You can get paid to get fit thanks to a number of behavioral finance apps that let you bet on your weight loss or exercise journey, and some that will pay you to track your steps.
To be sure, you will need to put some of your own money with betting apps. You are essentially betting on yourself. But, if you do your job—achieving the goals you’ve set—you’ll get that money back. And possibly many more. Some participants walk away with thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, apps that help you track your steps don’t pay much. However, many people argue that it is enough to keep them motivated. So if your goal is better fitness, all of these apps might be worth a try.
Ahead of swimsuit season, we’re looking at three bet-on-your-fitness apps, plus two that pay you to track your exercise. See how they work, what they promise and what they pay.
HealthyWage
If you’re hoping to score big with a pay-to-win bet, a top choice is a site called HealthyWage. This site’s signature challenge – HealthyWager – boasts a top prize of $10,000.
Sure, the possibility of a $10,000 payout is remote. This is because the pot is shared between all winners and somewhere between 40% and 77% of people using this site manage to win by losing the required weight. Of course, if you’ve come here to lose weight, that’s a win, too.
There are about five ways to enter here — Corporate Challenges, Team Challenges, Step Bets, Jackpot Challenges or ‘HealthyWager’. The rules for corporate and team challenges vary depending on the teams involved. However, the rules for each of the other three challenges are fairly standard.
Jackpot challenges outline goals, costs and timing in advance. A one-month challenge, for example, might involve a $100 ante and require you to lose at least 4% of your body weight to win. A three-month challenge can cost $25 per month ($75 total) and requires you to lose 3% of your body weight. The value of the pot is known in advance. However, your payout will depend on how many people win.
Step Challenges also differ in duration, “stake” (i.e. entry cost) and pot. However, they all have the same goal — to increase your average daily activity by 25%.
Finally, the site’s signature bet – the HealthyWager – involves losing at least 10% of your body weight over 6 months or more.
Notably, the site typically takes a 25% commission on bets. But, it has a no-lose guarantee for those who win by losing the weight they promised. If more than 75% of participants win, HealthyWage will waive its fees to make sure everyone gets their money back.
DietBet
DietBet works in much the same way.
There are many ways to play. You can create your own bet. You can participate in a short-term weight loss bet, which lasts for a month. Or you can take part in a long-term weight loss bet, which lasts six months or more. You can also take part in a bet that involves simply maintaining your current weight.
And the amount you have to bet to join a DietBet is quite modest. Bets can be anything over $10. And your weight loss goal can be as little as 4% of your body weight. However, long-term races have a 10% weight loss limit.
However, in all cases, you must bet — e.g. before you put in a set amount of money — to get started. The bet amount depends on the game.
Like HealthyWage, DietBet deducts fees from the pot before the winners split the rest.
Why isn’t this site as attractive to people who want to get paid to get fit? Because the site says that 96% of participants win their bets, which means the pot is very thin to make a lot of money on any given bet.
Additionally, while this site also promises that every winner will get their money back, there is a caveat about longer-term challenges. With these, you only get the site’s “no loss guarantee” if you participate in the “optional” monthly weigh-ins and meet each monthly weight loss goal.
StepBet
StepBet works a bit like HealthyWage’s step challenges.
If you want to play, you’ll need to connect an activity tracker to the app. The activity tracker could be on your iPhone or Android device, or it could be an iWatch, Fitbit, S Gear or Garmin. However, this app does not work with all fitness trackers, so please check if your device is compatible before signing up.
StepBet will use the historical data of the fitness trackers to calculate your average movement and create two ambitious goals for you to achieve. One is an “active” goal that will be a step up from your normal activity. The second “strength” objective presents a greater challenge. Your mission is to meet a set number of “active” and “active” days each week.
Bet yourself at the start of the competition (usually 6 weeks). And, if you hit your goals throughout the contest, you split the pot (minus site fees) with the other winners.
If you are using the free version of the app, you can only enter one contest at a time. However, if you upgrade to a paid membership, you can participate in multiple bets at the same time.
The catch; The website doesn’t say how the step formula works, so unlike just a 25% increase in HealthyWage on typical activity, you won’t necessarily know what’s required until you enter a contest.
Worse, the site has had technical issues that have locked some users out of the system. And, in some cases, the app stopped recording their steps. Customer service seems to be lacking in action until users write bad reviews. At that point, the site appears to resolve the issues by either reconnecting the customer to the contest or allowing the customer to start over.
You get paid to be in shape
What if you don’t want to play? There are some apps that will pay you for fitness and health activities. But, they don’t pay much – a few dollars a month. But these apps can be used simultaneously to increase your earnings. And, aside from keeping the apps open on your smartphone, it only takes a few minutes of work to make sure they sync with your activity tracker or claim your points.
CashWalk
CashWalk is a free smartphone app that pays you a small amount, generally in gift cards, to keep running while you exercise. The site promises a “step coin” for every 100 feet you walk each day, up to a total of 100 step coins for those who reach the maximum daily limit of 10,000 steps per day.
However, step coins are not worth much. If you get the maximum number, you’ll earn the equivalent of 16.6 cents a day, or about $5 a month. But the real catch is that CashWalk cares more about your eyes than your thighs. The app is paid to make you watch ads. So you will see a lot of ads every time you collect your coins.
This is a bit annoying. But users are excited about the app because it does what it says it will — pay you a few bucks every month to get in shape.
Evidence
Most companies that promise to pay you to exercise have an ulterior motive. Proof is no exception.
This site partners with biomedical companies to help them find subjects for clinical research. It also works with healthcare companies that want market research, patient insights, data on sleep and exercise patterns and their impact on health, as well as real-world studies and long-term research and engagement programs.
By paying participants to keep the Evidation app activated, tracking their sleep and exercise, the site gets real-world data at a bargain price. In addition, the surveys it asks people to fill out for points allow Evidation to segment its users into categories — people with Diabetes. lung cancer; Wolf? etc. This puts the company in a perfect position to recruit participants for clinical trials and engage in targeted research.
How much do they pay you? About 10 cents a day, plus a little more if you’re willing to take a few surveys and give the app information about your health status. Meanwhile, it provides health information and articles, as well as data on your progress, which many users find useful and inspiring.
So, like CashWalk, Evidation isn’t going to make you rich. However, it can help you stay motivated.
18/3/2024
