Gaming & Exercise – An Applicable Experience

No I’m not talking about gaming until your eyes bleed because the Crash Bandicoot N’ Sane Trilogy has made you rage quit more times than you thought were possible in a matter of 10 minutes. I’m not talking about Wii Fit or the other games that have came out  designed specifically around fitness. I’m talking about playing a game while banging out some exercises during breaks.

Story Time

Years ago when NCAA Football (RIP) was my achilles heel, my brother and I would play non-stop. And like any true older-younger brother relationship, you’re not just playing for bragging rights, you’re playing to survive. Being the younger brother on this particular day, the bet was that whoever lost the game, the loser had to do 50 push-ups while the winner got to mock them in the gloriousness that ensued.

Well this mantra brought on a new way for me to do work outs that focused on bodyweight exercises throughout the day. The average NCAA exhibition game on Xbox 360 took about 45 minutes to complete all said and done. And with the added exercises maybe an hour or hour and a half tops.

The Breakdown

Everything is based off of your level of fitness. Because I have strong level of endurance built up overtime, I can do a lot of reps consecutively. Others may have to adjust accordingly.

Clemson Vs Alabama – Exercises – 1) Push-ups for Offensive Score 2) Air Squats for Opponents Score

Let’s say I play as Clemson and the points tally is as follows: 7 – 14 – 21 – 24 – 27 – 34 – 41= 144 Push-Ups total
Bama: 3 – 6 – 13 – 20 – 27 – 34 – 37 = 140 Squats total

Over the course of the game you’ll be doing the number of points above as sets. First score = 7 Push-ups. Second score = 14 Push-ups. Third score = 21 Push-ups. Continued. Same follows for when Bama scores: 1st – 3 Squats 2nd – 6 Squats – Continued.

If you’re a savage like my defense usually is in Dynasty mode, then take a predetermined number of x Squats (any exercise) and do them at the end of each quarter. 4 Quarters 25 squats total 100 squats, not too shabby.

You can manipulate this process anyway you see fit

• Play the entire game then check the Team Stats and look at the total number of 1st downs: 10. That equals 10 sets of x (pick exercise)
• If you don’t score x number of points at the end of the game then you have to go for a 3 mile run
• Every time you score a touchdown – 5 Push-ups
• Every time the opponent scores a touchdown – 10 Crunches
• Vary the number of reps with your level of fitness

Take the same concept and apply it to other games

Story Time 2.0 

I used to play a lot of Call of Duty in high school later in the day after sports. Because I’m a madman, in between multi-player games as they loaded for a few minutes, I would un-plug my mic because I’m civilized, take my KD (Kill Death Ratio) for the game before and bang out sets of Sit-Ups (Kills) and Lunges (4-Count – Deaths). Then plug back in my mic for the next game slightly out of breath praying my friends don’t make fun of my weirdness.

It works for NCAA Football and Call of Duty. It can work for any game you apply it to. It makes doing the exercises over and over more fun instead of continuing a  monotonous form of exercises done the same way overtime. 

This concept has been proven through personal experience. We can all relate to it. I’d rather run on lava than to run on a treadmill every day. Run trails, the street, fields, on the track, through snow, sand, rain, mix it up. The challenge fades when the same elements are applied every day. When challenge fades, boredom increases. When boredom increases, attention spans are gone and the inner-monologue we all have find better solutions of our time i.e. not training.

Gaming and Exercise is something that I’ve never heard talked about outside of the games produced that are intended for fitness. Until today.

Discussion

• Any of you do what I do or do you all think I should be shipped off to Shutter Island like my friend Di Caprio?
• Do you think that this is more appealing than the fitness games because you get to actually play what you want? Instead of buying a fitness game you’re not thrilled about in the first place?
• Have any of you done similar things that aren’t intended to be correlated with gaming?

Let me know and if you liked what I have been spitballing tell somebody about my blog

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