Keeping fit as gamers?

[falcon1985]

Well i work as an aircraft mechanic, which means i spend my day lugging heavy tools and parts around, not to mention running all over the place to get said parts and equipment. So yeah, i'd say i'm keeping fit. God help me if i got a desk job, my cause of death would be a combination of boredom and insanity.

 

[LeQuack_Is_Back]

I run laps around the house whenever there's a loading screen, seeing as it's usually wasted time anyway.

 

[Jirlond]

Step 1: Buy a Treadmill.
Step 2: Put treadmill in front of TV.
Step 3: Watch a lot of sci-fi re-runs.

That's the best I can come up with if you're into nerdy TV shows.

I've got a treadmill in front of the Tv, but I listen to fast music and run 6-7 kms every day or two. If I'm not running, then I am doing weights. I also work a fairly active job, which helps.

I don't normally eat over 9000kj, which is supposed to be the healthy amount for a dude. Eating right + Exercise = Sexy. It's not a difficult thing, you just have to get your ass of the PC once in a while. It's self restraint. Realise that spending 30 minutes away from your games a day isn't going to ruin your life, it will vastly improve it.

Oh and yeah, why can't nerdy people have sex (to the earlier posters)? I do most days, and it makes me feel great both physically and mentally.

Interesting post - it mainly is motivation & self restraint that is the problems.

You must be in the 0.1% of nerds with a partner lol. Honestly there is a "Wahhhh why can't i get this girl" Post every 2 seconds on the escapist. As I mentioned the girls here are made of fail and most annoy me within a couple of weeks.

I have a swiss exercise ball - anyone got any tips for that? I will probs try and do some more cardio after xmas!

 

[Tweekus]

If the gym is boring, you're probably there too long. Do some research on a straightforward weightlifting program and add DDR for cardio. I am in the process of slimming by this method, and it's been working nicely so far, and for the actual gym portion I've only been spending around an hour there 2-3 times a week. It doesn't sound like much, but just keep at it for a good 6 months and you'll feel a significant difference.

 

[Chivirac]

I absolutely love doing parkour, start by climbing things in public areas like school and park playgrounds for kids and eventually get faster and more efficient, move on to hopping fences and climbing walls and you'll see it gets addictive! Plus its encouraging as you can really follow your progress You can even get a group of people together and compete, makes it all the tougher.

 

[teisjm]

Find some kind of sport you can enjoy. Keeping in shape isn't limited to repeatably lifting heavy iron.

Also, make sure what you eat fits your activity level if you don't wanna grow fat (i sortof assume this is what you're talkign about)
If you don't eat more calories than you use, theres nothing left to make you fat.

 

[wsnipes]

i'm pretty fit for a gamer. most people would be able to tell that i'm a gamer since i'm pretty built (i played for the majority of my life)

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Look for some non-mainstream sports. Like Hockey!

Hockey is up and coming in Britain and I'm sure they'd have a team or 2 around Glasgow. clicky [http://www.scottish-hockey.org.uk/default.aspx] - hell learn the rules and become and umpire/ref of a sport then you get paid to run around for an hour and a half!

Agree with the rockclimbing tho, done it a few times its fun and gives your upper body a big workout.

If you want to get healthier at home without the dullness of a gym or wiisports. Get a treadmill/rowingmachine/exercise bike and stick it infront of your tv and watch a movie.

 

[jonnosferatu]

Hello all,

I now have a very inactive job - as a student I worked as a shelf stacker - kitchen porter etc, and now I sit and stare at thousands of lines of code a day. When I go home I like to relax and game. This is starting to take its toll.

I absolutely despise the gym, I went for a year and it worked - it just bored me to tears!

Do you guys have any interesting ways to keep fit or any exciting sports that a nerd might like?

No motion video games please - we all know they don't really work!

As has been noted by another user (towards the bottom of page 1), chances are that if you were bored, you were "doing it wrong." There's a certain degree of narcissism required to get into most of the programs used by the general public (well, that or a certain degree of motivation in the form of an idiot you pay to tell you to keep going).

http://snipurl.com/startingstrength

If you want to give the gym another guy, buy that and read it. If you're in Britain or Australia (...or don't want to pay for it, though I recommend that you do), I'm sure you can...*cough* borrow it in eBook form. Lifting sensibly works very well on the basis that you generally have a goal that's quantifiable and easy to observe ("I want to squat more this time than last time").

Alternative, along similar lines:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?cid=370&m=PD&pid=2976

That can also be *cough* borrowed. I have a copy on me right now, actually.
---
Alternatively, Strongman work. Find something heavy and drag it up a hill. Find something else that's heavy and throw it. Exercise does not NEED to be systematic, as long it's both hard enough to cause an effect and amusing enough that you want to do it again. The systematic element is useful because it keeps you organized and generally gives you the aforementioned quantifiable goals to keep going, but if you can find something hard that's enjoyable in its own right, that works pretty well too.

Find a decent tree and climb it a few times every day (and when I say decent, I mean "somewhat hard to climb" - it should take you at least 5-10 minutes). If you have siblings, take one for an extended piggy-back ride and tell stories.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Find a sport you enjoy, play it.

 

[Kodlak]

I only seem to be keeping in shape nowadays, as I spend at least 1 hour walking to and from uni a day, some days like tomorrow I go back home in the middle of the day, so I get about 2 hours in.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Being a geek = playing geek games
Playing geek games = suffering a slight distortion of reality
Suffering a slight distortion of reality = not diferentiating between games and real life
Not diferentiating between games and real life = Taking up fencing as a sport
Not diferentiating between games and real life+Taking up fencing as a sport = seriously injuring your training mates
Seriously injuring your training mates = Sheer awesome
Sheer awesome = Fencing
Fencing = Nerd sport
Nerd sport>Any other sport (Nerd sports exclusive)

See?

Fencing is almost certainly the answer. It's far more physically demanding than one would suspect and the sport has often been likened to chess in the way a match plays out.

Really, the sport is seemingly designed around exploiting people like me. The bouts run at breakneck speeds so there isn't an opportunity to get bored. The technical skills play into my obsessive tendancies. The mental aspects mean that my pleasure centers constantly reward me when I force my opponent to make a mistake. The romantic notions of suicidal honor have been driven into my skull by countless movies and video games. The anachronistic nature of the sport plays right into my appreciation of the idea of counter culture.

 

[AWAR]

just find a sport that interest you
or try paintball or airsoft theyre pretty interesting

 

[Julianking93]

Ummm...I don't know. I'm naturally thin. I just watch what I eat and go for long walks occasionally.

 

[Julianking93]

Being a geek = playing geek games
Playing geek games = suffering a slight distortion of reality
Suffering a slight distortion of reality = not diferentiating between games and real life
Not diferentiating between games and real life = Taking up fencing as a sport
Not diferentiating between games and real life+Taking up fencing as a sport = seriously injuring your training mates
Seriously injuring your training mates = Sheer awesome
Sheer awesome = Fencing
Fencing = Nerd sport
Nerd sport>Any other sport (Nerd sports exclusive)

See?

Or this. Greatest post ever.

 

[mikecoulter]

Do you guys have any interesting ways to keep fit or any exciting sports that a nerd might like?

Rock climbing. I'm not even kidding. It's like puzzle solving melded with actual upperbody strength!

And possible death...

You could always try to walk more places and leave the car behind.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

I go running every morning around the park near me. It's usually very dark with lamposts lighting up the path. That makes it pretty moody and I enjoy it.

 

[zidine100]

Well if we are going with the steriotypical nerd persona (not the game damnit) i would generally recomend countryside walking, preferably a place with big ass hills usually makes things a hell of alot more interesting/fun if you have to/ want to climb them, generally because there is practically hardly anyone who does it anymore (at least in Scotland from what ive seen) and that generally rules out the possibility of socilising.

but if we are going with the actuall reality of nerds here i would probably just recomend prity much everything, martial arts, american football (nothing gets you running like the posibility of getting you ass handed to you), normal football ect.

Do you guys have any interesting ways to keep fit or any exciting sports that a nerd might like?

Rock climbing. I'm not even kidding. It's like puzzle solving melded with actual upperbody strength!

And possible death...

You could always try to walk more places and leave the car behind.

Come on now, it isnt fun unless theres a small possibility of death now is it? And with all the safety equipment the possibility of death is quite small.

 

[dont_blink]

Hello all,

I now have a very inactive job - as a student I worked as a shelf stacker - kitchen porter etc, and now I sit and stare at thousands of lines of code a day. When I go home I like to relax and game. This is starting to take its toll.

I absolutely despise the gym, I went for a year and it worked - it just bored me to tears!

Do you guys have any interesting ways to keep fit or any exciting sports that a nerd might like?

No motion video games please - we all know they don't really work!

if you play games instead of eating you wont get fat...
'least that's my theory...

 

[mikecoulter]

Well if we are going with the steriotypical nerd persona (not the game damnit) i would generally recomend countryside walking, preferably a place with big ass hills usually makes things a hell of alot more interesting/fun if you have to/ want to climb them, generally because there is practically hardly anyone who does it anymore (at least in Scotland from what ive seen) and that generally rules out the possibility of socilising.

but if we are going with the actuall reality of nerds here i would probably just recomend prity much everything, martial arts, american football, normal football ect.

Do you guys have any interesting ways to keep fit or any exciting sports that a nerd might like?

Rock climbing. I'm not even kidding. It's like puzzle solving melded with actual upperbody strength!

You have an excellent point. I rather enjoy a bout of downhill mountain biking.

And possible death...

You could always try to walk more places and leave the car behind.

Come on now, it isnt fun unless theres a small possibility of death now is it?