Written by Today, you will learn how to exercise with Wizards Unite, your very own Harry Potter universe AR game, featuring none other than YOU! This game encourages players to walk while gaming. So I’m taking this up a notch: we are going to run!
Niantic’s newest game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is a real world location based augmented reality game, created with WB Games. Similar to its predecessor, or cousin, or even brother (sister?) Pokémon Go, Wizards Unite mostly require the player to get out into the real world, or their world, whichever. And they both require you to move.
Games like this are a welcome addition to our gaming lifestyle. As we all know, outside activity is key to good health, as well as Gamer Well-being. Walking should be taken advantage of at all times; humans sit enough already as it is, especially us gamers.
So, a good counter to our sedentary gaming lifestyle is to play a game that requires walking.
But what if you want to take it further? What if you want to incorporate an entire day’s worth of exercise WHILE gaming? It’s possible, and it cannot be easier than with a game like this.
How much exercise can one get while playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite? Grab your wands, and running shoes, or sandals in my case, and let’s find out!
I’ll be covering a walk, a brisk walk, a normal run, an interval run, a FARTLEK, and finally a Portkey long run. But first, let’s go over the requirements.
What You Need To Play Wizards Unite and Exercise
To start, you need a capable phone with internet capabilities, the game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, a wand, active wizard wear, shoes, a safe area to run in, water, and a little discipline.
Phone Requirements
You will need either of the following operating systems: IOS 10.0 or above or an Android 5.0 or above.
Required hardware:
- 2 GB Ram (Minimum)
- 2 GB Storage (Minimum)
- Internet Connection (Wi-fi, 3G or LTE)
- GPS and Location Services
- Gyroscope and compass sensors
- Camera for AR
For a detailed list of supported or compatible devices, head over to GameInfo for a complete and updated list. Make sure your phone is there.
The Game
This is obvious but in case you are new to mobile gaming, here are the links to get Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Yes it is free. Use what corresponds to your own device. Or go to the official Wizards Unite website.
Bring Your Wand
In this case, it is your finger. Best keep it clean, or your screen won’t be.
You can wipe your finger on your clothes, assuming they are dry enough and clean themselves. If you are a little more civilized, bring a small towel for dirt, grime, and sweat.
Active Wizard Wear
I’m taking this too far, aren’t I? The fact of the matter is, you are going to be running. Therefore, wear what you prefer to run in. Active wear is generally appreciated here. There are options like you wouldn’t believe for both girls and guys.
Understand, that every runner I’ve ever known prefers different things to wear when they run. If you are a beginner, just start and then make decisions based on results. Like, if the shorts you wear cause chafing, get some runner shorts, etc. or use lube.
If you run in street clothes, which I sometimes do, or run in Wizard robes, which I don’t, and you don’t suffer from any drawbacks or discomforts due to said clothes, well, my friend, you are set with what you already have.
I mostly wear only shorts during my Wizards Unite runs. It is preferred with the 100 degree days I have been having. That might change once winter hits.
Running Shoes
You do not need to go out and buy a pair of L33t running shoes to run. But they can be lighter than normal shoes, and it all depends on how much running you will end up doing.
Going into my thoughts on running shoes here is past the scope of this article. Plus, I am a minimalist runner. That means I run in running sandals, toe shoes, and even barefoot.
Bottom line, wear whatever you feel most comfortable with and if you have further questions about footwear or minimalist running, ask me via Twitter, FB, or in the comment section below.
A Safe Running Environment
No game is worth risking your own safety and health just to play. So, once you pick up the pace while playing, make sure you are doing it in a safe environment.
Having a safe running environment includes:
- Low traffic – Less chance to get hit by vehicles.
- Sidewalks – To stay on if there are vehicles.
- Stable ground – So you have less obstacles to trip over.
- Limited people – The fewer people to run into, the better.
- Good enough weather – It does not hurt you or your phone.
- Well lit – Enough light that you can easily see what you are doing, and everything around you. This can be tricky at night.
- Company (optional) – Running with a friend or more is generally safer and can be more fun, especially if you are running to a Fortress to do Wizarding Challenges.
Always be aware of your surroundings and DO NOT VENTURE INTO PRIVATE PROPERTY, DANGEROUS AREAS, OR ANYWHERE YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD NOT BE.
Hydration
Staying hydrated is a vital aspect of health. You need more than normal when you exercise, especially when it is hot out. If you are a seasoned athlete, you probably know when to drink more water and how long you can go without.
I personally do not drink water until I am running over 10 miles in any weather. In time, you will know what you need, too.
For those that do not know their own requirements, bring water or some sort of hydration. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Yes, that means you will be one hand down. That can be annoying when playing the game, but that is better than heat stroke.
There are also a ton of options to carry water if you want to be hands free. There are vests, bags, waste belts, and any other thing you could think of to run and hold your water bottles and belongings.
I personally, when on a very long run, wear an earlier version of the Jurek FKT Vest. Something like this is not necessary during Wizards Unite exercise, though, unless I am wanting to put in hours of playing without stopping.
Grip
This is an important requirement I cannot in good conscience neglect. Whether you get sweaty or not, you must learn how to grip the phone. Otherwise, you will drop it and we can’t have that.
There are many factors in being able to easily hold your phone securely. One being the size of the phone in comparison to your own hand. I have a pretty big phone (iPhone X) and I have big hands. The phone is a perfect weight and size for my hand size, allowing me to hold it easily without it being too small or light.
Another factor is the case you have on it, if you have one at all. Some cases are slicker than others, and some have remarkable grip. Both of these factors can hurt or help you on the run with this game due to the fact that you will be holding it throughout the run.
What is important to all of this is this simple fact: you MUST hold onto your phone. It is your responsibility and you must have the discipline of mind to grip it and not be distracted enough to drop it.
Hopefully, you have a protector case in the event that you do drop it. You have been warned.
Discipline
Speaking of discipline, if you don’t have it, you will need it while playing Wizards Unite in order to actually do this exercise. I will go into this more later on, but for now, try to visualize what you are going to do and just do it. Try to stay focused on the fact you are both running and playing a game at the same time.
Bonus: Running Apps
There are many different fitness apps that you can use on your phone during your gaming session. They work and run in the background. It is not a requirement by any means. But if you want to know details of your run, from distance, speed, steps taken, calories burned, to even route taken, these apps are priceless, literally.
Here is an alphabetical list of some FREE running apps for both iOS and Android phones.
- Endomondo – [iOS – Android]
- Nike Run Club – [iOS – Android]
- Pacer – [iOS – Android]
- Pumatrac – [iOS – Android]
- Road ID – [iOS – Android]
- Runkeeper – [iOS – Android]
- Runtastic – [iOS – Android]
- Run with Map My Run – [iOS – Android]
- Sports Tracker – [iOS – Android]
- Strava Run, Ride, Swim – [iOS – Android]
- Weight Loss Running – [iOS – Android]
I have only tried Nike Run Club and Run with Map My Run, and both work great and all are free. I use Garmin Connect mostly but it requires their product. I also use an iOS exclusive called Health occasionally (it’s automatic anyways).
When I run, I personally prefer to use my Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch. I don’t often bring my phone on a run, except when playing Wizards Unite, so this watch is perfect (and fits nicely into my pocket in case of tan line fear). It connects directly to my phone, giving me all the data I recorded with no hassle. And at a good price. They did not pay me to say that. Promise.
Set Up Wizards Unite and Play BEFORE Trying To Exercise
When you first boot up the game, enjoy it. Follow the setup, make yourself a beginning wizard, and follow the tutorial to get the hang of things. Otherwise, you will be lost and forced to learn the game anyways, before you even attempt to exercise while playing Wizards Unite.
There is an excellent beginner’s guide over at Wizards Unite Hub that I used when I began. I suggest starting there.
Configure the Game for Running
These are the settings I use to maximize my run time and minimize my in-game time. This is by no means what you must do. But for certain settings, I provide my reasons. It is your experience, so test the settings to see what works best for you.
- Music: OFF – Music is clearly optional. I love the music of the Harry Potter series, but I don’t usually prefer music as a runner, let alone the same repeated theme in the game. Plus, with it off, it is easier to hear the sound effects.
- Sound Effects: ON – Often times when a Trace appears, I can hear it. This is important when not looking at the screen while running. I also use the sound effect indicators to notify me of other important things.
- Vibration: ON – Same as above only vibration I can feel. Working together with sound effects, these two options are vital in allowing me to focus on my real life surroundings and to know when to stop to play.
- Events, Offers, and Updates – Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay.
- Potions Ready: ON – This is just an extra notifier of when potions are ready
- Daily Reminders – Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay.
- Also save a picture when saving a video – Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay.
- AR+: OFF – While it is much more immersive and very cool, for my run I want to minimize screen time and maximize battery life. Therefore, this MUST be off.
- Download Over Network: Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay.
- Enable Opening Sequence: OFF – Watch it once, sure, but up to you if you always want to watch it.
- Battery Saver: ON – This is vital to extending battery life. I don’t know if it degrades the graphic quality or what, but once it is off, you can play FAR longer.
- Display Fragment Count: ON – This will help make decisions in time, up to you.
- Map Camera Idle: ON – When off, this stops the map from spinning when anything suddenly appears or when you move the phone. I prefer it on due to being able to look around the map by moving the phone instead of only swiping.
- Trace Auto-Align – Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay since I have AR+ OFF. What it does is allow you to align the 3 stars during AR+ automatically when looking around after tapping a trace.
- Notify About New Assets – Entirely optional; does not affect my gameplay.
Have Enough Spell Energy
If you start a run, and cannot cast spells because you are out of spell energy, then you won’t have much to do. The easiest way is to find an Inn.
I have a detailed Inn run strategy below. For details on other ways to get spell energy, including Inn differences and what they may give you, visit the detailed how-to at Games Radar.
Hopefully, when you start, you have enough spell energy to do what you want.
Set Your Goals
Now, before you go, you will need to decide on how you want to play. This is completely up to you, my friend, as you are the Wizard in this game.
For me, I choose one of two paths on how to play:
- Goal Oriented
- Free Flowing
Goal Oriented
When goal oriented I set rules to follow and goals to work towards. These can be in-game and out of game.
In-game goals include going after Foundables for XP to level up and items to stock, as well as to fill out your registry. You can do the daily assignments, try to get daily treasure, attempt special assignments, unlock achievements, SOS Assignments, participate in a current event, clear Portkeys, and more!
Out of game goals can be anything from amount of steps, calories burned, distance ran (or walked), time played, total outdoor time (vitamin D), or raising your endurance level and/or VO2 Max.
A more specific goal could simply be to run for half a mile before fighting any confoundables, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Free Flowing
For this game, it can also be fun to not have any goals. What I call free flowing is easier but less effective for getting some things done in game.
You simply make decisions on the fly, and play how you want at any turn. Run when you want to run, walk when you want to walk, go wherever with no destination, you know. I call it free flowing for a reason.
Make Your Rules
You also may want to set some rules to follow. These are up to you. They really are a type of goal, too. For example, you may want to only only tap on certain types of Traces from your selected Registry category. Like for the Ministry of Magic page, etc.
On my first run, I started with this basic rule set: get everything that pops up on screen. This includes ingredients but mainly it means I tapped on every Trace that I was within range of. Traces are interactable events on the world map.
In another run, I only focused only on the purple highlighted Traces for the Calamity event, nothing else. Again, it’s up to you if you have any rules but they can help focus.
It’s Time to Start Your Wizards Unite Run
Now that you have everything set to go, lace up, grab your phone, open the game, and go outside. It’s time to start running!
On Your Mark…Warmup!
Before you take your first step, check your map for anything you may want to do at the start. If there is a trace to do, do it. Pick up any item laying around as well. But be ready, as soon as it is over, start moving.
Start slow. This is your warmup. You need a good 10 minutes of a light pace to get the blood flowing. Some people need more than others, so just listen to your body before speeding up.
Warmup for a good 10-20 minutes before exercising.
Over at Polar.com, author Michael Nystrom interviews one of their top mid distance runners, Will Leer, on the subject of warming up. Check it out, it’s sound advice from a professional runner.
He suggests 20 minutes of running to warm up as well as certain exercises and stretching. Now while I don’t disagree, he is also a speed demon professional that competes and they play by bigger rules than us normal folk. Still, in my experience, his advice can only help.
How to Play While Exercising
Now, you just run and play. You will be doing a lot of stop and go, making this quite the interval run. The key is to learn how to minimize the amount of stoppage. It’s quite simple once you adjust to what you are doing and how.
As you run, traces will appear. Tap on a trace while running, then tap the screen after it shows the threat level to speed it up (you need to know the threat level). Stop briefly, do the spell command, then start back up running.
You will hear if the confoundable has resisted the spell or not. If it does, stop and do another spell. Rinse repeat until you win or it departs.
Once done, like mentioned before, tap the screen and the exit “X” until you are back on the map. Do this while running. No need to wait or look, maybe a quick look. Continue on doing this until your run is done.
At first, this may seem complex but I promise it isn’t. There is an adjustment all right. It’s learning a new type of running after all! You will get better in little time.
What’s important is that you keep up doing it; that you keep moving. Remember the discipline requirement? This is it!
It might be easy to get distracted, so be mindful of your main goal here: to exercise with Wizards Unite. Soon, you will be seamlessly running and gaming at the same time effortlessly!
For runners, especially beginners, running even without gaming can be pretty difficult at first. Just take it easy, don’t run too hard, and try to enjoy yourself. In time, you will get used to it and it can be quite fun. Add Wizards Unite to the mix, and the exercise while gaming aspect takes new meaning.
What if I don’t want to run?
Great question. The answer is don’t run if you don’t want to, especially if you can’t. Exercise is exercise. Walking can be just as beneficial as running. As long as you are moving, you are exercising and most of this guide will still benefit you.
If you check out my times here, you will see the comparative distance of a brisk walk to a run during a 1 hour test. During both I clicked on every trace I could.
- Brisk Walk: 2.61 miles
- Light Run: 2.48 miles
As you can see, my run distance was less than the brisk walk. The mileage of both is very similar. If you don’t want to run, then apply the same strategy above regarding speed, and just keep walking.
Tips to Speed Up Your Wizards Unite Playing
Here are some tips to speed up your in-game experience, keeping you in a running state as long as possible.
Spell Casting
To maximize running time, during any encounter only stop running when it is time to do a spell. Briefly stop, do the spell, or add a potion before (depending on threat level) and then start back up running or walking while the animation played.
I would not advise doing spells while running. It is hard to do a good or great spell quality while moving. Especially a masterful one. And you want to do as well as you can. Just stop, do the spell, then get going.
This is where sound and a quick glance is key. Learn what each means. It is ok to stop again to make sure you know what’s going on, so don’t force it. Whether I succeeded in the capture or had to do the spell again, I got back to running. Rinse repeat. You will get good at this really fast.
Rewards Screen
Once each instance is over, do not let the full rewards screen load in. Be ready, and hit the “x” for exit, as soon as you can. This may not seem like much time spent, but it is. Plus, after an hour, it really adds up.
If you are interested in seeing what you got, item wise, that too is your option. After a while, though, you will see that it doesn’t change often, and you don’t need to watch the entire loading animation repeatedly to get the effect of success. This goes for leveling up screens, too.
My suggestion is to move on, screen wise, and location wise.
Notifications to Unlock Stuff
When you achieve a goal, be it placing stickers in the Registry, Profession upgrades, treasure trunks, or unlocking a Portkey, you will get a notification. To maximize your exercise in Wizards Unite, I would suggest spending as little time possible in unlocking.
For example, going into menu, let’s say to place a sticker in the Registry, this takes time you would otherwise be running. It is fine to do this, but you are here to exercise.
Some of these unlockables can be done on the fly once you get to know the menus and what not. These are no big deal. But things like Profession upgrades, and especially unlocking Portkeys, take a good amount of time.
I would suggest waiting until the end of your run to do this. Especially Portkeys. Reap the rewards at the end, in-game and out-game. Look at them as a reward for not only achieving in game, but also for finishing your run.
The Sun Problem Strategy
One of the biggest issues I experience in delaying my Wizards Unite exercise is the sun. If it is bright out, it is sometimes very hard to see in-game. I rely on the sounds and vibration big time here. But when it was spell casting time, this was problematic.
What I did was find tree shade. I would scope shortly ahead and run to the next tree shadow to see what I could do in-game like tap on a trace. This way, I was able to see. Sight is important!
This does add an additional element to the run to deal with, but it is what it is. I tried sunglasses as a solution, and it did not work with the glare. Figure out your own strategy to deal with this nemesis.
Move During Fortresses and Oddities
During your exercise with Wizards Unite, you will have instances where you have to completely stop in order to play. This includes fighting Oddities and Fortresses.
Both are entirely optional, but here is a strategy to keep moving while fighting an Oddity, if you so choose: just walk during the fight. Of course, you still stop when defending or casting, but once you do that, keep walking.
Fortresses are another matter entirely, since you have to stay in the close vicinity and you don’t want to die (in-game).
What I do is plan a run to a Fortress, where I can take a break and engage. There is no real easy way to move a lot during a Fortress, not that I know of at this time anyways.
If you want to do a Fortress, do it. It can be a good water break. Then get back to the run.
Play Longer: The Spell Energy Inn Strategy
When playing Wizards Unite, you need spell energy. There are 2 main options: either get them at Inns which provide 3-10 per visit, or buy them.
You can also randomly get spell energy at greenhouses, and a daily challenge, but I want a sure, consistent thing.
Wiseacres (second shop tab in Diagon Alley) sells 50 Spell Energy for 100 gold. That can add up fast. You can buy gold with real money, too, if you’d like. But, there are better, less expensive ways. All you need is a couple Inns and a strategy.
Before we begin, there are many different types of Inns in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Head over to Wizards Unite Hub for details and descriptions. But for this section, any of them work.
An Inn gets restocked every 5 minutes. So, it’s important to create the path around your walking or running speed to maximize the collecting of spell energy. Keep a tab on your time.
You can either run for 2.5 minutes then turn around and run back to the same Inn, refilling again once you return. Or, even better, create a path from one Inn to another Inn. If you have around 2.5 minutes of time or more spent in between the two, you can continuously play and not lose too much spell energy. You won’t have a lot of variety on your run, though.
I luckily have all sorts of Inns within a mile from where I live. I started from my home, ran to the first Inn, grabbed the random amount of spell energy, and continued on to the second. Following, I went to a third Inn, and then ran back. I repeated this a few times and it landed me around 40 spell energy within 20 minutes.
Once I got in a rhythm, it was no problem. I blinked and I was full of future spell casting. Bonus, since the Dementor Confoundables required me to use multiple spells per encounter, sometimes over 4!
I burned about 220 calories while virtually eating whatever I could sink my teeth into. I do the vegan thing in real life, but I tell ya, the turkey dinners at the Inns are the best here, bagging me a ton of spell energy!
I suggest you figure out a similar path for yourself. Experiment away! It is pretty cool, doing my first video game loot grind in real life, using my legs as the vehicle.
Since then, I have a created pretty good route of continuous running to Inns and maintaining spell energy. I have 3 main spots within a mile that I go to before going anywhere else.
I usually get more than enough spell energy for my entire hour of playing and then some. Once I get home, I am usually stocked for next play session. I sometimes do this even when I’m not playing, just to stock up quick!
Types of Running To Try In Wizards Unite
There are many types of running exercises you can do with Wizards Unite. Here, I will cover the main ones here and a relative calorie burn for each during a 1 hour run.
Here I cover a walk, a brisk walk, a normal run, an interval run, a FARTLEK run, and a long run.
Walk
Although this article is based around running, walking is is more than good enough for some solid fitness. Wizards Unite provides avenues of exercise for both. I doubt I need to explain what a walk is to you. Therefore, here is some data.
In 1 hour, I walked about 1 mile, burning about 200 calories according to this calorie calculator. That isn’t bad. It was a very slow walk, with my girl playing Wizards Unite, too. We were also walking the dog. Without distraction, you could probably squeeze in a bit more distance in an hour.
Brisk Walk
A brisk walk differs on the individual, but it basically is any walk that you are doing that is faster than a normal walk, but isn’t a run. A moderate intensity, if you will. I am not talking power walking here, either.
Adding a bit of steam to the walk, and no distractions like a dog, I managed to walk 2.61 miles in an hour playing Wizards Unite. That equals around 433 calories burned, according to the Garmin Connect app. Not a bad game walk that was brisk.
Normal Run
A normal run differs person to person as everyone’s run speed differs. I run pretty slow overall; nice and light.
My normal run consists of a speed I can have a full conversation during. In other words, I’m not breathing hard at all. Treat this as a standard consistent run.
I did two normal runs, an hour each. One was alone, doing all traces that I could. I ran just about 2.5 miles, burning 300 calories (yes this was less than a brisk walk, but I did more in-game).
A week later, being more proficient and goal oriented, my girl and I ran a 3 mile Wizards Unite run in 1 hour. The only break was a Fortress where we did 3 Wizarding Challenges, burning 350 calories by the time I finished the run.
Interval Run
An interval run is when you alternate between running faster with running slower or walking, usually within a set amount of time or distance. You can set this up any way you would like while playing or not playing, and the variations of interval runs are endless.
For a beginner’s guide on Interval Running, check out Laura Fountain’s post at Lazy Girl Running. She defines interval running, or training like this:
“Interval training is, in it’s simplest form, periods of running faster (efforts), followed by running slower or walking (recoveries) a few times in a row (number of reps). Your efforts and recoveries can be measured either by time or by distance. For example 400m effort followed by 200m recovery x4; or 5 minutes effort followed by 90 second recovery x 3; or even 800m effort followed by 2 mins recovery x 6″.
There are many benefits to interval running, so if interested, Runners Connect has an article on why every runner can benefit from doing them.
For my Wizards Unite exercise, I did not do intervals in the conventional sense, but it is an option. In fact, doing a normal run while playing it is almost a forced interval run, due to the stop and go nature of the activity.
For those looking to improve your aerobic capacity and endurance, intervals are perfect and can be a great cardiovascular workout. And for Wizards Unite, my preferred type of interval is simply called a FARTLEK.
FARTLEK Run
You read that right. Not only is a FARTLEK one of my favorite types of run, especially with Wizards Unite, but it also one of my favorite words to type!
Fartleks will improve your endurance and speed, and to me are quite fun! In fact, for those curious what this glorious word means in Swedish: it means speed play.
FARTlek means ‘speed play’ in Swedish. Yes, the word fart means speed there. In other words, since I am a slow runner, I have no fart in Sweden. I love it.
Ok, enough with one of my favorite words. For a full description of fartleks with examples, head over to Training Peaks. They go into benefits and variations.
For a quick definition, a fartlek is simply defined as periods of fast running intermixed with periods of slower running, according to Wikipedia. In other words, everything goes at any point.
When I do a fartlek run, sometimes I sprint, sometimes I walk, other times I do my normal speed, brisk walk, or very light run or hard run. I don’t set times or distances, I go in the flow and decide when I decide.
For the Wizards Unite fartlek, I was so surprised at my results, it will be a go to in the future. To give you an idea of what I accomplished during the hour in-game, I’ll explain further.
The Back To Hogwarts Fartlek
During the Brilliant Event, Back To Hogwarts, I had barely played the event at all. So, I was curious how much I could get done in in 1 hour, plus how much exercise I could get and how many calories I could burn. I went pretty hard. I ran at very different speeds, combining all of the above types of running.
My goal was to fill out the Registry for the event as best I could doing only purple traces from the event. In that hour, I did about 30 traces, and cleared 2/4 pages from the events Special Assignments. I ran just shy of 4 miles and burned around 500 calories! Really good progress for 1 hour of Wizards Unite play and exercise! Riddikkulus!
Unfortunately, although I did find all 10 of Slytherin, Griffindor, and Hufflepuff students, I could not get 2 remaining Brilliant Ravenclaw Student Foundables before my time was up. So close! I was even leaving when he didn’t appear in the trace. Oh well, next time.
Long Run
A long run can be any longer distance for you. It also is generally a pace where you can have full conversations during (even if talking to yourself). Meaning, you are not out of breath at all.
What distance you are at all really depends on your endurance. It can be 3 miles; it can be 20. It can even be 1 mile. Don’t feel ashamed, we all start at mile 0.
If you are a starting runner, take your time and ease your way into it.
To figure out where you are at on a long run, start by running consistent for 2 weeks to a month. Consistent to me is running 2+ times a week or more. If you are a starting runner, take your time and ease your way into it. There is no point going too fast, running too much, or going too far. Just start a schedule and work your way up based on how you feel.
Right now, my long run is around 10 miles. Anything more than that will be quite a struggle. It’s hard to explain it, but you will know what your long run is when you get there. Especially afterwards. Or even better, use the soreness test.
The soreness test is based on just how sore you are the next morning after a long run. Again relative, I know, but it is a good listen to your body situation. When you wake up, if you are lightly sore, you can probably can go a bit further next week. If very sore, you may have gone a bit too far.
For example, if I run 12 miles today, it may get pretty difficult near the end. The next morning, I will be uber sore, most likely.
It’s good to just keep track of where you are as you mile up, if you are trying to increase your distance when not gaming. Increase your long run 1-2 miles per week max, 1 long run per week, and have a full rest day or two following. Just listen to your body. That’s a general bonus tip.
Ok, back to the subject: Can you play Harry Potter: Wizards Unite on a long run? That, my friends, depends on your time spent running and thus battery life, and spell energy. In theory, sure you can. In reality, I guess you will have to see. It all depends on your phone!
The longest I have run while playing was 8.5 miles. My phone probably could have easily doubled that if I were able to run 17 miles.
Portkey Run
One of my favorite exercise inducing aspects of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are the Portmanteaus Portkeys. Once you use a silver or gold key on one, you have a set amount of distance you need to walk, or run, in order to unlock the portkey. It’s best to use the keys as soon as you can, before you start moving, because each step helps unlock the portkeys.
There are different distances, too. There are 2km, 5km, 7km, and 10km portkeys at the time of this writing. Below, you can see how many miles each is.
| Kilometers | Miles |
| 2km | 1.2m |
| 5km | 3.1m |
| 7km | 4.4m |
| 10km | 6.2m |
A portkey run is when you have any amount of portkeys to unlock and want them unlocked soon. Maybe you have 8 ready to go and need the space for new ones. Since 8 is the total amount you can hold, I decided to clear as many as I could in a single run.
During my portkey run, I only engaged in Wizards Unite when I found a highlighted Trace or neared an Inn. Otherwise, I just ran, keeping the game “running” during.
In 1.5 hours, I ran about 5.5 miles and unlocked all 7 portkeys I had. Some of the 10km ones already had some progress on them or I would have had to run 6.2 miles. I burned around 700 calories during this long run, got some serious vitamin D, and enjoyed a nice 50% humidity 90 degree day, while kicking butt in Wizards Unite.
TIP: Use a Baruffio’s Brain Elixir before you unlock the portkeys (and other activities) to get double Wizarding XP. They only last for 30 minutes, so use them before entering the portkeys, especially if you have a few or after a portkey run like mine.
Expecto Patronum!
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a game you can get in shape while playing. That is a rare and amazing thing for video games, if you think about it. Whether you run or walk, keeping the body active is vital to good health.
Lack of fitness is like a dementor, draining you of happiness and hope. Expecto Patronum is the only spell that will work on them. And just like that spell, exercise is the only spell that will work on you to get fit.
I hope this guide helps each of you in your efforts to exercise more, even without Wizards Unite. This article covers different running types you can do while playing, as well as how to set up your game to maximize movement. I also specified certain strategies that can make your exercise go smoother and efficient.
Running or not, what’s important here is that you move. So get out there, grab your phone, run if you wanna run, walk if you wanna walk, but move. And if you happen to want to play Wizards Unite at the same time, you have a guide to do it right here.
You will be an active wizard in no time!
Any exciting Wizards Unite stories to tell? I want to hear them! Tell me in the comments below or on MBG! social networks. Same if you have any questions.
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