ (i.e. entry cost) and pot. However, they all have the same goal. That means increasing your median daily activity by 25%.
Finally, the site’s signature bet, HealthyWager, requires you to lose at least 10% of your body weight over a period of six months or more.
Notably, this site typically takes a 25% commission on bets. However, those who lose the promised weight and win come with a no-lose guarantee. If more than 75% of the participants win, HealthyWage will waive the fee and ensure everyone gets their money back.
diet bet
DietBet works in much the same way.
There are multiple ways to play. You can create your own bets. You can participate in short-term weight loss bets for one month. Alternatively, you can take part in long-term weight loss bets that last more than 6 months. You can also take part in a bet that just maintains your current weight.
Also, the amount required to participate in DietBet is quite small. Bets can be made for amounts of $10 or more. Your weight loss goal can also be as little as 4% of your body weight. However, there is a 10% weight loss criterion for long-running contests.
However, in any case, you need to make a bet to get started. This means that you need to prepare a certain amount of money in advance. The amount of the bet varies depending on the game.
Similar to HealthyWage, DietBet deducts fees from the pot before the winners split the remainder.
Why is this site so unattractive for people who want to get paid and get fit? Because the site says that 96% of its participants won their bets, which means the pot is too low. It’s thinly split, which means you won’t be able to make much profit on any given bet.
Additionally, while the site promises money back to all winners, there are caveats to long-term challenges. With these, you can only earn the site’s “No Loss Guarantee” if you participate in “optional” monthly weigh-ins and meet your weight loss goals each month.
step bet
StepBet is a bit similar to HealthyWage’s Step Challenge.
If you want to play, you’ll need to connect your activity tracker to the app. Your activity tracker may be on your iPhone or Android device, or it may be an iWatch, Fitbit, S Gear, or Garmin tracker. However, this app doesn’t work with all fitness trackers, so make sure your device is compatible before signing up.
StepBet uses your fitness tracker’s historical data to calculate your average movement and create two ambitious goals to achieve. One is an “active” goal that is a step up from your usual activities. The second “power” goal poses an even bigger challenge. Your mission is to complete the “Active” and “Power” days set each week.
You bet on yourself at the beginning of the contest (usually 6 weeks). Then, as you reach your goals throughout the contest, you’ll split the pot (minus site fees) with other winners.
If you use the free version of the app, you may only participate in one contest at a time. However, if you upgrade to a paid membership, you can participate in multiple bets at the same time.
catch? The site doesn’t describe how its step formula works, so unlike the simple 25% step up in HealthyWage’s typical activities, you don’t necessarily know what it takes until you enter the contest. Not that I understand.
To make matters worse, the site experienced technical issues that locked some users out of the system. Also, in some cases, the app stopped recording steps. Customer service doesn’t seem to work until a user writes a bad review. At that point, the site appears to resolve the issue by reconnecting the customer to the contest or allowing them to start over.
Get money and be healthy
What if I don’t want to gamble? There are several apps that pay for fitness and health activities. However, their salary is not much, only a few dollars a month. However, you can also use these apps at the same time to increase your earnings. And besides keeping the app open on your phone, it only takes a few minutes to reliably sync with your activity tracker and earn points.
cash walk
CashWalk is a free smartphone app that pays you a small amount, usually in the form of a gift card, to keep the app running while you exercise. The site promises one “Step Coin” for every 100 feet walked each day, and those who reach the daily limit of 10,000 steps will be awarded a total of 100 Step Coins.
However, Stepcoin doesn’t have much value. Once you get the maximum number, you can earn the equivalent of 16.6 cents per day, or about $5 per month. But the real catch is that CashWalk is more interested in eyes than thighs. Apps get paid for viewing ads. Therefore, you will see multiple ads every time you collect coins.
That’s a bit of a hassle. But users are so excited about this app because it does what they expect it to do. In other words, it pays you a few dollars each month to stay healthy.
evidence
Most companies that promise to pay you to exercise have ulterior motives. Evidence is no exception.
This site works with biomedical companies to help them find targets for clinical research. We also work with healthcare companies seeking market research, insights from patients, data on sleep and exercise patterns and their impact on health, as well as real-world research and long-term research and engagement programs.
By paying participants to keep the Evidation app on and measuring their sleep and exercise, the site gets real-world data at a bargain price. In addition, Evidation can categorize users into categories such as diabetics, diabetics, and diabetics through surveys that people are asked to complete and earn points. lung cancer; lupus; This put the company in the perfect position to recruit participants for clinical trials and engage in targeted research.
How much are they paying you? About 10 cents per day. If you want to fill out a survey and provide information about your health to the app, it will take a little longer. In the meantime, it provides health information, articles, and even data about your progress, which many users find useful and inspiring.
So, like CashWalk, Evidation won’t make you rich. But it might help you stay motivated.
March 18, 2024