Knowing How to exercise while playing video games is an added advantage to boost your gaming ability.
Exercising while playing video games is not an easy task if you are not used to it, as it can burn you out and make you get tired of playing the game while you still have important missions or levels to complete.
While video games can energize our brains and, counting on the title, our social understanding that video games are not exactly the healthiest recreation because they barely stimulate human bodies.
Playing video games can and will make it very difficult to relinquish your passion while also adhering to any of your New Year’s resolutions to have a good shape.
However, with a little bit of creativity, you can draft a workout regime to fill the rest time while playing your favorite video game with some simple and effective exercises
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Benefits of exercise while gaming
The time you spend playing video games is mostly seen as time snatched from corporal activities.
A lot of research has shown that exercise has a lot of physical and mental benefits. The benefits of exercising while playing a video game cannot be overemphasized.
Most of the modern video games come with a lot of downtimes that most of us usually spend on social media refreshing Twitter feeds, Facebook, or, with the beginning of battle royale video games, inspecting your teammates’ attempt to win the recent game after we succumbed in the first round. Instead of spending your precious time staring at useless screens, you can practise some workouts that will give you a good body shape.
Below are some of the benefits of exercise while gaming.
increases energy
Any serious gamers will know that it takes an incredible proportion of energy to stay closed in for hours at the same spot playing a game, apart from that, you need to be making some decisions about the game every time like what type of weapon to use, and the best strategy. All this task can wear out your brain.
Note: If your body structure is out of good shape, meaning you’re not able to expend your energy systems fully.
When you exercise regularly while gaming with varieties of styles—aerobic (e.g cardio exercises) and some anaerobic ( e.g lifting weights), your body will become capable of using its resources effectively and efficiently.
performance and mental health.
Regular exercise while playing video games can boost your mental health.
The ability to produce and control neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin are all sustained through typical exercise.
This can benefit in terms of mood, performance but also what gamers will consider performance-oriented cognitive health— like making faster and better decisions.
Sometimes while playing games, winning your opponent happens in a matter of milliseconds.
One exercise will not be sufficient to help you get the shape you want but weeks or months of constant workouts very well will get you there.
Ability To Handle Stress
All of us have been there while playing battle video games, the final round is closing and only one enemy of your team is left.
It’s either you win or lose in a moment, and you believe you have what it takes to succeed. But your two hands are sweating and your heart rate is increasing. This is the reason you game. It’s quite fun, but it’s also very stressful.
When your adrenaline release is high, it can effortlessly take over—with some disastrous consequences for your personality or your team members.
But guess what? Exercising can help you mediate the stress response. Gaming will stress you but you will be able to handle the stress better when you exercise during games.
Sleeping better
A very obvious downside to getting good with your favorite video game is that there is no way to do it without wasting more minutes in front of a monitor or screen.
And for every hour spent staring at the screen means what is called “blue light” meaning exposure for your eyes to light for long.
Blue light takes the highest energy of any category of light on the visible range, meaning it also has the largest potential to result in physical harm.
Too much exposure to blue light, especially during the night, may lead to difficulties like eye weakness and headaches. But more commonly, it can wreak damage on your sleep
Many research studies show that workouts can enhance the quantity of time it takes to fall asleep, as well as the overall quality of sleep. With longer and sound sleep, exercise while gaming makes you see better, repair not only muscles but the eyes also.
How to Exercise While Playing Video Games
A lot of people might be wondering how it is possible to exercise while playing video games. This seems impossible but there are ways to do this. Below are list of time and what you can exercise while playing?
01. Take breaks
Very long gaming sessions are awful for your body, and also bad for your in-game performance. Every few hours of gaming, take at least fifteen or twenty minutes to relax, move around, and try some simple workouts like sit ups, push ups and light jogging. When you resume your gaming back you will notice improved gaming style.
02. Exercise during loading screens, pauses or death in the game:
Video games are somehow heavy and take times to load, You can take advantage of this time to practice small workouts and get fit.
03. Work out during game: exercise bike
If you possess an exercise bike, you can workout during your gaming session. Just get some ride while playing a single player game and get in shape.
Exercise List
Below are the list of the exercises you can practice while gaming
- Wall sit
- Arm extensions
- Dance dance revolution
- Squats
- Stationary bicycling
- Seated scissors
How to do the Exercise
Let’s explain the steps needed to get the above exercises done
Wall sit
All you need to do to to get the exercise done is by changing the way you are sitted or positioned while playing the game.
This is to engage your muscles, stand up from the couch and rest your back flat towards the wall with your upper legs aligned parallel to the floor, your feet shoulder being apart.
This action will stress your quadriceps, so you should not do this exercise more than one minute.
Arm extension
To do this exercise while gaming, you have to wait for a time when you do not have much to on the screen.
Hang your hand at your knee, bring it up to your shoulder level and after that to a T position and bring it back down to the side, do the reverse of the steps and you can continue with your gaming.
Dance Dance Revolution
This is a dancing exercise while playing game, all you have to do is move your body to the rhythm songs of the game.
Dancing is a very good exercise that stretches all your body and get you ready to challenge more during the game.
Squats
Squatting is a good exercise to do while gaming as it engage all your body core and gives your body a full workout.
While performing this exercise you can still keep your eyes on the screen because you need to keep your head straight.
To start this workout, stand straight and come down straight to squat on your knees over your ankle and push your buttocks back.
Make sure your spine is straight and if you notice your back is aching then you need to rest.
Stationary Bicycling
if you have or can set up a stationary bike in front of your TV for exercising then you should do it. It is very easy and simple to perform.
Set your mind to it that you will only play the video game while cycling. By doing this, you will burn a lot of fats and improve your cardio.
Seated Scissors
Have your back straight against the wall in a sitting position, after that straighten your leg up in front of your body like you want to rest something on it, then try to open and close the legs like scissors, this might be very tedious so only do it when the game is loading or during your break time.
5 video Games list you can exercise with while playing
1: Ring Adventure (Nintendo)
This game gives you the freedom to exercise while playing it and it is also a fitness game.
The game was released in 2008 and any serious gamer that wants to exercise will love it and play it. It is designed to give you work out programs and if you follow the programs, you will get the body shape you want while playing game.
Nintendo Adventure games take exercising activities and turn them into a game.
2: Dance Revolution:
This game was created in 2000, it is very interesting to play and at the same time gives you more pass time to exercise.
The game is much easier at the start but get more difficult as you progress to new level and will require you to think very fast.
3: Fitness boxing:
Fitness boxing is another interesting video game. It has a lot of music tracks that can be played underground and is very good for a workout session.
It is a fitness game that has many workout sessions for the player.
4: Just Dance:
Just Dance was first launched in 2009 and has since then enjoyed a release every year.
It’s a tempo game that will get you dancing to a compilation of hip-hop songs on-screen choreography. The game will track your body movements to grade your performance, and it utilizes different strategies to do this based on the procedure.
5: Beat Saber:
If you gain access to play any VR platform (including HTC Vive, VR PS, Oculus, or Oculus Quest), play Beat Saber for a virtual reality exercise. It provide various workouts and different songs playing underground.
Frequently Asked Questions Video Game Workouts
How do you exercise while gaming?
You can exercise while playing game, you can do this when the game is loading or when you die in a battle royale video game.
The little time you have while the game loasds is enough for you to work your body out.
How do you balance gaming and fitness
To balance your gaming and fitness activities, you need to schedule your time, have a list of your priorities and schedule the time you want to spend on each activities, this will help you plan better and have enough time for working out.
Does exercise help you while gaming?
The ability of your body to regulate and produce neurotransmitters such as dopamine can boost your mood and improve your performance by making you to decide faster.
Is it necessary wear sport wear while exercising?
You do not necessarily need to put on a sport wear because most of the exercise are anaerobic and you can just put on any casual wear.
How many times should I stretch while gaming?
It might be very hard to pause when you are enjoying your game but it is very important for a gamer to stretch while playing. A gamer is supposed to pause and stretch every hour for your mental health.
Conclusion
Regular exercise improves our body physically and mentally, researchers have listed a lot of benefits of exercising while gaming.
We have listed some exercise that you can perform while gaming to keep your body fit and if you read this article very well, you will get all you need to know on How to exercise while playing video games.
If you have any difficulties understanding any of the steps listed, you can easily contact us and we will be ready to assist.
Working out is my life. I love to help others see the potential of their bodies as they transform into their best selves.