Pact -- Earn $ for exercise - Lose $ if you don't

[deedadumble 1,033]

I just started using the Pact app. It lets you set a goal for number of times you will exercise in a week (it also has goals for logging food and eating vegetables). If you meet your goal, you get a reward from .35 to $5, depending on how many people did not meet their goal. You set the amount if you don't do the exercise. The punishment is from $5 up.

I'm going to try it for a few weeks to see if it helps get me motivated and to see how well it works. I do pretty good on exercise, so maybe if it works I'll try the logging incentive for a week or two.

Anyone else using it?

[FitnFabfor2014 358]

Maybe that's what I need. Money always motivates me!!!

[SuNMooNStaRS816 423]

I have never heard of it but sounds interesting. I would like to check it out. Hope it works well for you!!!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I saw that, too. Thinking of trying it!

[KristinaRnY 455]

I tried it awhile back but my signal At my gym is bad and/or couldn't connect to gps In order to "check in" at the gym, also to complete a food log you have to log 1200 calories and at least 3 meals, some people can't eat 1200 calories. It didn't work out for me but I hope it does for you cuz it is a neat idea.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

For real? I enjoy exercising 5-6 days a week so look forward to earning some coin. The only issue I see is eating 1200 calories a day described above. I eat way more.

[deedadumble 1,033]

You don't have to do the food logging pact. You can choose exercise, food logging, or veggie eating. This is my first week. I've got it connected to my Fitbit account, so shouldn't have any problems getting my exercise in since I have a 5K tomorrow and a half marathon on Sunday. I think it takes a few weeks to process the $$ for meeting goals and you can't cash out (using Paypal) until you've got $10.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I hope there are not any bugs in how it determines if you met goal or not. That could drain your cc if it claims you are not meeting goal when you really are. I wonder how the software makes this decision and want to research it some more first.

[deedadumble 1,033]

Logged my first exercise today, the Disney Royal Family 5K. I used MapMyRun during the race. I wasn't sure if it would work because Pact says it works with MapMyFitness. It worked really well. About 30 min after the race, the app popped up and said I had logged my exercise. Pretty cool! Hopefully my MapMyRun will work on Sunday and I'll get credit for the week. I'll let you know how it goes.

[deedadumble 1,033]

Finished my first week on Pact. I wanted to start at a manageable level, so I set it up with a goal of exercising 2 days per week. It will accept FitBit and MapMyFitness/MapMyRun, so I set it up for both just to make sure that whatever I do it will be counted. I don't have a gym membership yet, but I'm starting at one in another week.

First workout:

I had a 5K run on Friday and used MapMyRun and wore my FitBit Flex. About 20 minutes after my run, the MapMyRun synced to Pact and I received a notification that I received credit for the run. The exercise has to take at least 30 minutes and my 5K was about 35 minutes.

Second workout:

I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday and again used MapMyRun and wore my Flex. I think I missed the notification from Pact when the MapMyRun synced and I didn't look at the Pact app until Monday and I saw that it recorded my run.

Extra workouts:

I synced my FitBit on Monday and Pact notified me that I had 3 exercises that were not counted. Two were the FitBit workouts for Friday and Sunday that had already had MapMyRuns counted for those days. The other was for Saturday when I didn't get over 10,000 steps.

So far so good, and I didn't have to pay in because of missed days. I also noticed that because my first week was a partial week, Pact gives me to the next Sunday to earn my workouts. So this "week" is actually about 11 days and will end on 3/2. I have read that it can take about 2 weeks to receive payout on the weeks that you earn $$, so I won't know if it's working for a couple of weeks. It's important to note that I don't think the $$ rewards are enough for motivation. I think it's the $$ punishment for not exercising that really makes the app work. I'll keep reporting back on my experience with it. I'm not ready to increase my days yet because I want to be successful with it.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I am excited to hear how well this program works. Keep us posted! I am about to start in on a p90x program so maybe having a pact could help pay for it. Lol.

[deedadumble 1,033]

I received my first $$ today for completing my first week Pact. I earned 82 cents for two days of exercise! If I keep it up I'll make $42 in a year! Woo woo! Also, I can't cash out until I get $10 in my account, which will take another 11 weeks. Also, rewards may vary based on how many people lose their Pact for the week.

The app is definitely more a punishment system than a reward system. I'm not going to walk a block for 82 cents, but I will do my 30 minutes of exercise to keep from paying my $5 punishment.

So far, so good. Not going to push it yet and go for 3 days of exercise. I've got too much work to do in the next few weeks to commit.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Interesting. Is it your opinion that there are more people getting their workouts done then not? That would certainly lower the value proposition of participating if no one is messing up. As long as it does not cost anything in money or time to play the game and you know you are going to do your workout every week, then I guess there is no harm in participating. I originally thought you would be rewarded the same amount as you are punished, but clearly that is not the case. Thanks for the update.

[deedadumble 1,033]

Based on the reward amounts, I think that about 1 in 6 users miss one workout.

My reward for last week was 78 cents. Thinking about increasing my workouts to 3 per week to see if the earnings increase.

[Cherryhair 88]

I earned $1.17 for completing 3 workouts so it does increase slightly depending on the # of days.

I agree with the punishment of paying $5 being more of a motivator.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Cherryhair