During the initial lockdown period, fitness fanatics were searching for ways to continue exercising.
Virtual challenges emerged as the latest fitness trend with thousands using the challenges as a replacement for events.
But since restrictions have eased, are virtual challenges still something to consider for your 2022 new year’s resolutions?
What are Virtual Fitness Challenges?
Whilst the majority of us would love to exercise more often to stay in peak condition, time and financial constraints create a struggle to find a successful routine.
More difficulties were added when lockdowns forced gyms and sports facilities to close for the foreseeable future. At this time, people around the world were in need of an alternative method of exercise.
As a result, companies scrambled to create products that focussed on making home workouts easier. Whilst many resorted to equipment, some companies decided on providing a framework that allowed athletes to work towards their fitness goals.
So how do these challenges work? And what do they offer to differentiate it from something that customers could organise themselves?
One of the main objectives of these challenges is to set goals that are clear, but also allows people to modify the challenges to their needs. Taking this into account, most of these challenges opt for a timed distance challenge or a daily activity challenge.
These challenges offer the goal setting needed to develop a routine but keeps the duration, frequency, and intensity of the exercise up to the customer. Keeping it simple is great for providing a custom experience, but this alone makes it difficult to justify paying for.
Therefore, the peripherals and supporting content of the challenges are a crucial element to their value. Offering an experience that goes beyond traditional goal setting and includes a service that can’t be found elsewhere will persuade fitness enthusiasts to participate.
There are a few approaches the challenges have taken in order to enhance their user’s exercise. The most popular approach has been to offer a virtual race via an app or website.
Whether simulating a real life race or replicating a scenic route for tourists, these virtual paths transport challengers to locations across the globe. At a time when travel was off the table, a lot of people jumped at the opportunity to scratch that travel bug.
Map of Pyramids Virtual Challenge.
Even though travel restrictions have since been lifted, the virtual routes have continued to be an in demand feature for those that are not yet comfortable travelling or lack the funds to do so.
Another method used to encourage participation in virtual fitness challenges is by contributing towards charities. By pledging to donate some of the funds to a good cause, it makes people more inclined to sign up to challenges because they want to help others.
The way in which donations are made will vary depending on the selected challenge. Some companies will just include the donation as part of the fees, but others will donate a specific sum after the challenger completes a specific milestone.
Either way, charitable donations act as a great motivator for participants as they are now completing workouts for something greater than just personal gain.
Incentives that push athletes along the journey are vital, but the incentives to reach the destination are just as important. Because of this, most companies will send a gift to customers for completing the challenge.
The most popular prize in virtual challenges is medals. Rewarding challengers with a medal acts a great incentive and resembles a prize similar to completing a traditional race.
Other final rewards are available such as a big charitable donation or certificate.
The Virtual Motivator
When reflecting on the success of virtual challenges during the initial lockdown, the discussion immediately turns to the demand for motivation. With restrictions in place, gym members and athletes had their usual motivators taken away.
The removal of motivators such as a gym instructor or team-mate is likely to decrease someone’s willingness to exercise. This disruption to an exercise routine can lead to the individual exercising less or even stopping entirely.
Because of this, the initial lockdown saw an increased demand for replacement motivators when the normal ones were not feasible as well as new ways to connect to our original motivators.
There were many ways in which people around the world achieved this, including virtual challenges. The challenges allowed customers to replace physical motivators with a virtual motivator whilst offering the opportunity to connect with friends for extra motivation.
This meant that they provided the best of both at a time when customers were clawing for an alternative. And though many have reverted to their old ways after the lifting of restrictions, there is still plenty of value in using virtual challenges.
The accessibility and customisation makes these challenges a great option for those not wanting to commit to a gym membership. Also, the cheaper price point grabs the attention of those struggling to justify paying a monthly fee to join a gym.
The extra incentives offered as part of these challenges can provide a much needed push to reach a certain goal or to continue a routine that is becoming repetitive. Instead of devising their own plans to reinvent workouts, customers have the work done for them.
However, it is important to note that the features available in these challenges could be done for cheaper or even for free as long as you are willing to make the effort.
My Experiences
Like many others, the closure of sporting facilities took a toll on my exercise patterns. As someone who loves to play team sports, I found it extremely difficult to find motivation to continue exercising during the lockdown period.
After a few weeks of searching, I decided to purchase two virtual challenges from ‘The Conqueror’. My mum also participated in challenges during lockdown and had recommended them to me.
I have always been interested in travelling, but being a student means that I have not had the chance to go to many places in the past few years.
This is one of my main reasons for choosing the Conqueror challenges because they provide street views of locations along the route with postcards explaining their significance and background.
An example of a postcard I received during my Great Ocean Road challenge.
I also liked the look of the software they used and the fact that they plant trees on your behalf at certain milestones. Plus the medals don’t look too bad either!
The two challenges I took part in were the ‘Pyramids of Giza’ and ‘Great Ocean Road’. I began with the Pyramids and then moved onto the Great Ocean Road.
I decided to choose the Pyramids as I have always wanted to visit. Ancient history was one of my favourite topics in school and I think my recent playthrough of Assassins Creed Origins may have swayed the decision.
I set myself a goal of completing the 75km route within 10 weeks by running and walking. I managed to complete the goal within the time frame whilst continuing to stay motivated throughout.
The first challenge worked really well as a motivator during the lockdown period for me. I wanted to progress further and reach the milestones, encouraging me to go out at a time when it would have been easier to stay inside.
However, when I moved onto the Great Ocean Road challenge, I found my experience to be more of a struggle.
For this challenge, I gave myself 16 weeks of to complete the 240km route by any means necessary.
I’m not sure whether it was because of the lifting of restrictions or just because I was less interested in the challenge, but I felt less motivated the second time around.
The longer distance meant that reaching milestones took longer and required more effort. This made it difficult to stay motivated, especially when team sports were allowed to return after lockdown.
I found that when my original motivators returned, it distracted me from the virtual challenge. This led to me forgetting to record exercises and losing interest for days or even weeks.
It’s hard to say if this would have been different had this transition began during the first challenge, but I think the loss of interest could have been due to some elements of burnout too.
As a result, during the final month I decided to change up some of my exercises to utilise the exercise bike. This worked well and I just about reached the goal within the given time period.
Throughout the two challenges, I used strava to record my exercises. I found that the Strava app was as effective at motivating me as the challenges were because of the ability to see friends exercises and progress.
At times when I struggled to motivate myself through the challenges alone, I always turned on Strava for inspiration. Because of this, I think recording exercises via Strava is a great accompanying tool, or even a cheaper alternative to virtual challenges.
My medals do look great!
Overall, my experiences were positive with the Conqueror virtual challenges, and I would consider using it again.
They provided me with motivation at a time when it was really needed and helped me alter my usual routine.
However, if I decide to do more challenges in the future, I will opt for more frequent challenges at a shorter distance to avoid a loss of interest.
I would also only choose to do a challenge when I lack other motivators and would like to have someone else with me along the journey.
Is it Worth it?
Ultimately, I would recommend a virtual fitness challenge to anyone who is looking for some motivation to exercise. Whether it is to help kickstart a new year’s resolution, or just to change things up a bit, it is a valid option that offers plenty of appealing features.
A cheaper option than many, challenges like the conqueror should be considered before jumping to buy a new gym membership in January.
However, those that struggle that are not interested in travel or are not struggling for motivation may want to consider another option.
I would suggest installing Strava as it is a great way of connecting with family and friends through exercise, and it doesn’t cost a penny.
If you are looking to take part in a virtual fitness challenge, here is a link the Conqueror Challenges website: https://www.theconqueror.events/
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