• Store
  • Home
  • Discord
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
Green Man Gaming Blog
Green Man Gaming Blog
  • Store
  • Home
  • Discord
Home
Articles
Features

How to Keep Fit as a Gamer

September 18th, 2019 Jordan Oloman Features

Share

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr
How to Keep Fit as a Gamer

Gaming and fitness are two entities that have never really gone hand in hand. As your parents have most likely told you, sitting in a hovel playing games all day is no comparison to some good old fashioned fresh air. Well, I’m here to tell you that things have changed. As game developers have gotten wise to this problem (and probably received plenty of lobbying from health organisations) there has been a swathe of fitness games, with the recent advent of VR turning gaming into a viable means of getting your daily workout in.

Beat Saber

The key to a good fitness game is making something that is both popular and fun and doesn’t feel like you’re actually exercising. Beat Saber ticks all three of these boxes, and is a surprisingly good workout, especially on the higher difficulty levels. Who knew thrashing your arms like a flailing fish would sweat you out? Add the ducking and weaving to pop, emo and trance and you’ve got a potent fitness game.   The addition of custom songs means that you can easily get lost in a playlist of your favourite tracks, and before you know it, you’ll be steaming up your goggles.

Fitness Boxing 

If you don’t have a VR headset but a Nintendo Switch is on-hand, this unsung gem is well worth picking up. Using the Joy-Cons you blissfully punch the air to a variety of modern tunes. It doesn’t quite have the force feedback of a punching bag, but the haptic rumble built into each Joy-Con does a good job of making you feel like you’re actually working out, and it’s easy to get into without the slog of donning a heavy plastic headset. Also unlike VR, you can take it anywhere you wish. 

Fitness Breaks 

Whilst not explicitly fitness games, you can turn most RPGs, looter shooters and sports games into healthy activities if you switch up your approach. Finished a raid in WoW Classic? That’s 20 sit-ups, rookie. Wrap up a game of Ultimate Team? Hit the free weights for a session. If you incentivize your own fitness by splicing it in between systemic games and battle royale, you can turn these quick-fire games of the moment into training sessions that work within the chaos of a modern schedule.

The Future

If you’re still putting off that revelatory fitness drive, don’t worry about it too much, as the future of fitness gaming looks very bright. Nintendo is leading the pack with games like Ring Fit Adventure, the recently announced hula hoop peripheral title that involves all kinds of locomotion, and that’s without hearing about what’s next for Wii Sports on the Switch.

Beyond that, the Oculus Quest, a wires-free VR headset was recently announced, which unlocks the potential for HMD-led fitness on the move. Games like Audica from Rock Band developers Harmonix and BoxVR are developing the field of music-led fitness titles, and with next-generation consoles around the corner and most likely new headsets arriving in tandem (especially in Sony’s case) hopefully developers will see that fitness games in VR are a hot ticket, a worthwhile endeavour that are dominating the charts right now and helping people lose weight whilst enjoying their favourite hobby.

  • Tags
  • Gaming Lifestyle
  • Main

Share

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr
Previous article Mojang turns to UK developer Double Eleven for Minecraft Dungeons
Next article Top 5 Critically Acclaimed Games
Jordan Oloman

Jordan Oloman

News writer and editor, seen on IGN, Quillstreak, Kotaku, Playboy, VG247, PCGamesN and more!

Related Posts

GTFO Everything you need to know - Updated

GTFO Everything you need to know - Updated

September 26th, 2023
The Best Indie Stealth Games

The Best Indie Stealth Games

September 20th, 2023
The Best Indie FPS Games

The Best Indie FPS Games

September 20th, 2023
Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech

Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech

September 20th, 2023
Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

September 20th, 2023
Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

September 20th, 2023
Latest Articles
GTFO Everything you need to know - Updated
Articles

GTFO Everything you need to know - Updated

0
The Best Indie Stealth Games
Articles

The Best Indie Stealth Games

0
The Best Indie FPS Games
Articles

The Best Indie FPS Games

0
Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech
Articles

Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech

0
Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes
Articles

Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

0
Timeline
Sep 26th 4:50 PM
Articles

GTFO Everything you need to know – Updated

Sep 20th 4:49 PM
Articles

The Best Indie Stealth Games

Sep 20th 4:47 PM
Articles

The Best Indie FPS Games

Sep 20th 4:44 PM
Articles

Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you’re a frog on a mech

Sep 20th 4:43 PM
Articles

Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

Sep 20th 4:41 PM
Articles

Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

Aug 31st 4:06 PM
Articles

Indie Game Roundup – September 2023

Aug 31st 4:05 PM
Articles

All Robocop Games Ranked

Archive
About us…
GET TO KNOW US

About Us

Careers

Refund Policy

Help & Support

Terms and Conditions

Need our help?

Open a web ticket to contact our Customer Support team. We’re here to help!

Copyright © 2022 Green Man Gaming Blog All Right Reserved