The best way to reward yourself for working out is with something small that you get right after you finish, and only if you finish. Food you’d eat anyway doesn’t count, and neither does a “cheat day” at the end of the month. A home loot crate does the job: a box of treats you’re only allowed to open once you’ve completed a set bodyweight quest.
There’s research behind the idea. In a 2014 study, people who could only listen to gripping audiobooks at the gym went 51% more often than a control group at first. The effect faded after a holiday break interrupted the routine. A 2020 follow-up with 6,792 people found a smaller boost: participants were 10% to 14% more likely to work out in a given week, and the effect lasted up to 17 weeks. Pairing something you want with something you should do works, but you have to plan for the week you fall off.
How do you reward yourself for working out without undoing it? #
Four rules keep a reward system from backfiring:
- Reward the action, not the result. Pay yourself for finishing the quest, not for a number on the scale. You control reps. You don’t control water weight.
- Make it immediate. A reward three weeks away competes badly with the couch tonight. Open the crate within minutes of the last rep.
- Keep it small and budgeted. Most crate items should cost a few dollars or nothing. Set a monthly budget before you stock anything.
- Lock it. If you can open the crate without doing the quest, it stops being a reward and turns into a snack drawer. The audiobook study worked because the books stayed at the gym.
How does a home loot crate system work? #
Setup takes about 20 minutes:
- Pick three crates to start. Ten is the full set below, but three is easier to keep stocked and still gives you variety.
- Use real containers. A shoebox, a drawer or a tote bag with a label. You want to be able to see it.
- Write each quest on the lid. Exact reps, sets and rest, so there’s nothing to negotiate at 9 p.m.
- Make a quest board. A sticky note or whiteboard listing this week’s quests and which crate each one opens.
- Restock on a fixed day. Sunday works for most people. Swap in one new item per crate so the surprise doesn’t wear off.
The 10 home loot crates #
| Crate | What goes in it | Quest to open it | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snack Stash | Dark chocolate, jerky, a favorite fruit | 50 air squats | 8-10 min |
| Playlist Power-Up | A new album, playlist or podcast series | 3 minutes of total plank time | 10 min |
| Cozy Corner | Fuzzy socks, a candle, good tea | 100 mountain climbers | 10 min |
| Self-Care | Face mask, lip balm, bath salts | 75 push-ups (any variation) | 15 min |
| Hydration | Electrolyte packets, a new bottle | 200 jumping jacks | 8 min |
| Gadget | Phone stand, cable organizer, earbuds fund | 40 burpees | 10 min |
| Brain Boost | A paperback, a notebook, an audiobook credit | 100 alternating lunges | 12-15 min |
| Zen Zone | Coloring book, stress ball, puzzle | 100 bicycle crunches | 8 min |
| Level-Up | Game credit, a new controller grip | Two rounds of rows, dips and squats | 20 min |
| Victory Vault | A movie night, a $20 bill, a homemade trophy | 30-minute AMRAP | 30 min |
1. Snack Stash: 50 air squats #
Do five sets of 10 with 30 seconds of rest. Keep the snacks in portions you’d happily eat on a rest day too, so the crate stays a treat and not a payback meal. Rotate what’s inside weekly: nuts one week, a protein bar the next.
2. Playlist Power-Up: 3 minutes of plank #
Split it into five 36-second forearm planks with 30 seconds of rest. The reward is new music or a podcast you save for workouts only, which is the audiobook study’s trick again. Beginners can plank from the knees or with their hands on a couch.
3. Cozy Corner: 100 mountain climbers #
Four sets of 25 (each leg counts as one), resting 20 seconds between. Save this crate for the evening and follow it with the candle and tea. It’s the one to reach for on days you’d otherwise skip because you’re tired.
4. Self-Care: 75 push-ups #
Three rounds of 25, mixing standard, wide and close-grip. If 25 in a row isn’t there yet, split each round into sets of five or do them with your hands on a kitchen counter. Log the total so you can watch counter push-ups turn into floor push-ups over a few months.
5. Hydration: 200 jumping jacks #
Four sets of 50 with short rests. Stock the crate with things that make you drink more water, a reward that also helps your next workout. For a low-impact version, do step jacks, tapping one foot out at a time.
6. Gadget: 40 burpees #
Four sets of 10, resting as long as you need. This is the hardest short crate, so give it the best rewards. Step back instead of jumping if your knees or your downstairs neighbors object.
7. Brain Boost: 100 alternating lunges #
Fifty per leg, walking laps around the room if you have space. Keep a paperback in the crate and read a chapter right after, so the lunges become the price of admission for something you already wanted to do.
8. Zen Zone: 100 bicycle crunches #
Fifty per side, slow and controlled, breathing out on each twist. Pair it with something quiet: a puzzle, a coloring book, or 10 minutes of doing nothing.
9. Level-Up: rows, dips and squats #
Two rounds of 10 rows, 20 dips and 30 squats. Rows need a doorframe pull-up bar or a very sturdy table you can lie under and pull yourself toward, so test the table before you trust your body weight to it. Do dips off the edge of a chair pushed against a wall. If dips bother your shoulders, skip them and do 10 extra push-ups instead.
10. Victory Vault: the 30-minute AMRAP #
Do as many rounds as possible in 30 minutes of 10 push-ups, 15 squats and 20 sit-ups. Write your round count on the lid. Next time, the Vault only opens if you match or beat it. This is the monthly crate, so the reward can be bigger: a movie night, a meal out, new shoes.
How often should you open a crate? #
Aim for three to five crates a week, with one Victory Vault a month. If every workout opens a crate, the rewards stop feeling special. If a whole week passes without one, the system loses its pull.
Two tweaks keep it working past the first month:
- Make some rewards a surprise. Have a friend or partner stock one crate without telling you what’s inside. Not knowing the prize is what keeps people opening loot boxes in games, and it works on a shoebox too.
- Plan for the break. The audiobook effect dropped off after Thanksgiving because the routine broke. Before a trip or exam week, pick your easiest crate as the restart crate, so your first workout back is short and has a guaranteed payoff.
Which workout rewards backfire? #
- Big food rewards. A 400-calorie treat after a 10-minute quest cancels the quest out if fat loss is your goal. Keep food crates small or skip them.
- Rewards you can’t afford. A system that costs $200 a month gets abandoned. Many of the best crate items are free: an episode you saved, a bath, a walk to a café you like.
- Rewarding outcomes. “New jeans when I lose 5 pounds” puts the reward weeks away and at the mercy of things you don’t control. “New jeans after 20 finished quests” is entirely up to you.
- Skipping to save the crate. Some people start hoarding. If a crate sits unopened for two weeks, make its quest easier.
Can an app be the loot crate? #
For some people, the reward that works best is watching a number go up. One Gym Man is a free workout tracker built on exactly that. You log push-ups, sit-ups, squats and runs, and they feed your character’s Strength and Agility. Then you take those stats into fights against monsters across 10 threat tiers, and every win goes on a trophy wall showing how many turns it took and how much HP you had left. It won’t restock your chocolate, but it gives every home quest a visible payoff, and it doesn’t ask for an account.
If you like crates but want more structure for the quests themselves, the bodyweight boss battle workouts turn the same moves into tougher circuits, and the home workout streak challenges give you a daily minimum to pair with a weekly crate. To turn rewards into a full points system, see how to gamify your fitness goals.
Frequently asked questions #
Is it OK to reward yourself with food after a workout? #
Yes, if it’s a portion you’d be comfortable eating on any day. The trouble starts when the food reward is bigger than the workout, which happens fast with short home sessions. Non-food rewards skip that math entirely.
What are good non-food rewards for working out? #
New music or a podcast saved for workouts, a book chapter, a bath, an episode of a show, small gear like a better water bottle, or a savings jar that grows into a bigger purchase. The best ones are things you already want and can hold back until the workout is done.
How long does it take for exercise to become a habit? #
Longer than 21 days for most people. In a 2010 study of 96 volunteers, the time for a new daily behavior to become close to automatic ranged from 18 to 254 days, with a median of 66 among those whose data fit the model. Missing a single day didn’t meaningfully slow the process down.
Will rewards make me less motivated once I stop? #
They can if the reward becomes your only reason to train. Use crates to get through the first few months, then open them less often as the workouts start to feel normal. Keep one or two crates in reserve for hard weeks.