Finally, there’s an app for it: getting rewarded every time you complete a workout or a set of exercises. Dubai-based residents Alex Light and Ben Walton have developed Styck, a new fitness application for smartphones that tracks your movement and matches it to a “reward” sponsored by cafes, hotels and fitness organisations in the city. “The app was born out of the issues of obesity, diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle that is rife globally,” says Light, who works with Walton at Dubizzle. “We coupled that with the fact that people like to be recognised and incentivised to do good, so we built an experience in the shape of an app.”
Light says: “People who are active know that after a run or long walk you feel great. But how do you sell it to someone who isn’t active? The anticipation of feeling great won’t do much to get them to walk, but telling them in advance that they’ll be getting a free coffee, lunch or a voucher for a cool activity if they achieve certain steps can.”
The creators – who say they are quite active themselves – launched the app last month on the iOS platform and have teamed up with businesses such as the Jumeirah Group, Right Bite and Movement Parkour. Light says 150 users have received “more than 250 rewards already”.
“Brands have some everyday incentives, like a coffee or breakfast,” says Light. “These rewards are specifically injected at points in the day that will fuel users to choose moving every day.”
When the participant achieves a certain number of steps, by walking, running or cycling, the goal is equated to a suitable prize to encourage them to continue. For example, completing 5,000 steps will get the participant a coffee and 7,000 steps a fitness voucher or consultation.
“Styck is designed for those looking to start their health and wellness journey, through to those everyday athletes.”
Prizes of a higher value are “unlocked” if users demonstrate consistent improvement over the course of a month.
“Therefore building a habit of movement in return for an epic reward,” says Light. “For example, we have weekends away at some of the most luxurious hotels up for grabs and off-roading courses with Jeep.
“We have seen a streak of 18 days of consistent movement in March by one user and another who clocked in 22,000 steps in a day.”
Light says the best way to get started is to “disrupt” your current routine.
“Make an actual decision to move more and quantify that goal,” he says. “Tell people about your goal so that you can be held accountable, and reinforce your progress with rewards and incentives until they become a positive choice.”
He stresses that the app is not in the market to compete with branded fitness trackers but is there to persuade people to take baby steps towards being fitter.
“My belief is that you should be as active as possible, and this isn’t just about dedicating 20 to 40 minutes in the gym,” he says. “It’s also about general movement like getting up from your desk to pass on a message to a colleague rather than sending an email, taking the stairs instead of the lift.
“People often disregard the little changes that could compound into better well-being. It has to do with a lack of education on the matter and also with the time, opportunity, cost that people see in this sort of movement. Not to mention, with everything at our disposal, we tend to become lazier.”
• Styck is available in the Apple Store and will soon be launched for Android phones. For more information, visit www.styckapp.com
aahmed@thenational.ae
