Alternate Exercise

 

Alyssa Buecker, Overland Park Senior, sets the speed to 1.5. She chooses her favorite song, Break Down. She goes to choose her level of difficulty and moves the arrow back and forth between expert and challenge. She finally decides to start on expert and work her way up on her next song choice. As the TV asks "Are you Ready?" Alyssa takes her position, one foot on either side of the mat.

 

The arrows begin scrolling at what looks like an uncontrollable speed.  She scores one perfect after another. As the song goes on her heart races and she begins to break a sweat.

 

"It's a great workout!" Buecker said. "Play a couple songs in a row and I feel like I've ran a mile."

 

Alternative forms of exercise have given people who normally would not exercise the opportunity to do it in a fun and more creative way. With the help of Hoop Dancing and Game systems like Dance Dance Revolution and the Nintendo Wii people are really getting up on their feet and giving exercise a try.

 

"I hate exercise. Yoga and treadmills have never really been my thing, but if you put a DDR mat in front of me I will play till I almost can't move my legs anymore," Buecker said.

 

Dance Dance Revolution

 

Video game creator Konami created Dance Dance Revoultion in Japan. DDR is a video game that can be played at home on any Playstation, Xbox, Gamecube or Wii. It is also commonly found in arcades on a large DDR machine. A player can choose from around 50 songs, depending on the version of the game, and choose from five levels.  According to Konami's official website, 3 million copies of the game have been sold since it was introduced on American consoles in 2001.

 

There is also a "workout mode" on the game that allows players to track their progress.  Instead of showing players how many arrows were scored correctly, it tracks things like a players weight, calories burned, distance traveled, and minutes played.

 

"I've never really used the 'workout mode' but I get a good enough workout without doing that," Buecker said. "The higher skill level you are, the more of a workout you're going to get. I just love it."

 

This craze has caught the attention of many school officials in the past five years as a form of exercise to help get students excited about exercise. In fact, in 2006 school districts in West Virginia decided to make DDR a part of their physical education curriculum. It was decided that the game would be used in all of West Virginia's 765 public schools.

 

The University of Kansas has also added DDR to its curriculum. Taught by Susan Hoffman, the game is considered a Health Sport and Exercise Science class. The class can be taken for credit twice.

 

"I have several students who come back for a second round," Hoffman said.  "It gives a lot of students a break from their hectic class schedule and they get a great workout."

 

Nintendo Wii

 

The Nintendo Wii came out in 2006 and has sold more than 11 million consoles in America alone since its release.  With the Wii, players must use actual physical movements to play the games, forcing players to get up out of their seats. The game uses a wireless controller that can sense a player's motion.

 

In 2008 a team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin recruited 16 volunteers between the ages of 20 to 29 years old to test just how great the benefits are. The results of the study showed that some games, mostly the sports games, increased heart rate and the amount of calories burned. The study said that the golf game, which burned the fewest amount of calories, allowed players to burn two to three times the amount of calories as opposed to sitting a and playing a video game.

 

"I have a Wii and we use it all of the time," Brooke Maves, Overland Park mother, said. "It was expensive but I think it was worth it just so my kids aren't sitting around all of the time."

 

Since the Wii came out, Nintendo has also added the Wii fit to their list of games. The Wii fit, much like DDR, allows players to track their progress and participate in activities like yoga and down hill skiing, all in their living room.

 

"I love using it but it is a little weird when I step on the Wii fit and it says to me 'Hello Brooke, It has been a while'. It's so advanced it scares me," Maves said.

 

The game is also being used for what doctors are calling "Wii-Habilitation".  The game is being turned into a rehab tool for stroke victims or patients with brain injuries to help recover their motor skills. In 2008, the University of South Carolina was given a $2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to research the effectiveness of these games on recovering motor skills and the research is still in progress.

 

Kim Brown, Topeka Cognitive Therapist, has also begun using the Wii on her patients. Overall she treats patients who have been in serious accidents and are in need of physical exercise but don't have the motor skills to do normal activities.

 

"I had a friend who used a Wii and I had read a lot about them and it just seemed like a no brainer to me," Brown said. "My patients needed something to do at home to speed up their recovery and this so far has been the best exercise I have come up with."

 

Brown wrote the state of Kansas for a grant in May of 2008 and after four months her first patient, who was the victim of a gunshot wound to the head, received a Wii for their home. Since then Brown has helped three other people with cognitive disabilities receive a Wii.

 

Hoop Dancing

 

Hoop Dancing is not a video game but it is an alternative form of exercise that is catching on particularly in Lawrence. Not only is it much cheaper than the other two options, it is something that can be done almost anywhere. Hoop dancing renovated from Hula Hooping and is all about incorporating large weighted hoops with dance.

 

Hoop dancing benefits the body in several ways for example building core strength, overall body toning, increases flexibility and develops balance and coordination. Ali Mangan started the only hoop dancing company in Lawrence, Hoop Mama's, three years ago. The company hosts free workshops at South Park on a weekly basis to get more people involved.

 

"It's one of those things that you can't knock until you've tried it," Mangan said. "Every week we have a different group of people. Of course we have our regulars but it seems there's always someone that wants to see what its all about."

 

 

Alyssa Buecker, the DDR enthusiast from above also decided to give hoop dancing a try after being contacted for this story. She attended one of the workshops in South Park this past week and she was shocked at what she got out of it.

 

"Its still a form of dance buts it's completely different from DDR!" Buecker said. "It is definitely something that gets you in touch with your inner self. You don't get that from a lot of things these days."

 

So whether it's exercising with the help of a game console or hoop dancing around South Park, these creative ways to stay fit are giving people more than enough to talk about.