How you can apply gamification to your training sessions as a way to increase intrinsic motivation enabling you to get more out of and be consistent with your training.
It may be tempting to follow random workouts you find, do something completely different each session or just go through a variety of exercises when you’re feeling up to it.
If you find yourself doing this, you’re probably finding it hard to consistently stick with your exercise, finding it boring and seeing very little progress.
Incorporating game elements into your exercises (and the session goals they create) can help.
It’ll help you want to repeat the workout again, enjoy it more and encourage progression!
Here’s why, and how you can implement it in your own training:
Elements like success feedback, point scores, levels, challenges, recognition, comparison through leaderboards are what you would see in a game but, applied to other things (like exercise), it’s the concept of gamification.
When it comes to physical activity, there’s some good evidence that gamification can help. (1)
Games have been shown to motivate intrinsically (1). This means you do it for the process and the feelings of enjoyment, interest and so on, as opposed to some kind of external reward or consequence (extrinsic motivation).
Aspects of gamification such as enjoyment, mastery/gaining competence and challenge all contribute to the development of this intrinsic motivation. In turn, experiencing intrinsic motivation is a major advantage when it comes to maintaining an exercise routine long-term and thus the results you see!
The enjoyment and increased engagement is also going to lead to more positive emotions. As discussed here, not only will the positive emotions help you train harder (improved physical performance), but they will also lead to improving other areas of your health and wellness (beyond the training session).
Gamification is already widely used within various apps and technology such as Apple Health, which gamifies how many steps you’re getting; Oura Ring/Whoop, which gamifies your recovery and sleep; and there are even some newer exercise machines that are beginning to incorporate screens and technology to track how much force you can exert etc.
Moving away from technology, here are a few simple ways you can incorporate it into your training sessions.
What sounds like a better and more engaging way to enter a training session:
“I have to perform this movement 10 times for three rounds” (3 sets x 10 reps)
or
“My highest score is 14 reps on my last set, I’d like to try and beat it today”
“Last week I could do 5 reps at level 3, I think I can get more at level 3 this week”
and so on...
Hopefully you agree with the latter, gamified version! Here’s how we can make them more like that:
This is a way of creating your own ‘high scores’, challenges or competitions with yourself.
For the last set of an exercise, make it your ‘challenge set’. Drop the weight by a little and perform as many reps as possible. This sets a number (or a high score) that you can aim to beat next time you perform the challenge set for that exercise.
It’s psychologically refreshing, challenging and it gives you a goal to beat for the next session that ensures you’re progressing! (beating your ‘challenge set’ high score).
Instead of lifting the same weight over and over again, you can create different levels for the exercise.
One way to do this is with the loading scheme called ‘wave loading’. This is how it would look:
Choose a ‘big’ movement (compound movements like squats, deadlifts, military press and so on.)
Perform the following:
Level One (Wave one)
• 6 reps at a moderate weight
• Rest 2-3mins
• 4 reps at a slightly heavier weight
• Rest 2-3mins
• 2 reps at a tough weight but one that you’re still confident you can do it.
• Rest 2-3mins
Level Two (Wave two):
• 6 reps at a weight heavier than level one’s first set of 6 reps (should be hard)
• Rest 2-3mins
• 4 reps at a weight heavier than level one’s set of 4 reps (should be very heavy)
• Rest 2-3mins
• 2 reps at a weight as heavy as you can!
Optional level three (if you’re still feeling good):
Add in the challenge set discussed above!
• Choose a challenging weight (that you can get more than 6 reps with) and perform as many reps as possible!
Record your results and aim to beat your weights at each level the next time you perform the same session. Maybe at some point your level 2 weights start feeling like level 1?
Not only does this have the psychological benefits of gamification and keeping you more engaged, but it also boosts your exercise performance thanks to the way it’s organised (post-activation potentiation – making heavier weights feel lighter … so you can lift more!)
This is a way we can create some continuous progress feedback (another element of gamification).
One way to implement this is if you’re including some plyometrics alongside your strength training (think jumping, throwing objects etc.), and can include external targets you can aim for.
For example, have a box, some mats, some plates etc. that you can increase the height of and aim to jump on. Your goal may be to slowly increase the height each session and see whether you’re still able to jump on top of it.
Another way could be measuring the distance that you can jump forward or throw an object (eg. can you throw the (soft) medicine ball to the ceiling?).
Not doing any plyometrics? It could be as simple as measuring how deep you can get into a movement.
For example, if you’re performing a box squat using a chair, are you able to get all the way down to touch the chair? If so, can you find a smaller chair that will be your next goal to get to?
Implementing game elements within your training sessions can be a great way to motivate you intrinsically. The increased enjoyment, interest, challenge and feelings of competence you get will help you stay more consistent with your training, create positive emotions and help you see better results. Try implementing one of the strategies discussed and see whether it brings some life back into your training.
1) Johnson, Daniel et al. “Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature.” Internet interventions vol. 6 89-106. 2 Nov. 2016, doi:10.1016/j.invent.2016.10.002
2) Teixeira, Pedro J et al. “Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory: a systematic review.” The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity vol. 9 78. 22 Jun. 2012, doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-78
Food choices that can drive your fitness and health outcomes beyond their calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein content.
Read article >
How including both aerobic training and strength training improves different areas of your health and fitness (and how to go about it).
Read article >
Why everyone should consider supplementing with 'Creatine'.
Read article >
.svg)
