APP CULTURE
Walk this way
How smug do you feel when you reach your daily 10,000 steps target? If you make it to 70,000 for the week there’s an even greater sense of achievement. But we’ve all had those days when we’ve found ourselves glancing at our apps or our Apple Watch and noticing that we’re a few hundred off the mark (commence stepping on the spot at 11:30pm while brushing your teeth). Sometimes, thanks to our sedentary jobs, we’ve barely made it past a measly 2,000. Here are some apps that will help keep you motivated to up the step count.
Turn walking into art
If you are someone who wants their walking to produce visible results, ArtWalk can help (though, perhaps not in the way you were expecting). The app will record your activity (or partner with your Strava app to pull in your exercise stats) and then create an attractive abstract image based on your movement. Choose to display your distance as a burst of colourful ink, for example, or a soothing pattern of bubbles.
Turn walking into a game
Okay, so our final app Steppy Pants won't actually help you add to your own step count. Instead, this silly but fun game will allow you to live vicariously through a very wobbly, overly-bendy character as you make him pound the pavements in your place. Try to make him walk without accidentally doing the splits or stepping on the cracks. And if you do decide to go for a walk after playing, see if you can do it in the style of Mr Steppy Pants and you’ll definitely burn a few extra calories.