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The Gaming Diet

By Steph Schneider

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Left, right, back and forward his legs move. The Nike symbol on his tennis shoes almost seems blurred. Bouncing back and forth, Harris begins to work up a sweat. About 50 seconds later the song ends and Harris waits for his score. A++, and a dance combo of 80. Harris walks off, pleased with his performance.

Harris has just finished playing the video game Dance Dance Revolution. But he’s not at an arcade; he’s at a KU exercise class devoted specifically to the game.

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Photo illustration by Jerry Wang

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Photo illustration by Jerry Wang

 Dance, aerobics, kickboxing, and other forms of physical activity through “exergaming” are becoming increasingly popular, and are now being seen as a legitimate way to get regular exercise.

 Wii Fit is the latest exergame that is bringing the gym to its players. My roommate recently brought up Wii Fit from home, which makes new workouts convenient and fun. Electronic beeps and bops echo in my living room, and the absence of treadmills, stair climbers, and smelly people is refreshing. The games may be virtual, but the calories burned are real.

 The point of exergaming is to make working out more fun than walking or running on a treadmill, says Connor Williams, Lawrence Athletic Club employee. “It’s not just lifting weights and riding a bike. People stay more interested,” Williams says.

 Marketed as the first video game that can be used as a workout tool, Wii Fit has proven to get both kids and adults off their butts. In January and February, Wii Fit was the best-selling video game in the U.S., selling more than six million units, according to market researcher NPD group.

 Wii Fit uses a handheld remote controller that sends messages to a video screen as players go through the motions just like playing a video game. Their movements control a “mii,” an on-screen character modeled after themselves. When the player does a push-up, the mii does a push-up. Wii Fit users can try yoga, strength exercises, aerobic exercises and balance games, while stepping and rotating around on a movement-sensitive board and following an on-screen trainer.

 The predecessor to Wii Fit was Dance Dance Revolution, the game that got its players hopping and dancing enthusiastically in an arcade and now in front of their TV sets. Since coming out in 1998, the various editions of Dance Dance Revolution games have sold millions of copies worldwide. DDR helped launch the exergame industry, Ian Bogost, author of the The Rhetoric of Exergaming, says.

 “Suddenly, middle-class moms were using their kids’ Playstations (DDR) for exercise,” Bogost says. “They were playing a game that was never intended to be used in that way.”

 The DDR idea is simple: Players position themselves on a 3-foot square platform with an arrow on each side of the square pad. The arrows point up, down, left and right. Players face a video screen that has arrows scrolling upward to the beat of a song they have chosen. When the arrow reaches the top of the screen, the player steps on the arrow on the pad that corresponds to the arrow on the screen.

 DDR was created as an entertainment game, but researchers and players both noticed it worked up a sweat. DDR can be a good aerobic exercise, and according to ddrzone.com, some regular players have reported burning around 500 calories in an hour, and weight loss of 10-50 pounds with long-term use.

 The benefits of these physically demanding exergames has rehabilitation centers now using them as a tool for athletes who are recovering from surgery or an injury, most often ankle sprains and knee surgery like ACL reconstruction. Lawrence’s OrthoKansas, PA rehabilitation department is using Game Speed, a floor pad and screen that resembles DDR, though music is not a part of the game. Regardless, it has patients wondering, “Am I playing Dance Dance Revolution?”

 Game Speed is being used as a rehabilitation tool to gradually get injured athletes back into shape, OrthoKansas physical therapist Randy Freivogel says. Patients enter their name, age, and degree of difficulty based on their injury. The game tests patients on their speed, agility, strength and power. Playing time is determined by the patient’s level of difficulty, their surgery, and their amount of time spent in rehab. Patients jump from side to side, up and down, but a designated “relax time” is included in all the sessions.

 Competition is another benefit to playing an exergame, Freivogel says.

 “Students come in for rehab and the Game Speed tracks and records performance based on what activity they are being tested on,” Freivogel says. “You can see how competitive people can get by playing a type of exergame as part of their rehab, thus pushing their performance.”

 After about four weeks of rehabilitation on the Game Speed, patients typically are ready to get back on the field, track or court, Freivogel says.

 Whether these exergames are used to heal, lose weight or have fun, there is growing evidence that regular exergame use helps people stay fit and manage their weight. The state of West Virginia, in hopes of battling its high obesity rate, has signed a partnership with game publisher and DDR creator Konami to install DDR machines in the public schooling system. According to a Mayo Clinic study, West Virginia has some of the highest obesity and diabetes rates in the country. DDR arcade machines have been installed in most of its 765 public schools, where they are now being used during physical education classes, recesses, and lunchtimes in many school districts around the United States.

 This past spring, the University began offering a DDR class in the Kansas Union’s Jaybowl as an alternative to a traditional workout class. Instructor Susan Hoffman’s once-a-week class is helping students develop a positive attitude toward working out because it’s fun and competitive.

 The class has about 20 students, ranging from men on the basketball team to students just wanting to get non-traditional, fun workouts in.

 DDR “expert” Chris Harris heard about the DDR class at his freshman orientation when someone said it was actually a good workout.

 “You can’t slow down or else you’ll fail the game,” Harris says. “It’s not like a sport where you can take a quick break.”

 Harris says that he gets a better workout doing DDR than he did running track and cross-country in high school.

 The class forces me to jump on the pad. I’m weirdly nervous and begin sweating even before I select my song and “easy” difficulty. There are hundreds of songs to choose from, and I pick a motivating song, “Stayin’ Alive.” Soon I am echoing the song’s “Ah Ah Ah Ah” chorus, but not because I want to sing along. I am feeling the burn. Bop here, bop there, jump up and step back. I keep seeing “miss” on the screen and continue to hear “boo” from the speakers. My feet seem to automatically go on the wrong arrows, which is reflected in my low score. I can feel all these DDR masters eying me at my sides, giving me pity claps and cheers. The game finally winds down. I am out of breath and sweating. My legs hurt, and all I can think of is how much that game kicked my ass.

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