Being in med school and an eventual part of the healthcare system results in students learning about how to educate people about how to stay active and take care of fitness. Unfortunately, most health care providers don’t follow their own advice and this includes students. In taking the time to take care of others, we often neglect our own health. It’s not that hard to exercise and stay fit, it’s all a matter of taking the time out to do it.
It’s a common problem that a lot of people face. We often don’t find the time to spare for fitness routines when there are handheld devices and online services that provide enough entertainment and work to do that make physical activity seem like a chore. A degree of willpower is required to make amends and get started with staying fit and being active.
With such a busy and mostly sedentary lifestyle, it has been difficult for me to get up and move as often as I would have liked, but it all definitely changed for the better when my friend convinced me to install a certain Pokemon Go app.
How Pokemon Go Helps You Get Started
In Game Rewards And That Dopamine Rush
I honestly didn’t think virtual rewards would be that great, but Pokemon Go has changed my mind. A variety of rewards lay waiting for you, provided you complete the number of steps required for each milestone. Whether it’s walking 3 kilometers for candies or 7 kilometers for hatching an egg or 25 kilometers for receiving Pokeballs, the game does a fantastic way of giving tiered gifts that help feed the dopamine rush to keep going.
With the game passively recording your steps, it helps rewire your thought process into looking at extra errands as opportunities instead of chores and you might even find yourself volunteering to go out, just to keep adding the steps under your belt! I know it has definitely changed my outlook on physical activity- I don’t find myself staying sedentary when I have an excuse to head out and move!
Multiplayer Community Days
Pokemon Go has introduced multiplayer aspects that allow people to add each other as friends on the app and send each other games. Teaming up in real life just got better too! The biggest thing with introducing fitness in your life is to have the motivation to do it in the first place and Pokemon Go really helps out in that aspect when you’ve got a whole group of friends playing it with you!
Every month, there’s a Community Day and it’s a fantastic excuse for all your Pokemon Go friends to head out and spend the evening exploring tourist landmarks and burning calories on the way! Not only do you spend an eventful day with friends, but it’s also a great fitness outing instead of sitting at some cafe and eating in more calories!
The Game with No Game Hours
The best part about playing Pokemon Go is how most of it is offline. You don’t need to have the app open and functioning to be playing. It simply records your steps and adds it into the game. All you have to do is check in for a few minutes a day, either to spin a Pokestop or set a new egg into an incubator. It’s such a low maintenance game that it doesn’t steal from the rest of tasks but still does it’s job pretty well, which is to encourage people to get up and start moving!
So what are you waiting for? Install the game, get a few friends in on it too and watch how the game slowly changes your psyche to start looking forward to long walks and errands. It’s a fantastic way to slowly introduce fitness and exercise into your life without making it seem like a chore!