iPhone app Nexercise rewards users for exercise

Author:  Thuc Huynh, MD

Nexercise Inc. introduces their free iPhone app Nexercise to encourage people to exercise by giving them real-world rewards. The app can track various physical activities from running to yard work, and offers users free and discounted items in an attempt to make users adopt long-term exercise habits.

Users can earn points for the length of their workout as well as other positive physical behaviors. Users can also earn bonus points for certain positive exercise routines like working out with a friend or exercising during a rainy day.

To earn points, the workout length should be at least 15 minutes. The real-world rewards are offered through a lottery system where the more in-app points a user earns, the higher the probability of winning. Users that have achieved higher rankings can avail of much more expensive merchandise.



Nexercise is partnering with Kiip, which is a company known for offering rewards for achievements in the virtual space. Prizes can range from $5 coupons to $250 worth of gift cards. Currently, Nexercise is a free app although developers are looking into taking a cut as a transaction fee each time a user redeems a coupon as part of the business plan for the future.

The app also includes a social networking feature where users can invite their Facebook friends and earn additional points. They can also post their progress and share it via Facebook and Twitter. The app has recently been used for an experimental run in the University of Maryland.

Observers believe that a lot can be improved for the app including the quality of its rewards. It was also observed that the app cannot run in the background and it needs to be open at all times for it to completely track the physical activity. Benjamin Young, Nexercise’s co-founder, said that the problem will be addressed in the fall.

You can downlaod the free app here.

About the author :

Dr. Thuc Huynh is a physician and webpreneur. She is the founder of Scrubd.in, a medical mobile apps shopping site and MD Salaries, a website reporting physician salaries for every specialty. She is also chief operating officer of Scutwork.com, the leading website for residency program reviews. Her main interest lies within web and mobile technology for medical education, patient empowerment, and patient care. Dr Huynh graduated as chief resident and teacher of the year from her family medicine residency in Rapid City, SD. She received her M.D. at the Medical University of the Americas.