One of the most effective ways to stick to a habit is to gamify it. And when it comes to exercise, you've got plenty of options to choose from. Most people may get satisfaction from closing the rings on an Apple Watch or keeping a streak alive on Strava, but I decided to walk to Mordor instead.
Not literally, of course, because Mordor is fictional. Instead, I used an app that replicated my real-world steps to mirror Frodo's journey from Bag End to Mount Doom over the course of a year. The idea came from a conversation I had last December after watching one of the films (they're a favorite at Christmas), and I decided to give it a try.
If you struggle with motivation (or a lack of time) to get outside and complete your daily steps, then making a game of it can be an ideal way to stick to the habit. Several different options on the App Store can gamify your step count, including sci-fi or zombie-based alternatives to my chosen fantasy setting.
The app I decided to use is called Fantasy Hike, which you can find on the App Store or on the Google Play Store. In both cases, it's free, but you'll be limited to a 5km daily limit unless you pay to unlock the Unlimited Distance add-on. Pretty quickly, I realised I wanted to pay the £5.99/$6.99 asking price to get all my distance logged.
If you can also pay either £1.99/$1.99 per month or £12.99/$14.99 per year to unlock the same add-on with a couple of other perks, including the ability to share your progress with friends and additional avatars. I didn't need either of those things, so the one-off payment was fine for me.
Walk the walk
On an iPhone, you can sync the app with Apple Health, so it pulls your step count from wearables as well as your phone's accelerometer. As you walk, your little hobbit, elf, or wizard avatar (if you want to be a man, for instance, you have to pay) will traverse an ever-changing scenic backdrop from The Lord of the Rings.
Since it's not technically affiliated with either Tolkien's books or Jackson's films, you'll be walking through "Halfling Country" rather than "The Shire" and visiting "Riverdale" rather than "Rivendell," but you get the idea.
You'll get a vague description to accompany you at all times, like: "scrambling down the rocky bluff" or "fighting your way through dense scrubland," as well as a distance counter (in either metric or imperial) showing how far you've come and how far you have yet to travel.
At any time, you can tab over to see a map of your journey and your progress along the walk to "Mount Fire". Alongside you are four NPC walkers (Mr. Underhill, Jon Snowflake, Alice Wonderfoot and Hairyfoot Potter), also traveling the journey at various speeds. They act as pace-setters for you to compete against, and you'll see how far ahead or behind you they are at all times.
Finally, as you hit markers along your quest, you're rewarded with achievements in the form of artistic renderings of locations along the way. They track with common milestones in Frodo's journey, including the Prancing Pony in Bree, the Mines of Moria and the Dead Marshes.
My three invaluable quest items
Frodo had his glowing blue sword and a snazzy green cloak to help him on his way, and I had tech. Specifically, I kept coming back to these accessories during my walking (or running) time to make the experience even more enjoyable.
Oura Ring 3
I don't always wear my Apple Watch, but thanks to the low-key Oura Ring 3, I'm always recording steps even while rocking an analog watch.
What I love about wearing one of the best smart rings is that battery life is measured in days, not hours, and it's not constantly buzzing with notifications. But it'll still measure all the distance I travel in a day and faithfully feed it back to the app without me having to do anything.
The Oura Ring 3 has long since been supplanted by the Oura Ring 4, but that just means you can find this excellent tracker on sale for even less.
Beats Powerbeats Fit
I generally don't leave the house without a pair of wireless headphones in my pocket, and the Powerbeats Fit have become a mainstay for my walks and runs. They don't make it onto our list of the best wireless earbuds, but that doesn't mean they're not worth investing in.
These earbuds have active noise cancellation and a 7-hour battery life and, best of all, physical buttons for playing and pausing content.
Ember TravelMug 2+
I've been using this smart coffee mug pretty much every day for well over a year at this point. It's fair to say a lot of the steps along this journey have happened with a hot drink in hand. The built-in battery keeps your hot drink of choice at your preferred temperature for up to three hours.
It's also got Apple Find My support included, so if you mislay your drink somewhere in Middle-earth, you'll easily be able to find it again.
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