Exergaming: The best fitness and exercise video games to get fit and lose weight
Need a new source of motivation for your next sweat session? Enter exergaming, the high-tech way to optimise any workout.
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
Technology is forever surprising us with a constant stream of new gadgets designed to help chase our fitness goals. From wearable devices to the latest treadmill invention that tracks just about everything, we’ve come a very long way from Jane Fonda’s iconic follow-along-at-home VHS tape workouts.
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
Just last year, it was reported that the sale of smart watches in Australia is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of almost 15 per cent between 2022 and 2026 – a dead giveaway that we’re openly embracing innovation when it comes to scoring workout wins.
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
But what if technology was to go back in time? Think back to the days when your morning workout was set in the living room (Jane Fonda, optional). Popular ’90s video games like Dance Dance Revolution and Nintendo’s Power Pad were two of the first dubbed ‘exergames’ for the way they encouraged physical activity in a game-like scenario. Insanely popular, they were among the earliest examples of facilitating an entire exercise workout without the user realising that they were, in fact, working out.
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
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Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
While the gaming boom of the past decade has certainly contributed to a rise in sedentary living for many die-hards, niche parts of the industry, such as those that promote the gamification of exercise, have persisted. Now, it’s one of the fastest-growing areas for digital offers, and is attracting a completely new, non-gamer customer base.
Exergaming: The Best Fitness And Exercise Video Games To Get Fit And Lose Weight
“The uptake [of workout products on gaming platforms] has been high, especially in people who would typically find exercise boring, because it engages people emotionally,” confirms Hayden Thin, founder of Melbourne gym, Club Forma. “It does this by acting on the reward pathways of the brain, engaging areas responsible for goal-oriented behaviour by increasing the level of neurotransmitters associated with reward and excitability, such as dopamine.”
It’s not just for at-home workouts, either. Exergaming is…
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