Play WoW AND get in shape!

[Soukyan]

Okay, I read about this the other day and the guy who did it finally set up a blog with some pictures.

Apparently Sporticus (his clever new blog moniker) wanted to get in shape but couldn't kick the nightly World of Warcraft habit. Solution? Attach the PC to the treadmill. Voila!

http://fitgamer.blogspot.com/

[Paelos]

Catass your way to weight loss?

[Shockeye]

Catass your way to weight loss?

I smell infomercial.

[Soukyan]

Seriously. I first spotted the info over on Dubious Quality, where the letter that was sent in was posted.

Evil Genius Special Achievement Award

I am in absolute awe. A long-time DQ reader who prefers that his name not be used sent me this story:

I decided that my girth was getting a bit much and that it was time to get in shape. I tried going to the gym, but at the end of a long day it was just to difficult to go home, pack up, then head back out to the gym (since there aren’t any near my home, and I take my daughter swimming most of the time too). I was also spending a great deal of time playing WOW and doing some other computer related things.

My solution was I went shopping for a treadmill, with the idea that I would need a relatively flat console for it. With a little woodworking skill I was to set up a removable platform for a mouse and keyboard and then mount my computer monitor and CPU on an adjustable shelving unit in front of it. I started walking about 2.5 miles per hour while playing last Thursday. I’m now up to 3.1 miles per hour. Result: I’ve walked a little over 42 miles playing WOW (I might add I had last week and Monday off). My goal is that I would like to walk at 3.5 miles per hour at about a 5 degree incline. If I get in 2 hours of play per day that would mean approximately 800 calories I would be burning per day while playing WOW. I have proposed to my wife that giving up sleep for gameplaying IS stupid, but that giving up sleep for exercise is at least somewhat healthy. I’m sure I’ll pay for this as no spouse likes losing an argument, but hey, the score on this issue so far is 1-0.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. Two years from now at the 1st annual WOWfest, I’ll still be pasty, but I’ll probably be the only one that is in shape.

I don’t think you could use the setup for a shooter but for an RPG or MMORPG I think it would work fine for any of them.

I figure I can walk 50 miles a week easy while making level 60 in about another month.

I've often thought about playing Xbox while I walked on the treadmill, but since I'm basically Don Knotts with a smaller Adam's Apple, I'd break every bone in my body within five minutes of starting that workout plan.

So like I said, I don't know if WOW is Game of the Year, but this is DEFINITELY the Gamer of the Year.

http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/2005/01/evil-genius-special-achievement-award.html

[toma levine]

First lame "treadmill" jokester gets a boot in the ass.

[Nebu]

First lame "treadmill" jokester gets a boot in the ass.

This joke tells itself...

[HaemishM]

I don’t think you could use the setup for a shooter but for an RPG or MMORPG I think it would work fine for any of them.

That pretty much says all there needs to be said about the level of interactivity in MMOG's.

[WayAbvPar]

I would love to set something like this up- it would work for Xbox games too, as long as you were going slow enough to still see the screen.  It is a great multi-tasker.

Now, if only I weren't so lazy, I would try to get something like this put together =P

[Dark Vengeance]

I have a way you can play WoW (or any other MMOG) and get in shape:

1) Load up your chosen MMOG
2) Login
3) Every time the game sucks, logoff and go run a mile
4) Resume playing, repeating steps 1-3 as appropriate
5) Drink water as needed but do not eat until at least 3 hours after running

Given the state of the MMOG genre, you'll be ready for the Boston marathon before you hit level 40.

Bring the noise.
Cheers............

[schild]

Catass your way to weight loss?

I smell infomercial.

I hear there's a late night spot that's open now. Some Basedow guy just up and disappeared.

[stray]

Catass your way to weight loss?

I smell infomercial.

I hear there's a late night spot that's open now. Some Basedow guy just up and disappeared.

Lmao, I was going to use that but...

EDIT: Damn, I'm still laughing. Fucking cold, man.

[Krakrok]

I did this with an eloton SimCycle. The SimCycle acts like a joystick throttle so you have to pedal to move forward. I hacked togather a joystick->keyboard converter and used it in DAOC. Suffice to say it worked like crap because you couldn't go backwards and going forwards was jerky. I never got the joystick->keyboard converter to hold down the virtual UP arrow key correctly for smooth movement.

The only other game I remember trying it with was Pod Racer and it actually worked pretty well for that. By the end of the podrace you were fucking dead. If you slowed down during the race your pod would slow down and you would lose. It did make for some interesting handbrake+gliding turns though.

It also plays weird tricks with your motorskills. Think of it as like trying to move your hands in a circle in opposite directions in front of your face (try it). Except you're trying to pedal and move the mouse at the same time.


Suffice to say it was easier (better?) to NOT multitask. Play the game and then ride the bike. Don't do both at the same time.

Edit: spelling.

[SurfD]

I have a way you can play WoW (or any other MMOG) and get in shape:

1) Load up your chosen MMOG
2) Login
3) Every time the game sucks, logoff and go run a mile
4) Resume playing, repeating steps 1-3 as appropriate
5) Drink water as needed but do not eat until at least 3 hours after running

Given the state of the MMOG genre, you'll be ready for the Boston marathon before you hit level 40.

Bring the noise.
Cheers............

Step 5 could be a problem there, seeing as how most people are so addictid to their MMOG that they would spend SOO much time looping through steps 3 and 4, that they would NEVER be away from the MMOG long enough to actually do the eat part of step 5, and would simply starve to death.
.
.
.
Perhaps this isnt such a bad idea after all.

[stray]

I can't believe no one but me commented on the Basedow thing. Do you people not know who Basedow is? He's either much loved or much hated, but never ignored. You should either be laughing at schild's joke, or chiding him for it.

[Shockeye]

I can't believe no one but me commented on the Basedow thing. Do you people not know who Basedow is? He's either much loved or much hated, but never ignored. You should either be laughing at schild's joke, or chiding him for it.

It was funny and it was tasteless. Basedow was also a "fitness celebrity" and as such does not count as a real person so much as a steroid-popping construct.

[schild]

Did someone say construct?

[geldonyetich]

Ah Bioware and Planescape: Torment.   Lost, but not forgotten.

I've definately thought about hooking up an exercise mechanism to my computer more than once.  I weigh 225ish - nor morbidly obese but a good 35 lbs above my ideal weight.  Maybe in the far flung future you can get your brain put in a jar to cut out the body entirely for maintenance free gaming, but in the meanwhile we've got a body that needs exercise whether we like it or not.   The idea of a exercise mechanism attached to the computer sounds good - the body needs the exercise, the mind needs the mental stimulation.   Put those two together and you've a recipe to be superman.    

The actual execution, however, is a PITA.  You can't easily put together something like that on your own.   There's a certain matter of balance and needing your hands free and able to comfortably reach the keyboard that immediately disqualifies most exercise equipment.  A Treadmill is the best I came up with, and it turns out those things are really too big and bulky to get in front of a computer.

Some products have been introduced lately with this in mind.   I'm sure we brought up Powergrid Fitness before, probably last time we were watching E3 coverage.   The next time I have a thousand dollars laying around to spend, I might just go for that.   (After all, I spent $1000 on this nordictrack I've got in the garage.     I hope powergrid allows installment payments.)

[stray]

Jesus Christ, I thought this thread was a joke.

Take a fucking walk people.

It isn't hard.

[geldonyetich]

That's doable, but it comes down to the same problem you have with exercise in general: Who has the time?  Simply taking a walk takes time and isn't all that mentally stimulating.   Running down to the garage and running on the treadmill for half an hour three times a week is probably why I lost 5 lbs lately, but it ends up costing me an hour of time I'd rather spend annoying you fine fellows.  

Take nearly anyone besides me and you can factor a job and family into that.   It then comes down to a matter of them having to make a choice:   Assign themselves more work in the form of physical exercise or get some play at all during the day?   For many it's a matter of priority: they figure they've got better things to do than exercise... right up until their first heart attack.  

Yet, I can't argue that there isn't a definate improvement in quality of life all around if you take the time to exercise.   I'm not going to argue it's really time wasted, so much as it may FEEL like time wasted to somebody whose already mired down in a daily routine.   The increased energy alone will probably create time.

[Trippy]

I can't believe no one but me commented on the Basedow thing. Do you people not know who Basedow is? He's either much loved or much hated, but never ignored. You should either be laughing at schild's joke, or chiding him for it.

I didn't know who he was until this thread but I don't have cable so I haven't seen any of his infomercials.

[CmdrSlack]

Take nearly anyone besides me and you can factor a job and family into that.   It then comes down to a matter of them having to make a choice:   Assign themselves more work in the form of physical exercise or get some play at all during the day?   For many it's a matter of priority: they figure they've got better things to do than exercise... right up until their first heart attack.  

That's why you need to get in the mindset that exercise = fun.

[schild]

Take nearly anyone besides me and you can factor a job and family into that.   It then comes down to a matter of them having to make a choice:   Assign themselves more work in the form of physical exercise or get some play at all during the day?   For many it's a matter of priority: they figure they've got better things to do than exercise... right up until their first heart attack.  

That's why you need to get in the mindset that exercise = fun.

Like blowing holes in my scrotum with a nailgun.

If I can convince myself exercising is fun, I can convince myself Horizons or some equally shitty game is fun. I don't want to go down that road.

[Soukyan]

Jesus Christ, I thought this thread was a joke.

Take a fucking walk people.

It isn't hard.

No. It was serious in a "how much of a gaming addict is this guy" kind of way. Myself, I prefer to do yoga everyday and sometimes run in the warmer months of Pennsylvania. I'm also going to check out Yourself! Fitness just for shits and giggles. Looks like a pretty neat "game".

[MrHat]

Jesus Christ, I thought this thread was a joke.

Take a fucking walk people.

It isn't hard.

No. It was serious in a "how much of a gaming addict is this guy" kind of way. Myself, I prefer to do yoga everyday and sometimes run in the warmer months of Pennsylvania. I'm also going to check out Yourself! Fitness just for shits and giggles. Looks like a pretty neat "game".

Let us know.  Personally, I've been rolling an idea around in my mind of a system that adjust the speed of a treadmill w/ regard to what you're doing in a game.  Could also work for resistance on a stairmaster, or perhaps one of those crazy shocky things.

[stray]

That's why you need to get in the mindset that exercise = fun.

Like blowing holes in my scrotum with a nailgun.

If I can convince myself exercising is fun, I can convince myself Horizons or some equally shitty game is fun. I don't want to go down that road.

C'mon now...Didn't you ride a bike as kid? Or skate? Didn't you ever play sports or go to a Karate class? There's bound to be something "athletic" that you wouldn't qualify as boring.

Either way, it shouldn't really matter. Whether it's fun or not shouldn't be top priority. Human beings are built to move. It's necessary. Stop trying to find ways for the excercise to cater to you. You have to cater yourself to the excercise, or else it will never work.

[Murgos]

Hiking, to me, is fun; I can put in 20 miles and hardly notice it.  But then again I run every day too and I think that's, maybe not fun, but certainly a more enjoyable activity than watching sit-coms or reality TV.

Martial Arts can be very fun but it can take a lot of time and commitment, hence I haven't really practiced it for 8 years.  Fencing, when I was doing that, was a blast and actually a reasonably good additional work out.  I'm seriously considering picking it up once or twice a week again.

I can even get into those stupid rowing machines with the game on them.  Where you have to out row the shark or beat the other guy.  Good stuff.

[CmdrSlack]

Take nearly anyone besides me and you can factor a job and family into that.   It then comes down to a matter of them having to make a choice:   Assign themselves more work in the form of physical exercise or get some play at all during the day?   For many it's a matter of priority: they figure they've got better things to do than exercise... right up until their first heart attack.  

That's why you need to get in the mindset that exercise = fun.

Like blowing holes in my scrotum with a nailgun.

If I can convince myself exercising is fun, I can convince myself Horizons or some equally shitty game is fun. I don't want to go down that road.

Not all exercise is pushups and situps man.  Gym class couldn't have scarred you that bad, could it?

[Arnold]

The idea of a exercise mechanism attached to the computer sounds good - the body needs the exercise, the mind needs the mental stimulation.   Put those two together and you've a recipe to be superman.

Not at all.  To become a physical "superman", your mind has to be focused on the physical activity at hand and you have to do resistance work.  Doing what this guy is attempting will just burn calories.  He might end up being a weak, skinny geek instead of a weak, fat geek, but in the end, he'll still be a weak geek and no "superman".

[Arnold]

That's doable, but it comes down to the same problem you have with exercise in general: Who has the time?  Simply taking a walk takes time and isn't all that mentally stimulating.

What the fuck?  On days when I'm not lifting weights, I often go for an hour long walk along the river, which is a few blocks from my house.  It's a very nice activity.  I burn some calories, I get out in nature, and I leave behind the sounds of the city.  My mind is, actually, stimuated the whole time.  It gives me an hour of quiet time to reflect what is going on and plan some things out.  The experience is very refreshing.

Take nearly anyone besides me and you can factor a job and family into that.   It then comes down to a matter of them having to make a choice:   Assign themselves more work in the form of physical exercise or get some play at all during the day?   For many it's a matter of priority: they figure they've got better things to do than exercise... right up until their first heart attack.

If you watch any television on a regular basis, you have no excuse for not exercising, especially because of "lack of time".

Yet, I can't argue that there isn't a definate improvement in quality of life all around if you take the time to exercise.   I'm not going to argue it's really time wasted, so much as it may FEEL like time wasted to somebody whose already mired down in a daily routine.   The increased energy alone will probably create time.

Ya think?  If you only consider exercise sitting on a treadmill for 30+ minutes, I can understand why you dread it.  I look forward to my exercise time; I relish it.  I fucking hate people who don't - people who waste my time by sitting on benches/equipment while watching TV, or chatting with others, or chatting on cell phones, or just "resting".  My time in the gym is sacred, and it really is my time.  

I work with people 10+ years my younger who whine about aches and pains all the time.  They will also have to take all sorts of breaks during their work, whereas I am comfortable and usually take none.

[geldonyetich]

If that works for you Arnold, that's great, but not all of us have the personal identity that's comfortable with really mentally "moving into" the gym routine.   Not all of us really want to bulked up so much as simply to be healthy - the skinny geek idea works, being all muscle-bound just doesn't match everyone's self-image.   Going down to the gym and using those facilities, factoring in travel time and whatnot, costs an extra hour (your milage may vary depending on your distance from the gym).   That kind of time investment is out of the acceptable limits of people whose self-image is fixated elsewhere, jobs and familys largely factoring into that.

To say that self-images are all adjustable and everybody can take to exercising is like saying that a specific game is fun for everybody.   Different strokes (no pun intended) for different folks.

I will agree with you that turning off the TV - or multitasking TV watching with exercise - is a great way to produce time.  However, again, some people live for the TV.  The same could be said for gaming.    So, combine gaming with exercise and we're actually agreeing with the topic origin here.

[Boogaleeboo]

Translation: You are a fat, lazy bastard.

[daveNYC]

If that works for you Arnold, that's great, but not all of us have the personal identity that's comfortable with really mentally "moving into" the gym routine.

What the fuck are you talking about?  You either want to get in shape, or you don't.  You make time for what's important.

I spent the last year thinking I wanted to get in shape and not doing anything about it.  Now I've got stuff coming up in the next six months that requires being in pretty good shape, so I'm going to the gym.

On a side note, my leg strength has gone down the crapper.  Really down the crapper.  Any suggestions?  Any opinions about weight vests?

[CmdrSlack]

If it's doable, bike to and from the gym.  I did 14 miles a day this summer while studying for the bar (round trip to/from class) and it made a big difference.  I'm not sure if it's because I know how to use the gears well or because real bike > gym machine.

[geldonyetich]

Translation: You are a fat, lazy bastard.

Replying to trolls, now that's bad for one's health.

But yes, astute observation.

I confess, I like gaming a lot more than exercise, but exercise gots to be done if I want to, you know, live.

[Krakrok]

1200 calories a day; live to 180; for teh win.