Latest news with #Steppin
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
I love to mindlessly scroll social media. Then I tried an app that made me take steps to get screen time.
In a digital world where people track everything from calories to workouts and even minutes spent asleep, there are very few metrics that I myself actually pay attention to. I wear an Apple Watch to see how many steps I'm getting, though I seldom check the results. And when my iPhone tells me how much time I'm spending online, I usually swipe away the alert and continue happily watching makeup reels or seeing what Joe Jonas is up to on Instagram. But then Steppin encouraged me to pay attention. The app, which launched this January, is something that I stumbled upon during research for another story — one about young people trading in modern technologies for more analog versions to limit screen time. Opting for a 'dumb' flip phone felt a bit drastic for me, but the concept around Steppin was something I felt I could get behind. In order to scroll, you need to stroll. Every 100 steps (tracked on your iPhone or preferred fitness tracker) grants users a minute of screen time on the apps they've chosen to limit. If you find that you just really, really need to see what your old coworkers are up to on LinkedIn, post a TikTok or check how many likes your latest Instagram post got — well, you'd better get moving. I'm an active person who starts most days with a workout, which made me confident that having enough steps to access limited apps wouldn't be a problem. But would it actually make me more mindful of my screen time? Here's what I found out. Steppin is the brainchild of Paul English, CEO of Boston Venture Studio and the co-founder of travel website Kayak. He tells me the idea of the iOS app was sparked while he was on a vacation in Madrid with his fiancée and his son. During a long drive, the group realized they were all staring at their phone screens instead of admiring the views. 'We weren't talking, we were all just on Instagram or TikTok,' English says. 'I made a remark like, 'Guys, this is crazy. We're on vacation in this beautiful country. What are we doing on our phones?'' It's a question many people have no doubt asked themselves after whiling away a beautiful day/dinner with friends/movie night on their phones. But instead of demanding that everyone put their devices away, English's family created a gamified solution — one with a built-in motivation to up your step count. If you can't stay offline, you're at the very least getting some exercise, and having a higher step count comes with a host of health benefits. 'Someone came up with the idea by saying, 'Since we didn't walk today, we shouldn't get to use our social media. Why don't we make it so you have to walk to get access?' And I said, 'That's a genius idea, let's do it,'' English recalls. Steppin — which allows users to customize how many steps they need to hit to get a minute of screen time — is part of a new breed of apps designed to cut back on smartphone usage. At first, Jess Rauchberg, assistant professor of communication technologies at Seton Hall University, explains to me, these types of features were aimed at parents who wanted to control what their kids accessed online and for how long. Now, it's people of all ages who are looking to cut back. (A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll of 1,560 U.S. adults found that among the 96% of respondents who own a smartphone, 46% said they spent 'too much' time on the devices.) 'As technologies become more effectively designed to get us to use them more and more, companies are profiting off of our constant scrolling and it's created a new layer of moral panic,' Rauchberg says, pointing to concerns about the addictive nature and mental health impacts of social media. Apple's Screen Time feature tracks how many hours a day a user spends on their phone, while apps like Freedom, OffScreen and ScreenZen curb the use of time-sucking apps and websites by using time blocks and reminders to be mindful of scrolling. But English says Steppin is unique in incorporating physical activity (for the record, Fitlock, which claims to be 'the world's first fitness-based app blocker,' was released on iOS in November 2023). He believes it to be the answer for people increasingly worried about being addicted to social media and their smartphones. 'We've started to see a moral value assigned to technology, that if you're so reliant on these tools, it's bad and it's not healthy,' says Rauchberg. Movement, on the other hand, is healthy, so the idea is to replace a poor habit with a good one. 'Rather than just having a time restriction on certain apps, ours makes you do something healthy,' English adds. 'You have to get up, get outside and take a walk around the block to earn screen time. We think of it as a wellness app that helps with both mental and physical health.' I downloaded Steppin to find out and got a prompt to choose my 'most distracting apps' that would be restricted. Mine were TikTok, Instagram and Facebook initially, followed by a quick amendment to add Snapchat. Then I was able to set the rules for my restriction, including how many steps would earn me a minute of screen time and how often that available time tracker would reset. Allowing Steppin to access my Apple Health data was the next step, since the app would rely on my step count to function. Immediately, this felt more productive and rewarding than the simple time limits that my boyfriend places on his social media apps. With those, nothing is earned; you're simply locked out from checking Instagram, etc., during a set time block. The pang of anxiety I felt when my favorite social media apps went gray — meaning I couldn't click on them — suggested I needed some type of intervention. But I was surprised to find that the days that followed have gone pretty smoothly. My earned time resets at midnight, which means I wake up to 0 minutes earned and can't start my day scrolling. It gives me more time to focus on what's ahead and approach my day more mindfully. It also spares me from the quick dopamine hits that otherwise keep me reaching for my phone throughout the rest of the day. I quickly grew comfortable with the idea that checking Instagram or TikTok is something I can reserve for a quieter moment toward the end of the day (after I've gotten my steps in and earned enough credit, of course). Where I'm not sure it translates is the incentive to move more. Again, I'm generally active, and I enjoy going on walks, especially when it's springtime in New York City. Over one week, I averaged 6,934 steps a day, which means I earned over an hour to spend on certain apps, and I was able to accomplish that without putting too much thought into it. It helps that I wear an Apple Watch, which is tracking the steps I take around my apartment or at the office, which add up. But even on a lazier day, I don't think I'd be hitting the treadmill in order to get time to scroll, especially when I can find other ways to spend my time. On Tuesday evening after work, for example, I pulled out a paint-by-numbers project that I hadn't worked on in months. On Wednesday, I came home from the office to make dinner and banana bread from scratch. Yes, these activities felt better (and are better) for me than scrolling Instagram or TikTok. However, they weren't movement-based. My consumption of social media has definitely been impacted by the use of this app. The day before I downloaded Steppin, I was on Instagram (my most-used app) for two hours and 11 minutes. Once I started using Steppin, I spent less than 30 minutes a day on the social media platform. I'll admit sneaking a few peeks at Instagram on my work laptop, which Steppin doesn't have access to, but that still only amounted to a few minutes per day. I can't say that I'm using my smartphone less, however. The time that I would have spent on TikTok, I ended up using to stream YouTube TV to watch the latest episode of Summer House while cooking. And when I'm in the mood for a scroll, I've found myself looking through endless clothing rental options on Rent the Runway. 'There's always a replacement for an app that you just deleted or restricted,' Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University, tells me. Even English says that he downloaded the Kindle app so he can read in his downtime instead of checking X or LinkedIn. Either way, he's using his phone. 'My concern here is that we still depend on the app to tell us that we're being healthier. ... So the phone is still at the center of this,' Rauchberg points out. Come to think of it, I've probably spent a good portion of my screen time checking my usage or looking at my personal analytics on Steppin to see if I'm making positive changes, which might be a bit counterintuitive. 'We're so obsessed with data and metrics that we're not escaping the problem,' says Rauchberg. But, she concedes, 'These apps are a start and there's a lot of good that could come out of it.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
I love to mindlessly scroll social media. Then I tried an app that made me take steps to get screen time.
In a digital world where people track everything from calories to workouts and even minutes spent asleep, there are very few metrics that I myself actually pay attention to. I wear an Apple Watch to see how many steps I'm getting, though I seldom check the results. And when my iPhone tells me how much time I'm spending online, I usually swipe away the alert and continue happily watching makeup reels or seeing what Joe Jonas is up to on Instagram. But then Steppin encouraged me to pay attention. The app, which launched this January, is something that I stumbled upon during research for another story — one about young people trading in modern technologies for more analog versions to limit screen time. Opting for a 'dumb' flip phone felt a bit drastic for me, but the concept around Steppin was something I felt I could get behind. In order to scroll, you need to stroll. Every 100 steps (tracked on your iPhone or preferred fitness tracker) grants users a minute of screen time on the apps they've chosen to limit. If you find that you just really, really need to see what your old coworkers are up to on LinkedIn, post a TikTok or check how many likes your latest Instagram post got — well, you'd better get moving. I'm an active person who starts most days with a workout, which made me confident that having enough steps to access limited apps wouldn't be a problem. But would it actually make me more mindful of my screen time? Here's what I found out. Steppin is the brainchild of Paul English, CEO of Boston Venture Studio and the co-founder of travel website Kayak. He tells me the idea of the iOS app was sparked while he was on a vacation in Madrid with his fiancée and his son. During a long drive, the group realized they were all staring at their phone screens instead of admiring the views. 'We weren't talking, we were all just on Instagram or TikTok,' English says. 'I made a remark like, 'Guys, this is crazy. We're on vacation in this beautiful country. What are we doing on our phones?'' It's a question many people have no doubt asked themselves after whiling away a beautiful day/dinner with friends/movie night on their phones. But instead of demanding that everyone put their devices away, English's family created a gamified solution — one with a built-in motivation to up your step count. If you can't stay offline, you're at the very least getting some exercise, and having a higher step count comes with a host of health benefits. 'Someone came up with the idea by saying, 'Since we didn't walk today, we shouldn't get to use our social media. Why don't we make it so you have to walk to get access?' And I said, 'That's a genius idea, let's do it,'' English recalls. Steppin — which allows users to customize how many steps they need to hit to get a minute of screen time — is part of a new breed of apps designed to cut back on smartphone usage. At first, Jess Rauchberg, assistant professor of communication technologies at Seton Hall University, explains to me, these types of features were aimed at parents who wanted to control what their kids accessed online and for how long. Now, it's people of all ages who are looking to cut back. (A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll of 1,560 U.S. adults found that among the 96% of respondents who own a smartphone, 46% said they spent 'too much' time on the devices.) 'As technologies become more effectively designed to get us to use them more and more, companies are profiting off of our constant scrolling and it's created a new layer of moral panic,' Rauchberg says, pointing to concerns about the addictive nature and mental health impacts of social media. Apple's Screen Time feature tracks how many hours a day a user spends on their phone, while apps like Freedom, OffScreen and ScreenZen curb the use of time-sucking apps and websites by using time blocks and reminders to be mindful of scrolling. But English says Steppin is unique in incorporating physical activity (for the record, Fitlock, which claims to be 'the world's first fitness-based app blocker,' was released on iOS in November 2023). He believes it to be the answer for people increasingly worried about being addicted to social media and their smartphones. 'We've started to see a moral value assigned to technology, that if you're so reliant on these tools, it's bad and it's not healthy,' says Rauchberg. Movement, on the other hand, is healthy, so the idea is to replace a poor habit with a good one. 'Rather than just having a time restriction on certain apps, ours makes you do something healthy,' English adds. 'You have to get up, get outside and take a walk around the block to earn screen time. We think of it as a wellness app that helps with both mental and physical health.' I downloaded Steppin to find out and got a prompt to choose my 'most distracting apps' that would be restricted. Mine were TikTok, Instagram and Facebook initially, followed by a quick amendment to add Snapchat. Then I was able to set the rules for my restriction, including how many steps would earn me a minute of screen time and how often that available time tracker would reset. Allowing Steppin to access my Apple Health data was the next step, since the app would rely on my step count to function. Immediately, this felt more productive and rewarding than the simple time limits that my boyfriend places on his social media apps. With those, nothing is earned; you're simply locked out from checking Instagram, etc., during a set time block. The pang of anxiety I felt when my favorite social media apps went gray — meaning I couldn't click on them — suggested I needed some type of intervention. But I was surprised to find that the days that followed have gone pretty smoothly. My earned time resets at midnight, which means I wake up to 0 minutes earned and can't start my day scrolling. It gives me more time to focus on what's ahead and approach my day more mindfully. It also spares me from the quick dopamine hits that otherwise keep me reaching for my phone throughout the rest of the day. I quickly grew comfortable with the idea that checking Instagram or TikTok is something I can reserve for a quieter moment toward the end of the day (after I've gotten my steps in and earned enough credit, of course). Where I'm not sure it translates is the incentive to move more. Again, I'm generally active, and I enjoy going on walks, especially when it's springtime in New York City. Over one week, I averaged 6,934 steps a day, which means I earned over an hour to spend on certain apps, and I was able to accomplish that without putting too much thought into it. It helps that I wear an Apple Watch, which is tracking the steps I take around my apartment or at the office, which add up. But even on a lazier day, I don't think I'd be hitting the treadmill in order to get time to scroll, especially when I can find other ways to spend my time. On Tuesday evening after work, for example, I pulled out a paint-by-numbers project that I hadn't worked on in months. On Wednesday, I came home from the office to make dinner and banana bread from scratch. Yes, these activities felt better (and are better) for me than scrolling Instagram or TikTok. However, they weren't movement-based. My consumption of social media has definitely been impacted by the use of this app. The day before I downloaded Steppin, I was on Instagram (my most-used app) for two hours and 11 minutes. Once I started using Steppin, I spent less than 30 minutes a day on the social media platform. I'll admit sneaking a few peeks at Instagram on my work laptop, which Steppin doesn't have access to, but that still only amounted to a few minutes per day. I can't say that I'm using my smartphone less, however. The time that I would have spent on TikTok, I ended up using to stream YouTube TV to watch the latest episode of Summer House while cooking. And when I'm in the mood for a scroll, I've found myself looking through endless clothing rental options on Rent the Runway. 'There's always a replacement for an app that you just deleted or restricted,' Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University, tells me. Even English says that he downloaded the Kindle app so he can read in his downtime instead of checking X or LinkedIn. Either way, he's using his phone. 'My concern here is that we still depend on the app to tell us that we're being healthier. ... So the phone is still at the center of this,' Rauchberg points out. Come to think of it, I've probably spent a good portion of my screen time checking my usage or looking at my personal analytics on Steppin to see if I'm making positive changes, which might be a bit counterintuitive. 'We're so obsessed with data and metrics that we're not escaping the problem,' says Rauchberg. But, she concedes, 'These apps are a start and there's a lot of good that could come out of it.'
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Wear a weighted vest, take a micro walk and head out in nature: 12 tips from walking influencers
Who doesn't love a good walk? It's accessible, it's free and it's great for your health. The mental and physical benefits of getting your steps in are impressive, but these days, walking is trendy too. Whether you're going for a 'Hot Girl Walk,' doing the 12-3-30 treadmill workout or trekking across your city, there's always a new way to make walking more exciting. That's something regular walkers know well. They keep fitness simple by focusing on getting moving, whether that's outside on a hiking trail, around their neighborhood or even on a walking pad. What can we learn from them? Read on for their best tips. Scarlett Longstreet, an influencer, writer and mom Zahrah, an influencer who explores the Scottish outdoors Mia Lind, founder of TikTok walking trend Hot Girl Walk Kiersten Brydie, fitness influencer Cecilia Romero, founder of San Francisco walking tour company Miss 7x7 Paul English, founder of walking app Steppin Milica McDowell, exercise physiologist and VP of operations at Gait Happens Kristina Turnure, fitness trainer and health coach April Medrano, master coach at STRIDE Jennifer Walsh, a Yahoo Life contributor, author and founder of Walk With Walsh Joyce Shulman, author of Why Walk? Kaleigh Ray, exercise physiologist at Treadmill Review Guru 'Walking has changed my life, and it's so easy on your joints. I wear a weighted vest to maximize the benefits of my walk. I started with 12 lbs. but now walk with 32 lbs. and shoot for an hour a day.' — Scarlett Longstreet 'If you have little ones and are looking for pockets of free time to get walking without them, I'd say outdoors is so much easier than parenting indoors! Just take them with you. It will hopefully tire them out! And remember, however many snacks you think are enough to pack for your wee ones — double it!' — Zahrah 'Use your Hot Girl Walk time wisely. I do gratitude practice, goal-setting and affirmations. I love a podcast and an audiobook, but I make sure I spend a good amount of my Hot Girl Walk time doing those three things. … It just gets me in the right headspace.' — Mia Lind 'Instead of meeting up for coffee, invite your friends, families or colleagues out for a walk. It could be a walking catch-up or a walking meeting. It's a great way to connect and keep the creative juices flowing — and it's free!' — Kiersten Brydie 'Curate your walk like an experience. Whether it's with friends, co-workers or solo, make it creative, fun and tailored to what you love. Try something new, like a walking tour, and go on a local adventure. Wander a new neighborhood, discover your next favorite cocktail bar or uncover the history behind local landmarks. Walking isn't just about steps, but an opportunity to connect with your community intentionally.' — Cecilia Romero 'Using a fitness tracker makes you accountable, tracks your process regularly and helps you incorporate walking into your daily routine. Start by setting realistic walking goals, and gradually increase the number of steps as you get fitter. Tailor notifications to avoid information overload and ensure you're only exposed to metrics that matter to you.' — Paul English 'I love a good micro walk; adding 500 to 1,000 steps can be a great way to interrupt sitting at work. A micro walk is a way to change your mood, reduce your blood pressure, improve circulation and enhance your gut motility. I've started encouraging my co-workers to do 'walk and talk' meetings where instead of sitting, we go for a walk either in our building or around the block. It's a great way to stack your habits and make a measurable impact on your health.' — Milica McDowell 'I focus on habits that keep me active throughout the day. I start my morning with a walk outside, habit-stacking by sipping my electrolytes and greens while listening to a personal development podcast or audiobook. It sets a productive tone for the day and gently prepares my body for more stimulating foods and movement. During the workday, I use a walking pad under my desk, which allows me to stay active during meetings.' — Kristina Turnure 'I prefer to walk in shoes that provide a good balance of comfort, support and durability, like well-cushioned running shoes or sturdy walking shoes with good arch support. The right pair makes a huge difference in how enjoyable and effortless the walk feels. Personally, my favorite shoes are the On Cloudstratus — they offer the perfect blend of cushion, stability and lightweight comfort.' — April Medrano 'Walking in nature-filled spaces like parks, forests, trails or even tree-lined streets can help us relax. When we walk without earbuds, we are tuned in to our bodies and our brains in those surroundings. The body and brain react very differently to manmade noises, such as honking horns and jackhammers vs. sounds of nature like birds. [The latter] can help us relax without us even realizing it.' — Jennifer Walsh 'If you are looking to get more fitness bang for your walking buck, one of the best things you can do is add intervals to your walk. Intervals are brief periods of higher effort followed by periods of recovery. For example, after a few minutes of warm-up, you raise the intensity for 30 to 60 seconds and then slow it back down, giving your body a minute or two to fully recover. You can achieve that higher intensity by increasing your walking speed, finding a hill or set of stairs to climb or even adding a brief jog. Intervals are incredibly effective at improving cardiovascular fitness, torching more calories in less time and firing up your metabolism.' — Joyce Shulman 'If your treadmill inclines, adding hills to your walks can keep you more engaged with your workout and get your heart rate higher while keeping the speed consistent. For walking pads and treadmills that don't have incline capabilities, consider using a [weighted] vest. You will want to check your treadmill's weight capacity to see how much weight you can use, but weighted walks are an excellent way to continue progressing your fitness level. Some walkers may also feel comfortable walking backward to add variety and intensity to their walks, but I only recommend this if you have good balance and decent treadmill handles to hold on to.' — Kaleigh Ray These quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Wear a weighted vest, take a micro walk and head out in nature: 12 tips from walking influencers
Who doesn't love a good walk? It's accessible, it's free and it's great for your health. The mental and physical benefits of getting your steps in are impressive, but these days, walking is trendy too. Whether you're going for a 'Hot Girl Walk,' doing the 12-3-30 treadmill workout or trekking across your city, there's always a new way to make walking more exciting. That's something regular walkers know well. They keep fitness simple by focusing on getting moving, whether that's outside on a hiking trail, around their neighborhood or even on a walking pad. What can we learn from them? Read on for their best tips. Scarlett Longstreet, an influencer, writer and mom Zahrah, an influencer who explores the Scottish outdoors Mia Lind, founder of TikTok walking trend Hot Girl Walk Kiersten Brydie, fitness influencer Cecilia Romero, founder of San Francisco walking tour company Miss 7x7 Paul English, founder of walking app Steppin Milica McDowell, exercise physiologist and VP of operations at Gait Happens Kristina Turnure, fitness trainer and health coach April Medrano, master coach at STRIDE Jennifer Walsh, a Yahoo Life contributor, author and founder of Walk With Walsh Joyce Shulman, author of Why Walk? Kaleigh Ray, exercise physiologist at Treadmill Review Guru 'Walking has changed my life, and it's so easy on your joints. I wear a weighted vest to maximize the benefits of my walk. I started with 12 lbs. but now walk with 32 lbs. and shoot for an hour a day.' — Scarlett Longstreet 'If you have little ones and are looking for pockets of free time to get walking without them, I'd say outdoors is so much easier than parenting indoors! Just take them with you. It will hopefully tire them out! And remember, however many snacks you think are enough to pack for your wee ones — double it!' — Zahrah 'Use your Hot Girl Walk time wisely. I do gratitude practice, goal-setting and affirmations. I love a podcast and an audiobook, but I make sure I spend a good amount of my Hot Girl Walk time doing those three things. … It just gets me in the right headspace.' — Mia Lind 'Instead of meeting up for coffee, invite your friends, families or colleagues out for a walk. It could be a walking catch-up or a walking meeting. It's a great way to connect and keep the creative juices flowing — and it's free!' — Kiersten Brydie 'Curate your walk like an experience. Whether it's with friends, co-workers or solo, make it creative, fun and tailored to what you love. Try something new, like a walking tour, and go on a local adventure. Wander a new neighborhood, discover your next favorite cocktail bar or uncover the history behind local landmarks. Walking isn't just about steps, but an opportunity to connect with your community intentionally.' — Cecilia Romero 'Using a fitness tracker makes you accountable, tracks your process regularly and helps you incorporate walking into your daily routine. Start by setting realistic walking goals, and gradually increase the number of steps as you get fitter. Tailor notifications to avoid information overload and ensure you're only exposed to metrics that matter to you.' — Paul English 'I love a good micro walk; adding 500 to 1,000 steps can be a great way to interrupt sitting at work. A micro walk is a way to change your mood, reduce your blood pressure, improve circulation and enhance your gut motility. I've started encouraging my co-workers to do 'walk and talk' meetings where instead of sitting, we go for a walk either in our building or around the block. It's a great way to stack your habits and make a measurable impact on your health.' — Milica McDowell 'I focus on habits that keep me active throughout the day. I start my morning with a walk outside, habit-stacking by sipping my electrolytes and greens while listening to a personal development podcast or audiobook. It sets a productive tone for the day and gently prepares my body for more stimulating foods and movement. During the workday, I use a walking pad under my desk, which allows me to stay active during meetings.' — Kristina Turnure 'I prefer to walk in shoes that provide a good balance of comfort, support and durability, like well-cushioned running shoes or sturdy walking shoes with good arch support. The right pair makes a huge difference in how enjoyable and effortless the walk feels. Personally, my favorite shoes are the On Cloudstratus — they offer the perfect blend of cushion, stability and lightweight comfort.' — April Medrano 'Walking in nature-filled spaces like parks, forests, trails or even tree-lined streets can help us relax. When we walk without earbuds, we are tuned in to our bodies and our brains in those surroundings. The body and brain react very differently to manmade noises, such as honking horns and jackhammers vs. sounds of nature like birds. [The latter] can help us relax without us even realizing it.' — Jennifer Walsh 'If you are looking to get more fitness bang for your walking buck, one of the best things you can do is add intervals to your walk. Intervals are brief periods of higher effort followed by periods of recovery. For example, after a few minutes of warm-up, you raise the intensity for 30 to 60 seconds and then slow it back down, giving your body a minute or two to fully recover. You can achieve that higher intensity by increasing your walking speed, finding a hill or set of stairs to climb or even adding a brief jog. Intervals are incredibly effective at improving cardiovascular fitness, torching more calories in less time and firing up your metabolism.' — Joyce Shulman 'If your treadmill inclines, adding hills to your walks can keep you more engaged with your workout and get your heart rate higher while keeping the speed consistent. For walking pads and treadmills that don't have incline capabilities, consider using a [weighted] vest. You will want to check your treadmill's weight capacity to see how much weight you can use, but weighted walks are an excellent way to continue progressing your fitness level. Some walkers may also feel comfortable walking backward to add variety and intensity to their walks, but I only recommend this if you have good balance and decent treadmill handles to hold on to.' — Kaleigh Ray These quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
