Exergaming can be an innovative way of enjoyable high-intensity interval training

Trine Moholdt; Stian Weie; Konstantinos Chorianopoulos; Alf Inge Wang; Kristoffer Hagen

doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2017-000258

Exergaming can be an innovative way of enjoyable high-intensity interval training

BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2017 Jul 28;3(1):e000258. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2017-000258. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Trine Moholdt¹, Stian Weie², Konstantinos Chorianopoulos², Alf Inge Wang², Kristoffer Hagen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

Objectives: Exergames can replace sedentary time spent on computer gaming with physical activity. Previous research has found exergaming to elicit light-to-moderate exercise intensity. Our primary aim was to examine the exercise intensity of a newly developed biking exergame.

Methods: Eight males (23.9±0.6 years) played the exergame (PLAY) and walked (WALK) on three separate occasions, with the condition counterbalanced and in random sequence within each day. They were asked to PLAY and WALK for a minimum of 15 min and then continue for as long as they wanted. We measured heart rate (HR), activity duration, caloric expenditure and subject-rated exertion and enjoyment (based on 0-10 Visual Analogue Scale, VAS). We used an average of each outcome variable across the 3 days in the analysis.

Results: The average intensity during PLAY (73%±10% of HR_max) was significantly higher than that during WALK (57%±7% of HR_max, p=0.01). Participants spent 12.5±5.3 min at 80%-89% of HR_max and 5.5±4.6 min at ≥90% of HR_max during PLAY, whereas intensity during WALK was ≤72% of HR_max. The duration of PLAY was 44.3±0.7 min and of WALK 17.0±0.7 min (p=0.01). The relative energy expenditure during PLAY was 7.6±0.7 kcal/min and during WALK 6.2±0.3 kcal/min (p<0.01). The enjoyment of PLAY (VAS 8.7±0.1) was higher than that of WALK (VAS 3.9±1.8, p=0.01).

Conclusions: Exergaming can be an innovative way of enjoyable high-intensity training.

Keywords: intensity; intermittent exercise; motivation; physical activity; technology.