It is said the health benefits of exercise are supposed to be your biggest reward, but for some it's still hard to hit the gym regularly.
Bernadette Pitts would like to hit the gym five times a week.
"It's definitely a little harder in the winter," Bernadette said.
Chad Staller aims to work out up to 6 times a week.
"Getting up out of bed is very tough," Chad said.
Now there's a device that promises to give an extra incentive to Bernadette and Chad and many others.
It is the $20 Switch to Health or S2H Replay Watch. It records cardio time, and for each hour of sweat equity you put in, you earn points to cash in for prizes.
"I think this will keep me from slacking off," Bernadette said.
But how well does the watch really work? To find out, Action News had Bernadette and Chad test it out for three weeks.
We'll check back with them a little later in this story.
Meanwhile, fitness guru and S2H Replay representative Andrea Metcalf says the watch is designed to track 60 minutes a day of continuous cardio movement.
For every 3 minutes that you continually move, the watch reveals a bar. The bars stack up for every 15 minutes of exercise you log. After 60 minutes, the watch reveals a code for 60 reward points to cash in.
"We have great gift cards and prizes from companies that you know like Best Buy and Barnes and Noble, Toys R Us, Game works," said Metcalf.
But you do have to work out a lot.
For instance, to get a $5 gift card to Target, Sports Authority or Amazon, you need 900 points. In other words, 900 minutes of cardio or the equivalent of fifteen 60-minute workouts.
The good news is, you can save up your rewards and earn even bigger prizes.
"Six days a week, 60 minutes a day for six weeks, for six months, you can get a whole Wii Fit system," said Metcalf.
That's right - a free Wii Fit!
So how did the watch work for our testers?
"I'm just a little disappointed in how much Pilates and strength training that I do that doesn't count," said Bernadette.
That is a downside.
Slower activities with breaks in between like yoga, Pilates, and strength training don't add up to much if anything at all.
But Bernadette did earn 600 points for running and says she's banking her points for a big gift card down the road.
As for Chad...
"I've been doing a lot of boxing, weight lifting, spinning classes and swimming," said Chad.
Unfortunately, the watch isn't waterproof so you can't use it while swimming.
And to earn points while on a bike, you have to change out the band and strap the watch to your ankle, something Chad didn't do.
In the end, his sweat equity added up to only 420 points.
Still, he is happy to earn at least something and plans to save up his points, too.
"There are lots of nice companies signed up, Lowes, Target, Toys 'R' Us, but my eye is on the prize for the Wii," said Chad.
Our testers tell us the watch does add a fun element to their workout routine and the extra incentive they were looking for.
One more word of warning, you can only earn points for a maximum of 60-minutes per day. The watch will not calculate points beyond that.
You can buy the S2H Replay watch at Sears or online.
The company also just launched a work out reward pedometer. If you do a lot of walking, that might be a good option for you.
LINKS:
http://www.s2h.com/http://www.sportingclubbellevue.com/
