We all know that getting regular exercise can save you money on healthcare costs over the years, especially as all of the biggest killers in the developed world are related to not being active. Even if you're overweight, by being active you reduce you risk of all cardiac related disease by up to 50%, and reduce your risk of developing cancer by up to 30%. Good reasons to stay active, but what about a financial return in the shorter term?
**It is possible to get paid for exercising, **and there are a number of apps that will make this happen.
The one I've been using the longest is sweatcoin.
It runs in the background, and counts your steps, giving you one 'sweatcoin' for approximately 1,000 steps. Unfortunately, direct withdrawals aren't currently possible (in the past you could exchange coins for amazon vouchers, so i'm hopeful this will happen again). Instead, there is a marketplace where coins can be used towards offers from various providers (usually sportswear, vitamins, tech gadgets, or online fitness or education services. I have used a couple of the offers, and claiming them is pretty painless.
Or if you feel like donating your coins to the greater good, there are plenty of charitable options there too. Overall the app is easy to use, and doesn't drain your battery in any noticeable way. The marketplace can be a bit hit and miss whether there is anything there of interest to you.
Next up is Stepdrop,
This runs on 'young platform'. This operates on a 'quest' basis, with quests based on claiming your steps (0.05 YNG for claiming 5000 steps, and 0.25 for claiming 10,000 steps each day. You can also guess whether the value of BTC, ETH, or another currency will rise or fall over the next 3,6,or 12 hours, and you win a small amount each time you guess correctly, and get a bonus for 3 correct predictions in one day. The app is simple to use, and also has an education and quiz side, where you can earn more YNG for answering questions about crypto. This is a nice little one to use as well, and it also runs in the background, though you do need to check it and claim your steps frequently if you are walking a lot. You need to accumulate 45YNG before you can trade it on YOUNG platform for other currencies. I'm currently on 38.66 YNG, so i'll update when i have enough to trade.
Another simple to use app is smiles
(referral code "malkelly402"). This one gives you sats (bitcoin) for steps and works completely in the background, except you need to open the app at least once per day for it to log your steps. In theory, this one also lets you watch videos (ads?) to get more sats. I say in theory, because this feature hasn't worked for me here in Ireland, so it might be location based. To be honest, that hasn't bothered me, as it also has the option to solve chess puzzles or play games of chess to earn more sats. You need 1000 sats to be able to transfer them to a bitcoin lightning wallet. I've been using it for less than a week, and i'm more than a quarter of the way there. I'll update on the transfer process as soon as I can. The app mentions a shopping service with bitcoin cashback coming soon, but details are scarce at the moment..
Coming in part 2 of this post: 3 more apps that could make exercise pay.. (I'll link to it from here when it's done).
**This Article is also on my blog on publish0x https://www.publish0x.com/holistic-balance/how-to-get-paid-for-exercising-part-1-xyyvpjy