Is Active Gaming a Fad?

I read a blog today and felt like it was a very good read and worth sharing about active gaming and the potential benefits playing these games can have on individuals of all ages. The author does a great job discussing active gaming in regards to potential benefits and the outlook on the future. See the blog below:

Exergaming: A serious workout or just a fad?
by HEAD HEALTH NUTTER on FEBRUARY 24, 2012


Are you thinking of purchasing a Wii gaming system to get your exercise in and finally lose that weight you’ve been talking about shedding since New Year’s? Here’s a guest post that discusses the effectiveness of fitness games and whether they’re a wise investment or not.

With the invention of motion detection technology on new gaming systems such as the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect, games that include a high level of activity have become the latest thing. Perhaps you’ve been to a “Dance Central” party or played a vigorous game of virtual tennis with your kids.



If your video game experience left you sweaty and feeling like you just finished at the gym, congratulations! You’ve been exergaming.

The companies that create games are taking advantage of this trend and have put out games specifically designed to take advantage of this phenomenon. Some of the most famous include “Wii Fit,” “EA Sports Active” and “Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.” Big name franchises are also getting in on gaming as a fitness format, such as “The Biggest Loser” and even “Zumba.”

But is exergaming a legitimate way to get in a workout? Or are you just playing a game?

It depends. How dedicated is the person playing the game? How challenging is the game? How much time does the person spend playing? How regularly do they play? Is the game part of an overall effort to eat right and get more exercise?

While exercises benefits overall health, it also contributes to cheap life insurance rates, something that benefits almost everyone.

The Flaw in “Wii Fit”



“Wii Fit” was one of the first exergames to hit the market back in 2008. Everyone who tried it loved it, and Wii systems flew off the shelves. People who had never thought they would ever own a gaming system were purchasing a Wii and “Wii Fit.” But according to the game developers, people weren’t playing the game consistently. Many systems and fitness boards were collecting dust.

Why? If the dedication and drive to lose weight aren’t there, a balance board and video game system aren’t likely to change that.

So why hasn’t exergaming faded into the sunset? Looking at all the new releases over the past few years, the market appears to be growing. Sequels are out for popular dance games and updates to games designed specifically to be workout programs continue to come out.

Additionally, new technology like the Kinect is solving one of the primary problems people had with “Wii Fit.” No controller to hold and leg strap to fiddle with means a simpler overall gaming experience. People like simple.

Why is Exergaming Still Around?

Perhaps this can be explained by the hopefulness that most people have when it comes to losing weight and getting in shape. “This year I’ll finally lose that weight.” The games are purchased in a burst of optimism and show good sales numbers. Why wouldn’t game companies continue to produce games in franchises that are retail successes?

As long as a person keeps that dedication, these games are a perfectly valid form of exercise. While you probably aren’t going to get fit playing virtual golf, playing “Just Dance” can give you a great cardio workout, to the tune of about 300 calories an hour. Boxing strengthens and tones the arms, back and core, and can burn about 400 calories an hour.

One of the most common pieces of advice given to those who are looking to lose weight but don’t like to exercise is to find a form of exercise that you love. For a number of dedicated people, these games are that form of exercise. And anything that gets people up and moving should be taken seriously.

About the Author

TermLifeInsuranceNews.com tries to provide individuals with useful health and lifestyle tips to help them get the best life insurance rates possible.

Do you own any fitness games? How often do you play them? After reading this post, are you planning to fit exercising into your weekly routine to get more fit?

New Active Game Targeting Physical Education!

Konami is the reason the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) craze was born. They initially released DDR and have continued to work on making the activity more desirable and effective. Recently, Konami released news of a new DDR product targeted directly towards physical education classrooms. From what I can recall, this is the only product that was designed specifically for the physical education classroom. The new product is multiplayer, meaning an entire class could potentially play at one time. The features are attractive to teachers because they have a built in "playlist" and "roster" for teachers to use to assist with saving play time. In addition, there is a data card for every participant that stores information such as step count, scores, other personal information, etc. In between games, students are able to read quick facts and suggestions for attaining and/or maintaing a healthy lifestyle.

This is merely a few cool features of this new DDR system. Konami will have this product at CAHPERD and again at AAHPERD as a sneak peak but is not planning to fully launch the release until the Summer 2012 or the Fall of 2012.

If you are attending one of these conferences you would definitely take a look!

Wii in Adapted PE?? Wii in Adapted PE!!

I am thankful to adapted physical education teacher Amy Wellik from Mounds View Pubic Schools for being a guest blogger this week! Amy brings to our attention the important subject regarding how active gaming can be beneficial when teaching adapted physical education. As she makes clear, children with disabilities not only enjoy and desire active gaming, but are capable of finding great success at the activies. Here is what Amy has shared:

Teaching students with disabilities in an Adapted Physical Education (Adapted PE) setting has many similarities to teaching Physical Education to students in the general setting. Students with disabilities are more like their non-disabled peers than not. They like pizza, Disney channel, pop music and technology. They recognize and have the ability to use iPads, iPhones, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii.
And just like their peers, keeping motivated, interested and MOVING is a challenge.
Adapted PE teachers and PE teachers need to be creative and innovative about using technology in their gyms.
When I first introduced Nintendo Wii into my Adapted PE classes, it was an “experiment”.
I was not sure how my students would respond and how successful they would be. I quickly discovered that the majority of my students were familiar with the Nintendo Wii and they were thrilled to use it in school.
Two years later, I have successfully incorporated a variety of games, activities and exercises into my Adapted PE curriculum.
If the goal is participation, movement and improved fitness levels, Nintendo Wii is an excellent solution.
Nintendo Wii Activities I have used in Adapted PE:
• Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):Wii Fit (Basic run) Wii Sports (Bowling, Boxing training) Just Dance, Just Dance Kids
• Students with Physical Disabilities: Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Just Dance
• Students with Visual Impairments: Wii Fit (Basic run) Wii Sports (Bowling, Boxing training)
• Students with Cognitive Disabilities: Just Dance, Just Dance Kids, Wii Sports , Wii Fit
Technology is in our schools, classrooms and in our gyms. This generation of students understands how to interact with technology and they are motivated by technology. Incorporating technology into any Physical Education class will enhance learning, increase fitness levels and improve participation.

Thank you Amy!

Active Gaming Workshop: Fun and Educational!

Active gaming (Exergaming) continues to grow in popularity and more and more schools are beginning to implement these modern physical activities. It is essential that teachers educate themselves on how to appropriately use active gaming in their physical education classroom to maximize learning. There is finally a hands on, education workshop all about active gaming. The workshop will take place on March 1st, 2012 at the Chicago Bulls Sox training academy in Illinois.

Here is a brief description:

This Professional Development / Exergame Education Workshop shows you the exciting possibilities of how using technology, combined with games and physical activity, can enhance and enrich the lives of generations.

Teachers who attend the pre-conference will hear information from leaders in the field about how exergaming can help educators to be even more effective in reaching our youth. Participants will find this full-day ExerGaming pre-conference fun, educational, and invaluable in helping to promote high-quality physical education and physical activity to maximize the educational experience.

Topics include:

Medical view on how a sedentary lifestyle is impacting our children with life-long disease.

A successful School and Community Model overview, showing results of improved academics, improved disciplinary incidents, and improved health and fitness scores.

Implementing Technology and Exergaming in your facility. Putting knowledge into practice.

How do we prove it is working? Using technology to revolutionize physical education.

Time in vs. Time Out. Help students with ADHD and other behavior issues decrease impulsivity and improve learning. Explains the physiology of the attention system.

Quality teaching in a Physical Education setting, which meets the NASP standards and promotes lifelong fitness.

You can find more information about the workshop including registration at http://www.motionfitness.com/Articles.asp?ID=269

So You Think You Can Dance?

I often find that dance is one content area that many teachers do not enjoy teaching for a variety of reasons. Dance is an essential part of the physical education curriculum, but what are you doing to make it fun and interesting? Why not consider implementing dance related active games such as Dance Dance Revolution or Just Dance (1, 2, or 3) that is compatible with the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect. These active games are appropriate tools that can assist physical educators in teaching rhythmic, folk, creative, etc., dance concepts. These games offer various genres of music from reggae to hip hop which provides the teacher with numerous opportunities to create diverse dance lessons for students. Additionally, students are exposed to different forms of music and are able to learn the history as well as different forms of rhythm in the music.

Implementing technology driven games (active games) is a desirable solution for children to be motivated to engage in exercise. These activities are also affordable and user-friendly. Teaching dance in physical education can be enhanced by using what this generation of students finds appealing and fun. So, do you think you can dance? Try it and let the game be the test!

Active Gaming: Making Exercise a New Year's Resolution?

It's that time of the year - the beginning! Where we sit and think about what our New Year's resolution is going to be. For many, in the past few years a resolution has been to exercise more consistently or to simply begin to exercise. While I certainly appreciate adding more exercise to your daily life, I would also like to suggest we DECREASE sedentary screen time. Sitting in front of computers, televisions, cell phones, iPods, etc., has become a habit - one which is hard to break. The national recommendations suggest recreational screen time (RST) be less then two hours a day. On average RST in society today is over 40 hours a week! If we are going to using screens, at least reduce the sedentary behavior and suggest a more active approach such as active gaming.

Although the benefits of traditional exercise are well known, for some reason as adults we decrease our level of physical activity and then our children do not have role models at home to follow. Physical education teachers need to encourage children to get up and move and provide them with ways to do so at home. Discussing active gaming and implementing it in your curriculum is a great way to show children how exercise can be fun.

Do yourself and your children a favor this year and reduce the amount of sedentary time you spend in front of a screen. Get up and move - if you enjoy video games and technology, active gaming may be one great solution to help you keep your New Year's resolution!

Medical Doctors and Active Gaming – A Nice Surprise!

I recently was asked to present a workshop and a short presentation on active gaming and gamification at the 12th Annual Conference on Obesity titled “Practical Approaches and Guidelines to Treatment” in Orlando, FL by the University of South Florida Medical group. I have presented on active gaming at this conference for the past 3 years and have found the interest from the medical doctors that attended to be desirable. This year, I was able to have multiple conversations with the attendees regarding there thoughts about active gaming as a form of physical activity prescription.

To clarify, the conference was a 3 day event. My two presentations were the ONLY presentations that focused on physical activity in obesity treatment and prevention. Although I found this disappointing, especially as I listened to intense research presentations based on how surgery and pills were a safe way to control and/or prevent obesity, I took advantage of the opportunity and began each presentation with this comment:

“To date, there is not one pill I know of on the market that can provide the benefits that physical activity provides. We know how physical activity positively affects the mind and body in a variety of ways. I am not suggesting pills and surgery do not work, I am merely saying that prescribing physical activity should be something you consider with every case unless there are physical limitations with the patient.” Physical activity will never be a bandaid – are pills and surgery?”

To my happiness as I looked in the audience the majority of heads were shaking as if they were agreeing. BINGO! Now it was time to have these doctors really think I was strange by telling them they should prescribe screens as a source of physical activity! Needless to say, the understanding of how technology has caused an increase in sedentary behavior among adults and children was not difficult for them to comprehend. Allowing the attendees to actually play on Dance Dance Revolution, Gamercize Steppers, Microsoft Kinect, and the Xavix virtual boxing game was a great way for them to laugh at themselves, enjoy the activity, and learn how active gaming can be a great solution to motivating their patients to be more active. Additionally, they learned the cost of these particular games as well a many other active games is feasible!

One Doctor pulled me to the side after the first presentation and shared that after he heard the presentation on active gaming last year, he had completely removed all seats from his waiting room and added Dance Dance Revolution, the Game Bikes, and a Nintendo Wii system. He discussed how his patients would come early and stay later just to be able to play the games. This Doctor also believed that these activities created more interaction between the families when they were at his practice. What a wonderful story to share! Of course, I used this example in my second presentation to bring awareness to the attendees on how active gaming could serve as a fun, motivating way to be encourage more physical activity as well as how, as doctors, they could use this approach as a role model for their patients’ home environment.

There mindset of "just go outside and play" is still desired. Quite frankly, I still desire it as well; however, the fact that this is simply not happening as generations change is a reality and was understood. We need to strategies to help these adults and children be more active. Why not prescribe active gaming? It is appropriate, and not simply a bandaid!