With the advent of motion capture integration technology, video games are becoming more popular across all generations: so much so, that people are coming up with ways to get their heart rate up while they level up! Having fun while doing daily exercise can be beneficial, especially during the ever-growing obesity epidemic.
Video game exercise has shown improvement via a positive affective response, which typically predicts physical activity adherence (Schmitter et al., 2023) : this means that not only are you treating yourself to a game: you’re treating yourself to a better mood overall that incentivizes you to stay consistent! (Li et al., 2016)
Technology has leveled up the way fitness can be made available to people who feel more comfortable exercising in the privacy of their home: research has shown that engaging in “gamercise,” which is the gamification of fitness, is beneficial for physical health as well as mental stimulation (Warburton et al., 2007).
Some examples of gamercize are Dance Dance Revolution, Just Dance, Beat Saber, and Ring Fit Adventure. Studies have shown that these games have helped with hand-eye coordination, balance, and overall proprioception (a fancy word for the awareness of the position of the body) versus control groups.
Not only are video games great for increasing your heart rate- they can also help with your range of motion! An experiment was conducted to see if interactive video game physical therapy could be as effective as traditional modalities, and the conclusion was that they were equally effective (Parry et al., 2015)!
Want to know more?
Linked below is an article from UGATODAY detailing how studies show active video games are providing alternative workouts for people not wanting to hit the gym.
References
Li, J., Theng, Y. L., & Foo, S. (2016). Effect of exergames on depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 19, 34 – 42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2015 .0366
Parry, I., Painting, L., Bagley, A., Kawada, J., Molitor, F., Sen, S., Greenhalgh, D. G., & Palmieri, T. L. (2015). A pilot prospective randomized control trial comparing exercises using videogame therapy to standard physical therapy. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 36(5), 534–544. https://doi.org/10.1097/bcr.0000000000000165
Schmitter, M., Vanderhasselt, M.-A., Spijker, J., Smits, J. A., & Vrijsen, J. N. (2023). Working it out: Can an acute exercise bout alleviate memory bias, rumination and negative mood? Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52(3), 232–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2022.2164349
Warburton, D. E. R., Bredin, S. S. D., Horita, L. T. L., Zbogar, D., Scott, J. M., Esch, B. T. A., & Rhodes, R. E. (2007). The health benefits of interactive video game exercise. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 32(4), 655–663. https://doi.org/10.1139/h07-038