Listen to the Joystiq Podcast (because your ears can't read)
Posts with tag VideoGame

Gamer geeks have lower BMIs

Posted: Sep 20th 2008 5:34PM by Martha Edwards
Filed under: Health in the Media, Healthy Kids

We all know the stereotype of a typical video game geek: pasty-skinned and overweight, never seeing the light of day, except for a brief glimpse when opening the door for the pizza delivery guy.

But according to recent research, the average 'gamer' isn't unhealthy -- in fact, gamers have lower BMIs than the average adult in the U.S.. The average BMI among gamers was 25 -- just on the border of normal and overweight. What's more, the average gamer engaged in physical activity once or twice a week. Gamers did, however, show larger instances mental health issues, including depression and substance abuse.

Are you more or less physically healthy than a gamer?

We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs - Jessica Alba collected points to drop pounds

Posted: Sep 15th 2008 12:00PM by Kristen Seymour
Filed under: Fitness, Diet and Weight Loss, Celebrities, We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs

Jacki told us a couple of weeks ago that Jessica Alba dropped the baby weight by using an elliptical machine and treadmill at her home. Now, it looks like she's added another machine to her home gym -- a high-tech Expresso exercise bike.

What makes this bike unique is that the bike's program" allows her to collect points -- it's a lot like a video game," explained Ramona Braganza, Alba's trainer. This allows the svelte new mama to focus on achieving a high score, rather than worrying about calories burned or minutes passed.

I don't know about you, but any time I use a machine with time, calories, and distance on the display, I like to play a game with myself -- get to a certain distance by a certain time, or burn a certain number of calories over the course of a mile by upping the intensity, so I can see where using points would add interest and help the workout to go faster. Sounds fun!

Gallery: Hot mama Jessica Alba

Jessica AlbaJessica AlbaJessica AlbaJessica Alba

What's better: Yoga DVD or video game?

Posted: May 13th 2008 11:00AM by Kristen Seymour
Filed under: Fitness, Health and Technology, Spirituality and Inspiration, Healthy Products

Our pals over at DS Fanboy have taken an in-depth look at the pros and cons of practicing yoga guided by a DVD (Yoga for Beginners) versus using the Nintendo DS game, Let's Yoga. First, there was an awesome review of Let's Yoga, and overall, they were fans.

However, as with any at-home automated guide (including a DVD), it's easy to cheat or do poses incorrectly. The game itself sounds like it's easy to navigate and follow, and it has lots and lots of short lessons, so you can tailor your yoga workout to fit into your schedule.

After reading the review, I checked out the comparison, and, long story short, the game totally won. To demonstrate the differences, DS Fanboy provided a chart highlighting similarities and differences, so if you have a particular concern (like you don't want an annoying instructor), you can easily see which option would work best for you. I'm not normally a huge fan of video games, but this sounds like a cool way to get involved in yoga without dragging your karma-challenged butt to a class.

Virtual exercise no replacement for actual exercise

Posted: Apr 18th 2008 12:00PM by Maggie Vink
Filed under: Fitness, Healthy Kids

I finally had a chance to use a Wii. After getting over some initial embarrassment, I had an awful lot of fun! I tried the tennis game and, sadly enough, I'm as bad at virtual tennis as I am on an actual tennis court. While the Wii was certainly more active than playing any other video game system, it wasn't nearly the same type of exercise as a real sport.

Both Bev and Bethany have written about the exercise potential in the interactive gaming system before. And, compared to sitting like a lump playing regular video games, the Wii is a great thing. But it doesn't take the place of real exercise. The active games are a great alternative to regular video games. Also, many of the games aren't violence based -- as a parent, I know I appreciate that. They also offer hand-eye coordination benefits. And, for kids (or adults) who aren't active at all, the games may be a stepping stone for developing interest in real sports.

So the Wii isn't a bad thing at all. But don't count time spent playing interactive video games as exercise time. It's just not the same as the real thing. The CDC recommends that kids be physically active for at least an hour every day. So put away the video tennis, grab a racquet, and play a game of REAL tennis with your kids.

New stationary bike is anything but

Posted: Dec 11th 2007 3:50PM by Chris Sparling
Filed under: Fitness, Health and Technology, Women's Health, Men's Health, Healthy Products

With Nintendo's Wii Fit getting ready for release in 2008, and with the growing number of other fitness-friendly games (such as Dance Dance Revolution), there is clearly a concerted effort being made by developers to lift the couch potato stigma that is typically associated with video games.

As part of this effort, exercise machine manufacturers are also jumping on board, as exemplified by the new S2u stationary bike from Expresso Fitness (www.expressofitness.com). This exercise bike takes the incredibly redundant and dull practice of riding in place and turns it into a fun-filled video game. Attached to the bike's handlebars is a 17-inch LCD screen, on which a bicycle rider makes his way through a Grand Theft Auto-esque set of situations. To propel the biker forward, and to manipulate the course he takes, you must pedal faster and turn the handlebars.

The least fun video game ever: "Arm Spirit" will break your arm

Posted: Aug 26th 2007 9:29AM by Rigel Celeste
Filed under: Health and Technology

Physically interactive games are all the rage lately, with the most common examples belonging to the Nintendo Wii game system. But pretending to swing a golf club and play the guitar are one thing while arm wrestling in a Japanese arcade with the "Arm Spirit" game is something else altogether -- you could end up with a broken arm.

Game makers insist that the mechanical arm players "wrestle" with quote "isn't that strong," but they still can't explain how 3 different players ended up with broken arms. They're recalling the 150 "Arm Spirits" from arcades around Japan to check them for malfunctions, although a rep says "We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way."

Yikes. Did they get their quarters back?

Play the Nintendo Wii in the gym

Posted: Jul 30th 2007 4:44PM by Rigel Celeste
Filed under: Fitness, Health and Technology

A gym in Vancouver is being credited as the first gym in North America to officially incorporate the Nintendo Wii into its physical fitness offerings. Set up as a workout station in a 400 sq ft room with a projection TV, club members are encouraged to use the game console for everything from warm-ups and cool-downs to entire workouts. One session of boxing, tennis, or bowling on the Wii is thought to be equal to a brisk walk and burns 75-125 calories, so depending on what you're looking for it can definitely be a fun part of an overall fitness plan. Sounds more interesting than the treadmill to me!

Via Wii fanboy

Get fit and blast space invaders at the same time

Posted: Mar 31st 2007 11:08AM by Martha Edwards
Filed under: Health and Technology, Healthy Products

This is definitely one for the 'what will they think of next' category. A company called ProForm has come up with a elliptical trainer that is also a video game -- you can actually kill aliens while you pedal away. The game is actually built into the machine, so it's not dangerous like playing a Gameboy on the machine would be. AND the best part is, the harder you work, the easier the game is -- you'll be so focused on winning the game, you'll hardly notice how much you're sweating.

I was skeptical at first, but let's face it -- working out on a machine can be b-o-r-i-n-g! Anyway to break it up and find extra motivation to work hard sounds like a great idea to me. What do you think?.

Video game helps kids fight cancer

Posted: Mar 27th 2007 12:01PM by Jonathon Morgan
Filed under: Health and Technology

Kids with cancer now have a new tool for understanding and fighting their disease. Re-Mission, a new video game created by HopeLab, is a "3-D shooter" that takes kids through the bodies of young patients with different forms of cancer, and it's having an incredible effect on patients.

The idea is that it's much easier to learn when you're playing and having fun. Through playing the game, the kids learn information about the disease, quality of life, self-effacy (which the company defines as being able to take action in a challenging situation) and how to adhere to their medication.

By winning the game, the kids feel like they can win their medical battle

According to an outcome study conducted by HopeLab, the overall self-effacy score of patients increased dramatically, and Re-Mission players maintained higher blood levels of chemotherapy and showed higher rates of antibiotic utilization -- thus, the method was helpful in 80% of patients.

What an amazing idea!

[via Neatorama]

A healthy gift: Train your brain with games

Posted: Dec 20th 2006 3:30PM by Adams Briscoe
Filed under: Healthy Aging, Stress Reduction, Healthy Kids

Videogames have taken a lot of flak over the years. If they're not unhealthy and agents of laziness, then they are dangerous by causing people to kill each other left and right. Everyone has an opinion about them, whether founded or not. However, every once in a while a new game comes around that challenges the notion of it as an "unwholesome" activity.

Back in the day it was Tetris. The popular puzzler had everyone twitching at the thumbs. However nowadays there is a new game in town which could make a great stocking stuffer for just about anyone. Brain Age for the Nintendo DS is shaping up to be the next mind tickler. Their target demographic is 40 and 50-year-olds for crying out loud! And having seen the appeal it has on youngsters too (I'm pretty hooked myself), the results suggest that there isn't anyone that can't have fun with this game.

So what is it anyway? Well, Brain Age keeps you focused in order to utilize your cognitive and memory abilities. In other words, it features small games that get you to count, keep track or memorize things while somehow making it addictive and fun. Instead of wrapping up a knit sweater this season, give them something spontaneous that may even do their brain some good.



That's Fit Features





How many calories burned? What is my BMI?
More weight loss tools!


Features
AOL Health Bloggers (58)
Ask Fitz! (79)
Ask Laura! (27)
ATIO: Summer Quick Fix Challenge (6)
ATIO: Wednesday Weigh-In (4)
ATIO: Weekly Weight-loss Results (4)
Celebrity Fitzness Report (43)
Daily Fit Tip (429)
Diet Derailers (6)
Fit Beauty (92)
Fit Factor (98)
Fit Gadgets (32)
Fit Kicks Videos (9)
Fit Links (100)
Fit Mama (10)
Fit Pregnancy (22)
Fitku (14)
FitSpirit (46)
FitTV (8)
Fitzness Fiends (52)
Gut Busters (4)
Healthy Handful (11)
How Many Calories? (108)
Jogging for Normal People (18)
Jumpstart Your Fitness (89)
Life Fit Chat with Laura Lewis (106)
Life Fit with Laura Lewis (57)
Meet the Bloggers (20)
One Small Step (7)
Podcasts (43)
Recipe Rehab (23)
Retro Review (3)
Road To Fitville (16)
Stress Less (37)
Taking Off Ten (12)
That's Fit In The Field (4)
The 5 (42)
The Daily Turn On! (114)
The Good, The Fat and The Hungry (13)
Tuck It In (17)
Walking the Walk (2)
We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs (71)
We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs Weekly Roundup (37)
Week In Review (64)
Working In the Workouts (55)
Workplace Fitness (90)
You Are What You Eat (68)
Your Turn (40)
Healthy Living
Alternative Therapies (303)
Book Reviews (99)
Celebrities (947)
Cellulite (236)
Diet and Weight Loss (2544)
Eco-Travel (81)
Emotional Health (1299)
Fit Fashion (90)
Fitness (3872)
Food and Nutrition (4595)
General Health (5569)
Giveaways (10)
Health and Technology (673)
Health in the Media (1287)
HealthWatch (468)
Healthy Aging (757)
Healthy Events (164)
Healthy Habits (2157)
Healthy Home (459)
Healthy Kids (1610)
Healthy Places (251)
Healthy Products (963)
Healthy Recipes (354)
Healthy Relationships (312)
Men's Health (1539)
Natural Beauty (231)
Natural Products (243)
Obesity (320)
Organic (222)
Spirituality and Inspiration (288)
Stress Reduction (547)
Sustainable Community (242)
Vegetarian (307)
Vitamins and Supplements (283)
Women's Health (2097)
Work/Home Balance (198)

RESOURCES

Powered by Blogsmith

Featured Stories

Featured Galleries

Fitz's Fit Family Disney Vacation Day 1
Cooking with winter squash
The Great 8
Mad about Mo'Nique
Jennifer Hudson
Pink workout gear
Justin Timberlake
Sandra Bullock -- Nothing butt beautiful
Celebrity Fitzness Report: Travis McGriff
Black raspberry serving ideas
Green tomato rice ingredients are healthy
Top 7 fruits and veggies for juicing

Sponsored Links

Most Commented On (60 days)

Recent Comments


Aches, pains? Find out what your symptoms mean:

Sites We Love

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: