Apps I Actually Use: Nexercise

There are so many different apps out there for fitness and health, and so hard to discover them without someone recommending them to you. Also, if you are like me, you tend to download a lot and after trying them a few times, never use them again.

So I thought I would  start an intermitten series on apps that I'm using at the moment which are really working for me.

Today's app is Nexercise, which has got a lot of attention with high profile reviews and recommendations.

Purpose: Basically it gives you points for doing different types of exercises, which you collect and use to rank yourself against other people.

How I found it: Jenny (my little sister) found it and asked me to join it with her. We are now in competition to see who has the most points.

Good points: Other than being free, which is always a good point in my book, it is great for helping to motivate someone a little less fit than you to exercise.

It allocates points more on time spent exercising and consistency (eg. you get a daily log-in bonus, extra points if you exercise on a Monday, or on a few days in a row, etc.). You do not seem to get many extra points for running instead of walking, though there is a 'motion bonus' for how much you move your phone while doing it.

This means that my little sister is encouraged to go for walks while I might be pushing myself to do interval training. As Jenny said, if it were purely on calories burnt, she would have given up because I would have been so far ahead.

The competitive aspect also only looks at the last month, so if I have a great month and Jenny gets really far behind, she knows that she just needs to keep going and soon my points will start dropping off again.

Not so good points:
If you aren't competing against someone, I think it would be a bit boring. The major reason I log on is to keep my points up to encourage Jenny to keep exercising. As the points don't actually relate to anything such as distance run or calories burnt, I would use a different program if I were by myself.

Overall Review:
Make sure that you have at least one friend that wants to sign up with you, or find a group online, because then it can be a lot of fun and very motivating.