(Image : The Sun News)

BY UNA LUE

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

New year, but same old resolutions? If yours is to lose weight, a new app could help you finally get off the couch and to the gym. Here’s website GymPact, explaining its app.

“One. You make the pact and you decide how many days you want to work out. Two, set the stakes. How much you’re willing to pay if you do not go to the gym. Three, check into your gym using your smartphone. And every week money pay by the non-exercisers is tallied and divided up among who got to the gym.”

The Daily Mail reports you’ve got to make a minimum financial commitment of $5, but if you want to push yourself harder, pledge higher.

And, middle-school style, miss a session due to illness and you can ask your doctor to email the app an exemption note.

The app was created by a behavioral economics class at Harvard University and began with a pilot in Boston. One of the founders told the New York Times -- the pilot proved that cash incentives help most people achieve their goal.

“People don’t like losing money and it’s one of the strongest motivators, much more than winning money … about 1,500 people signed up prior to its official debut [and] make it, on average, to 90 percent of the days they commit to.”

But a writer for Tech Crunch isn’t completely comfortable with the idea asking -- how do you make sure people aren’t cheating by checking in on the fly?

“...I’d like to see a little more in the way of assurance that users won’t be subject to fraud, or false check-in crap. And just how precise they can be in determining whether or not users stay at the gym for 30 minutes at a time, and in what location? Have they discovered something that other check-in LBSes haven’t? If not, it’s a slippery slope.”

And, some are more concerned about their personal information than what’s fair. The app doesn’t allow you to sign up without ponying up your credit card number. Says TheVerge:

“...there's no immediately obvious way to cancel your account or change your credit card (though you can take a ‘break’ for as long as you want without your card being charged). ... it's a disconcerting experience to not be able to immediately remove your personal financial information.”

According to TechCrunch, another app called HealthRally also offers financial incentive to get in shape. But instead, users make pledges to their close friends and family.