Apeks · THE RESEARCH

The research is on the comeback's side.

Apeks is built on a few findings from large, published studies about how people keep going to the gym. Here's what they found, and what we don't claim.

3 studies3 min read

1.48Placebo group

1.88Reward for coming back

Weekly gym visits +27%Milkman et al., Nature 2021 · 61,293 members of a US gym chain · a 4-week program · a small reward for coming back, on top of planning prompts and reminders

1.00A usual day

1.33Start of a new week

How likely people were to go +33%Dai, Milkman & Riis, Management Science 2014 · 11,912 students at one US university gym · relative likelihood of a visit

61,293gym members in the Nature megastudy

11,912students in the fresh start study

4–7months for the gym to become a habit

Nature202161,293 gym members¹

A reward for coming back.

What they found

Dozens of four-week programs were tested side by side. One of the top programs combined planning prompts and reminders with a small reward for coming back after a missed workout: 1.88 visits a week against 1.48 in the placebo group, about 27% more.

What Apeks takes from it

Comeback credit. The visit after a missed planned visit earns extra credit on your rank. Apeks doesn't pay anyone: comeback credit is rank, not money.

A phone video still of someone walking on a treadmill by a window.

THE STRETCH IN BETWEEN

Full in January. Quieter by March.

The four weeks in that study sit right in the stretch where the novelty wears off and a missed week can turn into a missed month. That's where a reward for coming back does its work.

A busy gym on a January evening, every machine in use. — Drag to go from January to March. Illustrative photos, not data.

The same kind of gym on a March evening, nearly empty. — Drag to go from January to March. Illustrative photos, not data.

Management Science201411,912 students²

The fresh start effect.

What they found

People at one US university gym were more likely to go at the start of a new week than on a usual day: about 1.33 times as likely. New weeks, new months and birthdays feel like a clean page.

What Apeks takes from it

The Starts Monday Club. Rooms start on a Monday.

PNAS2023Years of gym check-ins³

Habits take months.

What they found

Using years of gym check-ins, the study asked how long the gym takes to become a habit. For most members, roughly four to seven months.

What Apeks takes from it

Four months is a long time to go without missing a day. So missing a day costs nothing in Apeks, and nothing resets.

Low evening sun across an empty gym floor.

Photo is illustrative.

FROM PAPER TO APP

How Apeks uses each finding.

A reward for coming backComeback credit on your rank. Rank, not money.

The fresh start effectThe Starts Monday Club: rooms start on a Monday.

Habits take monthsNothing resets, and a two-visit restart week after seven days away.

WHAT WE DON'T CLAIM

Apeks results. These are other people's studies. Apeks has none of its own yet.
The Nature program. Apeks isn't it, and comeback credit isn't the reward those members received. We took the idea, not the result.
"You'll go 27% more often." We don't promise that. We promise the app won't punish you for the weeks you don't.

Milkman, K. L., et al. (2021). Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science. Nature.
Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Management Science.
Buyalskaya, A., et al. (2023). What can machine learning teach us about habit formation? Evidence from exercise and hygiene. PNAS.

A city seen through gym windows in the evening.

Photo is illustrative.

LATE-NIGHT SEARCHES

What people look up.

does coming back to the gym count

Does any of this actually work?
Isn’t this just another streak app?
Show me the evidence.
Why should coming back count extra?

Common thoughts, not quotes from anyone.

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