Check-In at the Gym, Earn Real Life Rewards!
I saw on Twitter this morning a new Foursquare add-on service at EarndIt.com. Apparently, if you sign up for an Earnd It account, and integrate your Foursquare (and Twitter or Facebook, if you like), whenever you check in at the gym on Foursquare, you earn point, which you can then apply to actual merchandise.
That's pretty awesome! My one trip on Monday already earned me 15 points. For 400 points, I can get a $50 gift card to Shoecrush.com. You can also earn "trophies", which I'm guessing are much like badges.
I think this is a brilliant idea! I've been meaning to set up a reward system for myself for pounds lost, but this is great, too, as it rewards your fitness efforts -- it gives you a reason to go to the gym if losing weight or getting healthy isn't quite enough to get your ass in the car.
Now I'm bummed I skipped the gym this morning (wasn't feeling well, did yoga instead), but will definitely be going in the morning. I want shoes!
Here's a list of the current Earnd It rewards. I must admit, the rewards are pretty slim pickins as of now, but that's likely because they're new. Hopefully, over time, the rewards catalog will become a little more robust or I can't see it being very motivational.
It looks like in addition to Foursquare, it works with Nike +, Garmin and soon Fitbit! I wonder if I can get double points by checking in at the gym while wearing my Fitbit...
What do you think? Does this motivate you? Would Earnd It be something you would be into... assuming they had more reward options?
They Said Stuff!
Hey, thanks for posting about this. I’ve already signed in. I’m a points/reward junkie. Not so much in relationship to other people, but to challenge myself. Like playing a game and thinking “ok, now I have to beat my high score AND make it to one further level”. Just just how I motivate myself. “one more…one more”. I like this! We’ll see how it goes, but any reward for doing something I already do, plus the motivation to increase my visits will help. I’m gonna try it out and we’ll see how it goes. (noticed it gave me points for this morning’s gym visit…that was cool!)
ooo…it would be easy to rack up the points for this (I mean, holy shit, I’ve only missed 7 days since I joined the gym back in June—and that’s cause I was in England—hehehe.). I’m the mayor of my gym, so that’s 20 points a check-in! That’s 140 points a week. wooo!
And…of course, I can’t sign up til I get home. hahaha.
Ok I havent tried the whole Foursquare thing yet so Im sorry if this question if a basic one. Do you know if Foursquare thing and the Earndit.com will work for any gym? I go to a bootcamp 3x a week but its not at one of those franchise gym locations. Its actually in a building in a business park area where they teach gymnastics. I also have a gym at work that I use 2x a week. Will it be able to count my workouts there too?
ooo…I’m trying to think of an easy way to ‘splain Foursquare! It works pretty much anywhere you go—you can check-in pretty much anywhere you are, and if your venue isn’t listed, then you can manually enter it (and specify what kind of venue it is—gym, etc.). I’ve been reading the FAQ at Earndit and you can actually use devices beyond Foursquare if you have them. They have a blog post describing them.
Which is what Jo put in her post and I just repeated it so I’m not much help, am I? HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously, need more coffee this morning.
I think this is a great idea! Thanks for mentioning it! I signed up and also got rewarded for my trip to the gym this morning for Body Pump class. AND I am the Mayor of my gym, so I will get 20 points instead of 15! Woo!
I do hope the rewards ante up in due time… But what a great motivator!! Thanks again for posting about it!
Farking awesome.
It would totally motivate me, point-collector extraordinaire that I am. If I lived anyplace that had a gym. :(
I currently have 220 points! I’m totally kicking myself because I would be at 260—but I left my phone at home TWICE last week and didn’t check in via Foursquare when I worked out. doh!! It amazing how fast they rack up!
Hey Joelle, not sure how I missed this post, but I love it! Thanks for the great write-up! We’ll be adding more rewards as we progress. Also, I’d love to get your input on a new idea we have. Please shoot me an email if you’re willing to chat about it.
Thanks,
Andres
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