The one fitness app that has hooked me for good

The one fitness app that has hooked me for goodThe one fitness app that has hooked me for goodCould there be a behavior more antithetical to human nature than exercise? Our caveman ancestors, if they could observe ur workout habits today, would think weve lost our minds. We lift heavy objects into the air and return them to the exact spot where we picked them up. We buy ridiculous gadgetry to get in shape (Shake Weight anyone?). We elevate our heart rates as if were being chased by a hungry predator. And for what? Not to escape danger, but to undo the negative consequences of our overindulgent and underactive modern lifestyles.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreAmericans spend $19 billion annually on gym memberships. Unfortunately, while many people join gyms, few use them for long. According to the Fitness Industry Association, about 44 percent of people who sign up for a gym memb ership quit after just six months.While disheartening, the figure is not surprising. Humans are hardwired tovalue short-term rewards over long-term benefits. We often choose to stay under warm bed covers rather than invest in the future benefits of working out.I know that dichotomy all too well. Ive struggled with working out for as long as I can remember. As an obese child, my mother dragged me to the gym to help me slim down. As a lethargic teenager, I joined the high school wrestling team in a desperate attempt to get in shape, but I never won a single match. As an adult, I tried to prioritize the gym as part of my regular routine countless times but failed at each attempt.Until I found Fitbod.Fitbodis a beautifully designed app that has helped me consistently hit the gym for over two years, and Im not the only one whos found the app helpful. Over three million people have downloaded Fitbod, and its consistently ranked among the top-grossing and top-rated apps in its Apple App St ore category. While the app has been incredibly useful to me, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my book,Hooked, was useful to the apps founders.Fitbod is the brainchild of Allen Chen, a fitness enthusiast, who despite lifting weights for over a decade still had a frequent problem. Id walk into the gym and every single day not know what to do, he told me. I wanted my phone to just tell me which muscles I needed to engage.In 2015, Chen says he readHookedand designed an initial prototype based on the four parts of the Hooked Model. He started with theinternal trigger, the actuator of the behavior, which he identified as the uncertainty of not knowing what to do in the gym.Once Chen had a working prototype, he shared it with his college friend, Jesse Venticinque, who was working as a designer at LinkedIn at the time. I readHookedwhen it made the rounds in the office, Venticinque told me. Seeing the potential to build healthy habits in peoples lives, the two joined forces and move d forward with the project.Together, Chen and Venticinque began refining their app to help users build a habit of using Fitbod in the gym.Heres their Hooked ModelAfter identifying the first step of their hook, the internal trigger of uncertainty, Chen and Venticinque needed to ensure Fitbods Action Phase would quickly solve the users psychological need by providing certainty about what they should do in the gym.I acutely remember the embarrassing feeling of standing around in the gym, not knowing what to do, and feeling I was probably in someones way. With Fitbod, simply opening the app provides quick relief.With one tap on the app, Fitbod creates my next workout, removing the discomfort of uncertainty by quickly telling me which exercises to do, in what order, how much weight to lift, how many repetitions to do, and even how long to rest between sets. I dont have to think about anything. I just have to do what Fitbod tells me to do. The simplicity of a single, next workout to do re ally helps the gym-goer quickly solve their psychological uncertainty, Venticinque told me.By generating the workout program on the fly, Fitbod overcomes some of the stumbling blocks associated with other fitness programs. For instance, whereas fruchtwein of Fitbods competitors ask users to embark on a lengthy multi-week program, Fitbod requires no long-term commitments. Similarly, if users fall off track, they can easily get back on track because the app is always ready with their next best workout.Next, comes the Variable Reward Phase of Fitbods Hooked Model. Not only is there an element of surprise in discovering which exercises the app chooses for me (rewards of the hunt), but the app also brings out the intrinsically rewarding elements of exercise as well. Unlike other fitness apps that reward users with corny badges or points, which can become less motivating over time, the main reward when using Fitbod is the satisfaction of conquering the exercise itself. By giving users cle ar weight and repetition goals for each activity, Fitbod harnesses the search for mastery and competence endemic to rewards of the self. Theres variability in seeing if you can smash your personal best. And Fitbod helps by setting achievable, incremental goals with each exercise.Finally, Fitbod gets smarter with use, a characteristic of well-designed, habit-forming products. The Investment Phase of Fitbods Hooked Model occurs every time I log an exercise. By entering data, Im storing value in the tafelgeschirr and ensuring it improves the more I use it. With my previous exercise information, the app tailors future sessions and recommendations. I can also invest more value in the app by tailoring my fitness goals, available equipment, and even how much time I have to workout- all factors the app uses to compute my next tailored workout.Fitbod isnt free. Users pay a monthly or annual subscription. But unlike gym memberships, which most people abandon despite continuing to pay dues, th e Fitbod founders tell me their app loses very few customers and is used on average nine times per month per user. Fitbodsapplication of the Hooked Model is clearly working. The founders tell me its user base and profits continue to grow.As someone who has always struggled with inconsistent exercising habits, Im proud to say that Ive formed an indispensable habit with Fitbod. Im happy to let the app do the thinking for me so I can focus on my workout. Instead of relying on an expensive personal trainer or spending countless hours reading fitness books and logging exercises with clunky pen and paper, Ive finally built a helpful and healthy habit.This article first appeared on Nir Far.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 1 2 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people