How many calories can you burn checking in on FourSquare, the rapidly growing location-based social game? We’re going to guess about one, since all it really requires is stretching your thumb over the “Check In Here” button. However, a real-life game of foursquare, the popular playground game, can burn 350 calories in an hour. (See, a workout doesn’t have to be a workout, go play a game!)
Our team just returned from SXSW Interactive in Austin and aside from walking four miles round trip each day to and from our accommodations to the conference center, we did our best to “shape a healthier us” all week long; for instance, skipping the grilled cheese station for a sushi lunch. Part of that strategy was playing several rounds of foursquare at the Pepsi Max/FourSquare court. We even had an opportunity to meet Dennis Crowley, founder of FourSquare, and share with him one of the fitness-inspired business cards we’d created for SXSW. Thanks @Dens for Tweeting out a picture, and sharing this comment on Flickr: “Sweating like I’ve been at the gym for 4 hours.”
Crowley was a mainstay at the FourSquare court, no doubt burning plenty of those easily acquired conference calories. However, we wouldn’t go so far as to crown him mayor of the SXSW foursquare court. No, that title goes to a nine-year-old girl, Lane Williard, who beat the CEO at his own game. “She beat him like four times in a row,” said her mom, Donna Williard, who stopped by the court with her kids “because it looked like fun.”
We are big FourSquare fans at DietsInReview.com. It’s a fun and easy way to stay connected with our friends, not to mention compete to oust one another as mayor of the B&B we rented for the week.
For quite some time, we’ve had a standing offer to our readers that anyone who earns the FourSquare Gym Rat badge, done so by checking in to your gym 10 times in 30 days, will receive a DIR goodie, like a T-shirt. You just have to prove it by Tweeting a link to us (@DietsInReview) for your FourSquare profile page. Anyone that committed to staying in shape, and playing one of our favorite games, deserves to be rewarded! That offer still stands.
Follow DIR on FourSquare – and look for tips in your area coming soon!