Can you relate? It is two-o'clock in the morning, it has taken you most of the day to make it to this level and you only have three levels left before you finish. This weekend has been planned for months, your girlfriend actually booked a trip to her parents to coincide with this game release. You have horded enough Mountain Dew and Doritos to last for three days. At this point I am guessing you look less like Kratos and more like Peter Griffin with well conditioned thumbs. I am also guessing that you have called my bluff and exclaimed in defiance, "Ha, what does he know, I don't even have a girlfriend!"
Until the recent release of the Nintendo Wii exercise and video games didn't exactly compliment each other. An article printed in the Science of Mental Health found that kids, specifically boys, are playing video games more then the watch TV. In fact, the study was able to show that eighth-grade boys spent almost one entire day a week playing video games. Is it a huge surprise to see that childhood obesity is on the rise along with game counsel sales?
OK gamer, I know there is little compromise when it comes to how you utilize your free time especially when you have just bought a new game. Even mentioning exercise may seem like some foreign concept you have long ago dismissed as a distraction to more important objectives.
I can't say that I am with you but I do empathize, I like playing my X-box as much as the next guy. However, I am a casual player, I'll play a little on the weekends when it is negative-ten-degrees outside or when I get home from the bars and that Redbull and vodka kicks in. Chances are your average ten-year-old player could kick my butt any day of the week with little to no effort at Halo. So, I am going to give you an "Easter Egg" for how to improve your health level and stamina in the real world.
You can get away with a very respectable home gym for under fifty-dollars consisting of some hand weights and a stability-ball. Then set up a system for yourself as to how you will utilize your equipment throughout the game. For example, every time you die do either ten push-ups, sit-ups or curls; every time you complete a level do a six-exercise circuit. I know this isn't simple, to actually stop play for any amount of time can be annoying but, you may find this compromise might actually help you think better. The increased blood flow should help with those cramps in your hands and thumbs to allow for longer play. Besides, it is one thing to play video games all of the time, do you actually want to look like you play video games all of the time?
Here is an example of a six-exercise circuit you can do while your game is loading, do each exercise once for 15-20 repetitions.
Stability-ball dumbbell press-
Stability-ball french press
Seated Stability-ball shoulder lateral raise
Standing up-right dumbbell row
Dumbbell curls
Dumbbell lunge
