Exercise Chart For Gaming

[Singletap]

Hello Escapist Community

My goal in life is to become a pro-gamer, I also have problems with my weight, so to help kill two birds with one stone as some people say, I will be punishing myself for bad play by exercising. To do this properly I am making a chart that I will be hanging up behind me when I live stream. If you have any ideas I would love to get them down.

The two games I play competitivly are League of Legends and Starcraft 2. If you have can provide any idea for either game specifically, or both of them together, that would be greatly appreciated. This is what I have at the moment.


Gaming P=E Chart (Rough Draft)

? Losing Consecutive Games = 10 inside Exercises per Consecutive loss reset at 5
? Throwing a Game = 10 Inside Exercises

 

[The Goat Tsar]

I'm not sure if using exercise as a punishment is the right way to go about this. Personally, I've found that the best way to lose weight is to make exercise part of your daily routine. Eventually exercise will be as automatic as brushing your teeth and will no longer be punishment.

If you do wish to tie it to video games, however, then I suggest you use video games as a reward instead of using exercise as a punishment. So after working out for "X" amount of time, you get to play video games for "Y" hours. After getting your ass kicked in Starcraft 2, I'm not sure that you'd want to compliment that with a tough work-out regimen.

And finally, if you still decide to stick to your original plan after my sagely advice, I would merely ask that you add some sort of outdoor exercise to your chart, even if it's just going for a walk.

Best of luck to you.

 

[purplecactus]

I'd agree that using exercise as a punishment may not work all that well. Surely wanting to do the exercise for one reason or another would yield better results? I reckon the exercise followed by game as reward is probably better. What I do for rainy days (which often turn into rainy weeks) is create some sort of structure with the two, you know, like say going for an hour long walk in the morning (not as bad as it sounds unless the rain is abysmally bad), gaming for a while, do some indoor exercises in the half hour before you eat lunch, and so on.

Just take it slow to begin with, whatever method you decide on, and be sure to build it up as you go along. Good luck.

 

[IndomitableSam]

Why not play a console-based game for a while? That way you san stand up and walk in place/use a treadmill/bike while playing. There are under desk pedals you can buy, too. Not sure what they're called, bt simply a set of pedals to put under a desk while you're working. Those could help. Also, sit on an exercise ball, not a chair (but do some research on the size of the ball needed and how long to use it for).

 

[EeveeElectro]

I echo what everyone else says, using exercise as a punishment for losing a game is wrong. You know you'll just subconsciously always try to win so you don't have to exercise and if you want to lose weight you can see why that wouldn't work.
I'd say invest in a Kinect, the sports games get you on your feet and moving and are fun.
If not, try an exercise bike or treadmill while watching TV or gaming. It'll be easier with a controller than a key board.

It's usually best to separate gaming from exercise so you don't get distracted and just park your bum down and play. Get an MP3 player and go for a brisk walk/jog/run in the park. Stick all your favourite music on it and some songs to keep your spirits up. Take a friend with you if you can.

Take up swimming. Go once a week, then twice a week, then whenever you have spare time.
Gyms are expensive, walking and jogging in the park is free though.

And of course watch what you eat. Make your own food so you know exactly what's going in it. There's no point in working out then sitting down with a bag of crisps and to play a game for the rest of the day.
Drink water/juice instead of fizzy crap, it'll give you more energy in the long run.

 

[keiskay]

Hello Escapist Community

My goal in life is to become a pro-gamer, I also have problems with my weight, so to help kill two birds with one stone as some people say, I will be punishing myself for bad play by exercising. To do this properly I am making a chart that I will be hanging up behind me when I live stream. If you have any ideas I would love to get them down.

The two games I play competitivly are League of Legends and Starcraft 2. If you have can provide any idea for either game specifically, or both of them together, that would be greatly appreciated. This is what I have at the moment.


Gaming P=E Chart (Rough Draft)

? Losing Consecutive Games = 10 inside Exercises per Consecutive loss reset at 5
? Throwing a Game = 10 Inside Exercises

some addendum's here.

* run for at least 30 minutes after starting and completing a session, on top of any exercises you might have accured for losing, the length of the session does not matter, so if you open up your game and close it right away you still gotta run.
* winning a game, do 20 sets of 10 of push ups, sit-ups, leg raises, or squats. and 20 sets of 20 for things like jumping jacks.
*if you win more then 1 game in a row double the workout for each win.

or you can just dedicate 2 hours out of say 3 or 5 days a week, to exercise and meal planning, things i would suggest to help speed up weight loss, eat less junk foods, as in no chips, or McDonalds. stop drinking soda and drink milk,water and natural juices. do at least thirty minutes of cardio everyday (running, swimming etc.).

 

[LetalisK]

Erm...how concerned about your weight are you? It matters. If you're really overweight, going too hard too fast will just beat you down psychologically and you'll end up quitting. Start out small and work your way up from there.

 

[Noetherian]

I'm not sure if using exercise as a punishment is the right way to go about this. Personally, I've found that the best way to lose weight is to make exercise part of your daily routine. Eventually exercise will be as automatic as brushing your teeth and will no longer be punishment.

This! If you're interested in making your workout "gamified," check out NerdFitness [http://www.nerdfitness.com]. I've been doing their Angry Birds Workout [http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/10/angry-birds-workout-plan/] for about two months now and have "leveled up" a few times. (And I dare say it shows.) Goal-setting and positive reinforcement go a long way towards fitness; thinking of exercise as punishment has thus far generally only made me try to avoid it.

 

[Batou667]

Hello Escapist Community

My goal in life is to become a pro-gamer, I also have problems with my weight, so to help kill two birds with one stone as some people say, I will be punishing myself for bad play by exercising. To do this properly I am making a chart that I will be hanging up behind me when I live stream. If you have any ideas I would love to get them down.

I think you're crazy on at least two counts, but as requested, here are some ideas. Either do the exercises on rotation, or to make it unpredictable you could use a random number generator or a pack of cards (take out the face cards).

Spoiler

 

[Keepitclean]

snip

If you want to lose weight you can exercise all you like but if you don't fix your diet you are wasting your time. Improving health and fitness it 70% diet and 30% routine.

To lose weight you must eat less calories than your body is using. You can find the amount by using the calculator in this link. A good amount to consume under that number is 500 calories. If you eat a deficit of 500cal a day you will lose fat at the rate of 1lb per week.

However, I'm going to assume you aren't an athlete or a bodybuilder. This will mean that you will have a relatively low amount of muscle mass. For losing weight this can be used to your advantage. You will be able to eat a greater deficit and not have to worry about muscle loss provided you eat enough protein.

1 - 1.5 g per lb of bodyweight should do it.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

Exercising will increase the amount of calories the body is burning. There are many ways to exercise but the most effective for weight loss is weightlifting. The amount of energy used in a proper weight training session will be far greater than that of some mundane cardio over the same time period. It may seem counter intuitive but it's the truth.

An excellent beginner's wieght training program is Starting Strength (SS). A version of it is in the link below. I prefer this version over the one with power cleans because if you have no one to coach you they can be difficult to do correctly. The power clean is quite a technical lift.

http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com.au/2006/12/rippetoes-starting-strength.html



If you are serious about losing weight don't make yourself associate exercise with punishment. This will be detrimental to your health in the long run and judging by your current attitude on the matter it probably already has had a negative effect.

Also, the bodyweight "routines" people are posting are very inefficient. It wouldn't be a bad idea to incorporate them into some kind of cardio work out to supplement your lifting. You will only need to lift about 3 hours a week and cardio as much as you like. Once you know what you are doing it won't eat into gaming time much at all.

If you have any questions I'd be glad to help.