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

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 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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.