As I work out, I've started playing with my.....

liveinthemix

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

Tiana405

careful cause when I play on my 3ds on my stationary bike, I lose concentration and my intensity goes down...make sure you're keeping your rythm from time to time
also happens when I read a book

I've only done it once (yesterday) and I made sure that if I was gonna do it, that my intensity levels were up and the same as when I'm not doing it. It was a promise I made to myself... "if you don't workout as hard as you usually do on here, then you cannot play!" seems to have gone well... but if I start slipping, then I'll just have to stop. ugh. :laugh:

Tiana405

funny, when I run on my treadmil I watch videos, but 90% of the time I end up not watching it at all, because I am too busy focusing on breathing, pushing it hard etc...
though if I was doing a slow kind of pace, maybe I would enjoy it more.

Anyway I'd rather do 40 mins full speed interval etc... than 75 while playing. I am kinda sure that I burn more in that 40 mins.

Then of course if you spend 3 hours playing, that's another story and it may very well be worth it

I would've done 2 hours, but I had to run errands. LOL! I understand what you're saying. If I'm in the mood to game more than get on my elliptical, might as well do both for a few hours! hahahahahaha!

Tiana405

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

I'll be watching that episode. ha! I guess I'll have to post my progress in 2 weeks and 30 days... see what happens. Not saying that my results will be everyones, but just to prove it to myself. I appreciate your support, by the way! Thank you!!!!

jecka31

I haven't played video games but I do have my treadmill in my living room so I watch TV. I found that I do more if I can "distract" myself from the cardio (I HATE CARDIO!!). As others have said, as long as you check base with your intensity, do what will keep you working out! I'm not coordinated enough to play games and run. I do like to play wii sports though to get in some movement! Keep having fun!

liveinthemix

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

I'll be watching that episode. ha! I guess I'll have to post my progress in 2 weeks and 30 days... see what happens. Not saying that my results will be everyones, but just to prove it to myself. I appreciate your support, by the way! Thank you!!!!

No problem!!

bcattoes

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

Very true!! I actually think Mythbusters would go for this.

Tiana405

I haven't played video games but I do have my treadmill in my living room so I watch TV. I found that I do more if I can "distract" myself from the cardio (I HATE CARDIO!!). As others have said, as long as you check base with your intensity, do what will keep you working out! I'm not coordinated enough to play games and run. I do like to play wii sports though to get in some movement! Keep having fun!

Thank you! I will as long as I get the same intensity and some results! If not, then I won't continue it.... but for now.... GAME ON!

Keep up your good work, too! Cardio can really be a pain in the donkey.

Tiana405

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

Very true!! I actually think Mythbusters would go for this.

That would be awesome if they did!

liveinthemix

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

Very true!! I actually think Mythbusters would go for this.

Aaaand it's been submitted!!

Am I allowed to link the submission here? Or will I get banned?

Tiana405

I feel that saying "you're doing it wrong".. wrong being the operative word here, is just plain off base.. if you're moving more, getting your HR up more for a sustained period of time (and in this case, even longer than the person normally would) , then that's not exercising wrong. I guess it's "wrong" for someone to jog at 3mph when they could actually be pushing it at 5 mph? Should we hang up listening to music while exercising too..? cuz you're gonna be paying attention to the music in some form, and that's gonna distract from 100% effort of your work out....

I'm gonna submit this to mythbusters.

Very true!! I actually think Mythbusters would go for this.

Aaaand it's been submitted!!

Am I allowed to link the submission here? Or will I get banned?

AWESOME! Hmm... not sure about that, but if they do it, let me know when it's on!!!!

ahamm002

I gotta disagree w/that.. It's not like he was knitting or something.. if he's raising his heart rate more than his resting BPM for a sustained amount of time - how does that constitute not working out? Maybe not working out as hard as he possibly could, but it's still working out right?

from my experience, you show me people playing video games and reading magazines while "working out" and inevitably they will be skinny fat or overweight

While it's true that the above workout is sub-optimal, that doesn't mean it's not beneficial. In fact, there was an article in the NYTimes a couple years ago about a guy who lost over 100 lbs just by walking on a treadmill at like 2.5 mph while he played World of Warcraft!

I have an old xbox 360 set up in front of my treadmill at home. Some evenings on off days I'll walk at a 2-3% incline while playing a game. It's a great way to burn some extra calories, although I have nearly fell off several times.

ahamm002

So you're saying my treadmill and WOW would be a good combo then?! :laugh:

Hey that's what worked for the guy in the NYTimes article I read. I can't find the times article now, but here is a link to it on another website: http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/15-minutes-of-fame-lean-and-mean-with-wow/

That said, WoW is probably what caused the guy to gain all that weight in the first place. Ditching WoW alltogether would be a much better alternative if you want to lose weight.

Tiana405

I gotta disagree w/that.. It's not like he was knitting or something.. if he's raising his heart rate more than his resting BPM for a sustained amount of time - how does that constitute not working out? Maybe not working out as hard as he possibly could, but it's still working out right?

from my experience, you show me people playing video games and reading magazines while "working out" and inevitably they will be skinny fat or overweight

While it's true that the above workout is sub-optimal, that doesn't mean it's not beneficial. In fact, there was an article in the NYTimes a couple years ago about a guy who lost over 100 lbs just by walking on a treadmill at like 2.5 mph while he played World of Warcraft!

I have an old xbox 360 set up in front of my treadmill at home. Some evenings on off days I'll walk at a 2-3% incline while playing a game. It's a great way to burn some extra calories, although I have nearly fell off several times.

OH WOW! That's awesome!!!! This workout was definitely beneficial to me. I was sweating like no other and had a great burn! Calve, thighs and glutes were on FIRE! I don't agree with it being the "wrong" way to workout... just different in how others may approach it. Working out can be fun and I have found out how I can make it fun! Glad you do it to! Did you still get a burn? See many results?

Tiana405

So you're saying my treadmill and WOW would be a good combo then?! :laugh:

Hey that's what worked for the guy in the NYTimes article I read. I can't find the times article now, but here is a link to it on another website: http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/15-minutes-of-fame-lean-and-mean-with-wow/

That said, WoW is probably what caused the guy to gain all that weight in the first place. Ditching WoW alltogether would be a much better alternative if you want to lose weight.

did you ever see the South Park episode where they were playing WoW? Oh man... lmfao!

tseecka

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

caseyp1122

It's actually a proven fact that when you do other things besides concentrating on your work out (read, play video games, watch t.v.) you're cheating yourself and not giving the effort you should be but I guess an hour on the elliptical burning some calories is better than none.

caseyp1122

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

Was this a serious post?

Tiana405

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

LOVE THIS POST! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

tseecka

Was this a serious post?

Why wouldn't it be?

Tiana405

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

Was this a serious post?

Was this a serious post as well? We are ALL entitled to our own opinions... INCLUDING FITNESS. You feel that distractions cheat you out of a more intense workout, but I, personally, have a problem with doing cardio... it's not my strong suit... so, I found a way to do it, for an extensive period of time, burning calories, WHICH IS ALL I WANT CARDIO TO DO FOR ME. I respect your opinion, but this website is to support each other on our journeys and not criticize each other for our fitness styles, levels, etc.

stormy213

There are certainly those who look like they are barely working up a sweat as they gaze down at their books, mags, or whatever, but I have to say that I am able to maintain an 8.0 mph pace on the TM while reading my book. This is much faster than my road pace (6.5 mph), I maintain it much longer because the book keeps my mind off of how much time I've been running, and I can honestly say I pushed myself.

tifftaffy

So you're saying my treadmill and WOW would be a good combo then?! :laugh:

Hey that's what worked for the guy in the NYTimes article I read. I can't find the times article now, but here is a link to it on another website: http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/15-minutes-of-fame-lean-and-mean-with-wow/

That said, WoW is probably what caused the guy to gain all that weight in the first place. Ditching WoW alltogether would be a much better alternative if you want to lose weight.

Hilarious article, love it!

tseecka

There are certainly those who look like they are barely working up a sweat as they gaze down at their books, mags, or whatever, but I have to say that I am able to maintain an 8.0 mph pace on the TM while reading my book. This is much faster than my road pace (6.5 mph), I maintain it much longer because the book keeps my mind off of how much time I've been running, and I can honestly say I pushed myself.

This is an important point. If I'm getting really into whatever else I'm doing while I'm running, I find I don't notice my legs getting sore because I'm not paying attention to them and I'm not fooling myself by thinking, "Oh man, I've been running for half an hour, shouldn't my calves be seizing up by now...?" Because without fail, thinking that way will ALWAYS cause my calves to immediately feel like they're on fire. I can keep up a better pace BECAUSE my mind is elsewhere, not in spite of it.

If I'm working out while actively engaged in another activity like reading, watching, or gaming, I'm not paying attention to when I "think" I should stop (based on time or on how long I was able to go for previously)...I'm much more likely to keep going until my legs are wet noodles. I'm not good at pushing myself, so I'll stop at the first discomfort if I'm not distracted, but I always feel like sh** afterwards, knowing I SHOULD have pushed harder. Distracting myself allows me to do that.

Tiana405

There are certainly those who look like they are barely working up a sweat as they gaze down at their books, mags, or whatever, but I have to say that I am able to maintain an 8.0 mph pace on the TM while reading my book. This is much faster than my road pace (6.5 mph), I maintain it much longer because the book keeps my mind off of how much time I've been running, and I can honestly say I pushed myself.

AMEN!

PippaJo_

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

Thank you! There needs to be a *like* button. :-)






Man, some people really live with a stick up their (4% body fat) rears, don't they? THAT'S NOT EVERYONE'S GOAL, BRAINIAC. NOR SHOULD IT BE.

You want to? Great. Have at it. But stop denigrating someone else for not doing it exactly as you would - because your goals are DIFFERENT.

Apparently that's a difficult concept for you.

Tiana405

There are certainly those who look like they are barely working up a sweat as they gaze down at their books, mags, or whatever, but I have to say that I am able to maintain an 8.0 mph pace on the TM while reading my book. This is much faster than my road pace (6.5 mph), I maintain it much longer because the book keeps my mind off of how much time I've been running, and I can honestly say I pushed myself.

This is an important point. If I'm getting really into whatever else I'm doing while I'm running, I find I don't notice my legs getting sore because I'm not paying attention to them and I'm not fooling myself by thinking, "Oh man, I've been running for half an hour, shouldn't my calves be seizing up by now...?" Because without fail, thinking that way will ALWAYS cause my calves to immediately feel like they're on fire. I can keep up a better pace BECAUSE my mind is elsewhere, not in spite of it.

If I'm working out while actively engaged in another activity like reading, watching, or gaming, I'm not paying attention to when I "think" I should stop (based on time or on how long I was able to go for previously)...I'm much more likely to keep going until my legs are wet noodles. I'm not good at pushing myself, so I'll stop at the first discomfort if I'm not distracted, but I always feel like sh** afterwards, knowing I SHOULD have pushed harder. Distracting myself allows me to do that.

Same here! Trying it out for the first time yesterday... after an hour of gaming and ellipticizing (tee-hee) my legs felt AWESOMELY worked out. My breathing was intense, calories were burned, stomach, back, and legs were all tingly! I haven't felt that way before, b/c I wasn't able to go for longer than 30 minutes! This was the greatest distraction EVER! Being a gamer, doesn't mean you HAVE to just do it when sitting on the couch and eating a bag of doritos, drinking a case of soda, and having zit cream all over your face. This was the most enjoyable time I've had working out in LONG time and it was fanTAStic! (said like Nacho Libre) It may not be for everyone, but I don't wanna listen to pantera throughout my entire workout. I'd rather be happy than angry when I get my burn on. LOL!

PippaJo_

Didn't you miss the arm part of the workout on the eliptical though? Maybe all elipticals are not the same, but on mine I would definitely have to go much slower if I didn't use my arms (if I could do it at all). Of course, I don't know how fast or hard you normally go. I could see playing a game while walking on a treadmill maybe, and watching TV doesn't use your hands so you could pretty much do that while doing any exercise. But it seems to me that playing a game while on an eliptical would have to lessen the workout a bit because when done properly the eliptical should engage your arms.

No, they're not all the same. I prefer the Precors in my gym, which don't have moving parts for the arms at all. In fact, I wish more home models would forget the arms - I hate to have those things waving in my face when all I want to do is get a good lower-body burn going on. (Also, I think that too often, those things move your arms *for* you, because they're attached to the foot pedals which are already moving. I'd rather move my arms on my own when I want to. Having it set to exactly the same motion as my feet throws me off.)

ahamm002

OH WOW! That's awesome!!!! This workout was definitely beneficial to me. I was sweating like no other and had a great burn! Calve, thighs and glutes were on FIRE! I don't agree with it being the "wrong" way to workout... just different in how others may approach it. Working out can be fun and I have found out how I can make it fun! Glad you do it to! Did you still get a burn? See many results?

My legs can get pretty tired after walking at an incline for awhile It's a great way to burn extra calories and avoid all the negative health consequences of sitting down on a couch while playing video games. However, I would still recomend doing other types of exercise as well. Most people benefit from varying their workouts, and by adding in some high intensity intervals.

Tiana405

Just to point out--people who are saying that this is "doing it wrong" are people who do cardio to increase their cardiovascular fitness. In those cases, your heart rate needs to be up, you need to be doing interval training, etc. But it seems to me (and I may be off base here, this is based on high school science which was rather a long time ago) that the amount of energy used to travel a certain distance is a constant; what differs is the rate of use.

So walking 5 miles and running 5 miles will burn an equal, or close to equal, number of calories...it's just that in one case it may take you an hour and in the other case it will take you half an hour. You will acheive the same caloric burn, but you do it more efficiently while running. (There may be a slight difference but I'm fairly certain it's inconsequential). And of course, running has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular efficiency, which lower intensity cardio like walking do not.

So to apply that to the elliptical. You're not actually going anywhere, but you are moving, and there is a rough estimation of a "distance" you've travelled based on stride length and speed. Doing 30 minutes at a high intensity can be approximated to about the same as doing an hour at a lower intensity; if you're doing the same intensity, as the OP believes she was, for a longer time, your caloric burn is higher, and even if you are sufficiently distracted to lower your intensity/speed, you're likely to be burning the same amount as you normally would doing less time at the higher speed because of the extra time (so, you're burning the same, just less efficiently).

If your goals include increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness, fine; you need to be concentrating on maintaining a high intensity workout and yes, it's difficult to do that while distracted by electronics. But if you are just trying to lose weight by burning calories, there is nothing wrong with making your workouts "fun".

**NB to those people who are saying that gaming while working out is "Working against a lifestyle change"--in what book is it written that you ABSOLUTLEY CANNOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES in order to be healthy?! Just like food, your pasttimes and activities should be included under the concept of "everything in moderation". Video games and TV watching get a bad rap because they're associated with laziness and obesity, but there is nothing intrinsic about those forms of entertainment that is going to lead you straight to obesity. I notice people never blame books or knitting for the North American obseity epidemic, but those are two activities that require just as much sitting on your a** and just as little physical activity as gaming does.

People who sit in front of their PC 18 hours a day playing WoW are not the same as people who enjoy sitting down to play a few hours of Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, or CoD on a Friday evening after getting home from the gym, and I really wish people would stop saying that you must eliminate gaming from your life in order to make a healthy lifestyle change. If you can find a way to work your hobbies into your workouts, all the power to you.

Thank you! There needs to be a *like* button. :-)






Man, some people really live with a stick up their (4% body fat) rears, don't they? THAT'S NOT EVERYONE'S GOAL, BRAINIAC. NOR SHOULD IT BE.

You want to? Great. Have at it. But stop denigrating someone else for not doing it exactly as you would - because your goals are DIFFERENT.

Apparently that's a difficult concept for you.

Super like! I feel that some people forget what it's like to be out of shape, overweight, etc. They take the fat and weight they've lost and build a box that fits around their heads and live in it. I wish everyone were understanding and supportive. This is "MYFITNESSPAL.COM" not "I-USED-TO-BE-FAT-BUT-LOST-WEIGHT-AND-NOW-I'M-ONLY-PALS-WITH-SKINNY-KIDS.COM"