Exergame Fitness, Toyota and NJ Nets Donate Exergaming Facility to Local Civic Center

East Orange Civic Center Receives State of the Art “Vault Activation Zone”

EAST ORANGE, NJ – The community of East Orange and the members of the East Orange Fellowship Civic Center will be able to get ‘fit’ in a new and exciting way starting today as the Center has been awarded a state of the art “Vault Activation Zone”. This room will feature top of the line interactive fitness and exergaming equipment such as: the Lightspace Play Floor, Exerbikes, Cobalt Flux DDR Systems, and the Makoto Sports Arena.

Exergaming combines the fun of video games and interactive technologies with the benefits of fitness; all with the goal of creating healthier communities and increasing physical activity.
Through donations by the Toyota NBA Cares Program, the New Jersey Nets, Sherwin Williams and Exergame Fitness, the E. Orange Civic Center was able to dedicate approx. 800 sq. ft. of old office space into an active gaming center.

To further enhance the experience of the members at the E. Orange Civic Center and to create a greater sense of community, Exergame Fitness created a custom wall mural featuring the Newark skyline, basketball players, and the NJ Nets logo.

The Vault is one of a kind in the state of New Jersey, but Exergame Fitness President/CEO Ed Kasanders is confident that it will not be the last, “Due to the overwhelming response we have received with the NJ Nets project, we are hopeful that the Vault at the East Orange Civic Center will serve as a model for other facilities in New Jersey and across the country.”

View the Active Gaming Room here!

The Vault’s Grand Opening is scheduled for this afternoon and will feature representatives from the following groups: the NJ Nets (Vince Carter, Devin Harris, and others), East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser, the NBA, Toyota, Sherwin Williams, and Exergame Fitness.

“East Orange was a targeted area that we focused in on, due to the community support it would bring,” said Jeff Scott, Community Relations Manager for the NJ Nets. “This center will be used by people of all ages, demographics and backgrounds. The East Orange Civic Center has proven that it takes a community Lead and will reach out to invite all participants.”

The Vault Activation Zone will be open to the public this week and all interested community members are encouraged to come by, get fit and have some fun!

About Exergame Fitness:
Exergame Fitness, a division of Motion Fitness, is located in Palatine, IL and is the global leader in the distribution of exergaming and interactive fitness products and services. Exergame Fitness specializes in creating customized solutions that meet the needs of their clients. Exergame Fitness is the sole proprietor of the “Vault Activation Zone” full room active gaming concept.http://www.exergamefitness.com/

About Toyota NBA Cares:
Toyota Project Rebound is a national program of 15 community rebuilding projects, which include court refurbishments and other initiatives. The effort started yesterday with a court upgrade and basketball clinic at the Boys & Girls Club of Lodi, NJ. New Jersey Nets Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins pitched in to help repair the court damaged during April floods.About NJ Nets:http://www.nba.com/nets

The RiverPlex Launches Exergaming Room for Kids Designed by Exergame Fitness USA - Peoria, IL

An all-new state of the art Exergame Fitness facility has now opened at the RiverPlex Recreation and Wellness Center in Peoria, Illinois complete with the world’s top tested and medically proven exergaming products.

Kids, teens and adults from the Peoria area now have an exciting new exergaming room that delivers programs that combine fitness and gaming to achieve much needed results in their community.

RiverPlex General Manager, Matt Freeman said:

“Our objective with our Exergame Fitness Zone is to get kids up and moving in a fun, safe and positive environment. The exergaming products we have also give us the ability to offer our Senior Members a new exercise option that not only challenges their cardiovascular fitness, strength and balance, but eye/hand coordination and brain function.

Our Senior Members appreciate the socialization the Exergame Fitness Zone offers as well. We have implemented a clinical research study which is focused on weight loss for kids ages 8-17 years old. Each child has been referred to the program by a physician. Parental participation in the program is mandatory in order to achieve a long term change in eating habits, behavior and physical activity. The program is run by Dr. Amy Christenson who represents the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

read full press release here

C’motion is a big hit! DDR FUN!

One week Osawatomie Middle School students flew around the gym on skates, and then the next, they danced, danced, danced and danced to C’motion, the music-driven exergaming experience designed to keep the mind and body in constant motion.

Dylan M. Stewart (center) makes a small jump while trying to keep up with the music and directions. (Photo by Kevin Gray)The idea is to combine the age of technology with physical exercise, said physical education teacher Nancy Gagnebin.“It already has our legs hurting and our heart rates up,” she said.Coach Dave French said students and staff were still learning how best to use the equipment.“On Tuesday, when we used it the first time, we weren’t sure if we could keep them active the whole period, but they liked it. Instead of lining students up in rows on the practice pads, we set up two teams in a circle and rotated. It worked well, and they liked the competition. It’s called Battle Mode with half the court against the other half,” he said.

The C’motion franchise, located in Oklahoma City, sends a large-screen television, two electronic platforms and pratice pads.Dancers follow directions on the television screen while music the students like blasts from speakers.

The Cmotion can be found at the Exergame Fitness website here

“They follow the arrows on the screen and with their feet hit the same arrows on the dance pad. Right step, left step, hops, jumps forward and then back. Mines, like landmines, will cost them points. There are also ability levels from novice to excellent. We’re mainly running novice, easy, and medium, but that medium is pretty difficult,” French said.

Reacting to a misstep up front or a funny scene on the television screen, Hanna Butts keeps on dancing. (Photo by Kevin Gray)As two students dance on the electronic pad, the others follow the same directions on practice pads beneath their feet.French said they are constantly programming new songs or steps in as they go along.“We could leave the system running all night, and it still wouldn’t run through every song programmed in,” he said. Eighth-grader Matthew Petrie said he liked how the interactive nature of the system appealed to younger people.“It’s pretty fun, and it gets you going. Plus the music’s great,” he said.

OMS rented C’motion for a week or three class periods, French said.Sixth-grader Emmaline Cochrane, with eyes glued to the television screen, kept in step.“It really works you out. And it makes you feel more energetic,” she said.Heather Machiel thought the school should provide the students more gym time like this.

Brain Rules by Dr John Medina

If you have not had a chance to read Brain Rules by Dr John Medina – take the time to watch this video – by the time you get done watching this video – you will begin to realize how important cardio vascular fitness it to brain function – you probably don’t have time to watch this video, at least watch part of it – a real challenge – try and get a school administrator to watch it……very educational – this video puts PE on the educational map….

Phil Lawler
PE4Life

Childhood Obesity: The Educational Cost

A Message from Phil Lawler - PE4Life

Many people argue that childhood obesity is not a school issue and it is not the responsibility of the school to be concerned about children’s health. Schools are designed to teach reading, math, science, English, now foreign language, and history. No Child Left Behind as made sure core academics remains the focus of American Schools.

These same people argue children’s health is totally the parent’s responsibility. I agree the responsibility of the health of children starts with the parents but childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem for society and it is quite obvious the solution will not come from pointing fingers at parents. Many parents struggle with their own weight problems and are not equipped to be role models for their children.

Anyone who believes solving the childhood obesity problem is not the schools responsibility needs to read this article – the health of children is a school issue if we want it to be or not – children’s health has many more far reaching negative impacts on education than we realize.

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Childhood Obesity: The Educational Cost Kara Rogers - September 15th, 2008

Poor childhood health has life-long impacts, with devastating affects on a child’s education and future socioeconomic status. Childhood obesity is especially paralyzing. Research has shown that once a child has become obese, he or she struggles simply to pursue an education. If the current childhood obesity trend in the United States continues, by 2050, at least half the population will be obese and could very possibly be less educated than the overall population today.

This is a scary proposition, and social scientists, psychologists, and nutritionists are digging to find the root causes of and solutions to childhood obesity. Interrelated factors affecting childhood obesity include home life, demographics, and resources, such as access to high-quality healthcare and education. Perhaps the most influential of these factors is resources or, more precisely, a lack thereof. Lack of or lack of access to resources narrows choices and limits people to cheap, often unhealthy foods, to forgo health insurance, and to attend schools that provide a only a low-quality education.

Low-quality education has severe consequences. Children who receive a poor education as they pass through the educational prime of their lives are left unprepared, without the skills they need to reach their potentials, are intellectually depressed, and are susceptible to poor health. Children in poor health, who are obese, are abundant in the United States. Nearly one-fifth of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are obese, and recent estimates in schoolchildren indicate the obesity rate is as high as one-third in some rural areas. Sadly, many of these children probably become obese before they understand what obesity is or have even heard the word obesity.

With education, children and adults are knowledgeable about their health and confident in their physical and mental abilities. These factors play an important role in diverting people away from obesity. But the relationship between health and education is not simply that educated people are healthy and uneducated people are unhealthy. There exists a clearly defined education-health gradient that is very simple to understand—the better educated we are, the healthier we are, and the less likely we are to become obese. This means that high-quality education and college education are especially important in relation to overall health, and more individuals with good health means a healthier society overall.

Childhood obesity can be addressed in multiple ways, though it relies heavily on resolving major problems relating to our educational system, our access to healthcare, and poverty. These issues require government action that promotes equal opportunities for children and families, regardless of demographics. However, working in direct opposition to equal opportunity education is the privatization of education. Privatization essentially puts children in direct academic competition with one another and does not acknowledge the reality that most children in the United States begin this competition with a grave disadvantage, in that they lack basic access to quality education.

Indicative of the competitive atmosphere plaguing U.S. education, in an effort to focus on and improve academic performance, many schools dropped recesses and physical education classes. This sent a strong, negative message to children and parents: physical health does not matter. PE classes were construed as a waste of time and money, despite scientific evidence that physical activity can improve brain function in children, in turn, improving academic performance.

If children and adults cannot read and understand nutrition labels on the foods and beverages they consume, how can we expect the obesity epidemic in the United States to improve? This epidemic is costly to society. But instead of standing around pointing fingers or accepting childhood obesity for what it is, we need to find ways—now—to stop the obesity epidemic from worsening. In addition to informing parents about the ways in which their behaviors influence their child’s behaviors, we must address the other major factors that directly influence children, who, we should remember, are exceptionally malleable—far more capable of change than most parents. Providing equal access to high-quality education and improving our educational system are fine places to start.

“Education is the transmission of civilization.” – Ariel and Will Durant

A direct link to this article can be found here

Video Games That Keep Kids Fit

Gym teachers and video games have never been a happy mix. While one side struggles to pull kids off the couch, the other holds them fast. But Kim Mason, a phys-ed director in Rogers, Ark., with 28 years of experience selling kids on the virtues of sweat, did something unlikely last year: she persuaded her public-school district to invest $35,000 in brand-new video-game equipment.

That would be more surprising if students in Rogers were the only ones plugging into interactive workouts, but they're not. Some 2,000 schools in at least 35 states have begun to set up exergaming fitness centers with motion sensors and touch-sensitive floor mats to allow kids to control the action onscreen not just with their thumbs but also with their bodies. Do enough dancing or kung-fu kicks, and you just might get the same level of exercise as from chasing a soccer ball. What's more, this is a workout kids don't try to duck. "Physical education used to be a joke," says Dr. John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark, an upcoming book about exercise. "That has changed simply because we are catching up with the gamer generation."

Finding a way to help this most sedentary age group is more important than ever. Nearly 17% of U.S. kids are considered overweight or obese, and many more are struggling. Meanwhile, as scale numbers are climbing, school budgets for P.E. are falling. As a result, fewer than 10% of elementary schools meet the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's standard of students spending 150 minutes a week in gym class.

The high-tech answer to the problem came two years ago when West Virginia University studied the health effects of an exergaming system called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)--interactive games that instruct kids to use their feet to tap buttons on a sensor mat. After a pilot program found the games were beneficial, the state vowed to install consoles in all its public schools by next year. (It didn't hurt the study's credibility that it was funded in part by an insurance company, not by the gamemaker.) Since then, other districts have climbed aboard, helped by video-game makers like Nintendo and Sony, which are designing systems to meet the demand; small companies like Expresso Fitness that donate equipment; and federal grants and private donations that bankroll the purchase of equipment. "The old system is failing kids," says Phil Lawler, director of training and outreach at PE4life, a nonprofit based in Kansas City, Mo., that helps modernize P.E. "We are tricking them into exercising."

A gaming system, which can cost up to $4,000 a pop, is more expensive than, say, a kickball, but the fact is, it may work just as well. In January the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that obese kids burned six times as many calories playing DDR as they did with a traditional video game. And in July the wonderfully named Alasdair Thin, a researcher of human physiology at Heroit-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, found that college students burned twice as many calories playing an active video game in which they dodged and kicked for 30 minutes as they did walking on a treadmill. Studies have not yet shown how the new games measure up against a real session of, say, soccer or wind sprints.

Of course, since a child told to hustle around a track pretty much has to do it, critics argue that there's no need for video games in gym classes even if they do have some health benefits. But there's a physical difference between an hour of exercise enthusiastically pursued and one that's merely plodded through. And, Lawler says, "most kids aren't volunteering to do pull-ups after school." Develop a taste for aerobic video games, however, and you just might carry the habit home.

But can anything hold the fruit-fly attention span of kids? "Video games are not the answer," says Warren Gendel, founder of Fitwize 4 Kids, a chain of traditional children's gyms. "Kids will get bored and be back on the couch." Maybe, but that won't stop the games from coming. Fisher-Price just began selling a video-game bike for toddlers. No word yet on a version for the prewalking crowd--but don't bet against it.

Wal-Mart Giving Back to Kids...

Recent Initiatives
Recent InitiativesWal-Mart is proud to be a good neighbor and citizen in thousands of communities across the country and around the world. We believe it’s a privilege to be a store that’s part of the community. And, we believe it’s our responsibility to help sustain the communities that rely upon us. The stories below are just a few examples of how Wal-Mart and their associates give back to our communities. Click on each story to find out more.

Wal-Mart Foundation Donates $5 Million to YouthBuild USA
In line with its commitment to make education a top priority in 2008, the Wal-Mart Foundation awarded $5 million to YouthBuild USA.

The First Tee
The First Tee offers educational programs and training facilities that make a real difference in young people’s lives – promoting character development and core values like honesty, integrity, and responsibility.

Foundation Awards $500,000 to Clinton Global Initiative
Through CGI University, Walmart empowering college students to make a difference in their communities through sustainable action.

Wal-Mart Gave More than $296 Million in 2007
Giving back to the community has always been a top priority for Wal-Mart, and 2007 was no exception. Wal-Mart’s global contributions totaled more than $470 million.

$32 Million Donated to Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign
During the 2007 holiday season, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club customers reached deep into their pockets and contributed more than $32 million to the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.

US News & World Report article on Exergaming

Earlier in the week Senior Editor (Health/Medicine) Katherine Hobson from US News & World Report interviewed me by phone. Here is the online article titled "The Power of Wii: Getting in Shape with Video Games?"

What if you could turn video games, criticized for everything from their obsessive hold on users to their purported role in childhood obesity to their misogynist elements, into something, well, healthy? That's the idea behind "exergaming": physically interactive video games, controllers, and systems that aim to get your heart rate up without making you feel like you're doing penance. This whole emerging discipline is about to get a big bump with the release next week of Nintendo's Wii Fit, which is already flying off the shelves in Asia and Europe and is likely to be in short supply here, too.
Gaming sites and reviewers are weighing in; here's what the New York Times testers had to say, here's how the Wall Street Journal liked the system, and here's how CNET reviewed the game. (Another blogger has a review based on a month of use in Japan.)
Wii Fit consists of a $90 balance board that's combined with the original Wii console to let users progress through a series of activities that include simple yoga positions, hula-hooping, and ski-jumping. The original Wii wasn't specifically intended to give users a good workout, but some people have reported sore muscles and joints, and at least one doctor has self-diagnosed a condition he dubbed Wiitis. Regular old Wii involves movement to play virtual sports like bowling and tennis, but technique often triumphs over physical effort.
Wii Fit is not the first exergame; EyeToy, a camera add-on to the PlayStation 2, has a series of fitness-oriented games. And before that, there was Dance Dance Revolution, the game that got kids hopping enthusiastically in the arcade and then in front of their home TV sets—and even, in some places, in P.E. class. But DDR was created as an entertaining game. Then people noticed it also worked up a sweat. Now, interest in exergaming is growing, given the potential to get both kids and adults off their ever-expanding butts. It was one of four major trends discussed at the national Games for Health conference, held in Baltimore earlier this month, and researchers are trying to figure out how best to assess and design these games.
Academics have already studied some of the older games. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic concluded in 2006 that kids who traded passive video games for EyeToy games and Dance Dance Revolution became three times as active. Another study, published last year in Pediatric Exercise Science, found that in kids, the exertion from playing the more active games is comparable to skipping, jogging, brisk walking, and climbing stairs. (It's unclear whether users will burn off less energy as they get better, and more efficient, at the games.) Earlier this year, researchers reported in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity that a group of 10 kids randomly assigned to get an active video game setup added to their PlayStation 2 spent less time on all kinds of video games and more time being physically active than a control group that had only the conventional console.The games that are more likely to burn calories involve the larger muscle groups in the legs, not just arm movements, says Alasdair Thin, a physiology researcher at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh who looks at exergames. That's likely why Dance Dance Revolution has come out ahead in studies comparing it with the EyeToy, which doesn't involve vigorous leg movements in many of its games (one exception: EyeToy Kinetic, a personal-training program).
In the future, we need to "tease out what aspects of the games are beneficial," says Stephen Yang, co-director of the Physical Activity Research Laboratory at the State University of New York -Cortland. (He also has an exergaming blog.) The more chances players have to make changes and decisions—to customize the game, to some extent—the more likely people are to stick with it, says Yang. Increased feedback from a game system, in the form of tips or heart rate information, helps keep users hooked, he adds. So does a system that allows players to compete or collaborate with others.
Researchers say the games aren't likely to be suited to everyone, or to replace other sports or activities. But they may be a gateway for people who aren't already moving on a regular basis, especially exercise novices who are more comfortable being active at home than in a more public place like a gym. Users of Dance Dance Revolution say their primary reason for playing is for fun, says Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research, a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that examines how active games can improve health. People find it easier to stick to an exercise program when doesn't feel like work.
When you look at the stats on obesity and nutrition, especially among kids and teens, "obviously, we've failed," says Yang. "We've got to right the ship, to bring back play, free time, and games."

Nintendo Wii Sqweeze controller coming in 2009

When it comes to casual gaming there is one games console that’s miles ahead of all the others, and that’s the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii Fit has brought people onto the Nintendo Wii that may never of owned an Xbox 360 or Sony PS3, and there are many more accessories on the way to the Wii.

This is one such example, the Nintendo Wii Sqweeze controller. The controller will not be available to 2009, and InterAction Laboratories had this device on show at Games For Health 2008.

The Wii Sqweeze brings exergaming to the upper body in the form of near-isometric movements the rubber handles allow for shoulder abduction and adduction (Max Range of Motion-ROM ~2-3 inches).

On the device I tried, they hacked the Wii and were running it via USB on a PC. However, I’m told that it will be a fully operational Wii controller by its 2009 launch. To start playing the demo-games IA Labs designed, each player self-calibrates the device by squeezing 50% of your maximum.

So, when did Exergaming really start?

After sending out our Exergame Fitness press release for the new and exciting Gamercize products we are selling, I was sitting at home tonight and figured I would do a simple search online looking for someone that has documented Exergaming products back to the 1980's where I remember seeing similar products out today like the Wii Fit etc. After about 10 minutes I came across an amazing website called BB Gadgets and they had exactly what I was looking for!

Ok, so you really want to see where Exergaming originated from? Well, click this link and visit Boing Boing Gadgets to see that Exergaming was around as early as 1982. I was 8 at he time and I still remember the Nintendo Joyboard for the Atari 2600. Growing up as a hardcore gamer, I can "geekly" say that I have owned every game system since the "Pong TV" my parents bought for us back in the day with built in controllers.

As you can see in my picture to the left, I think I might have an obsession with videogames as many kids of my age might of had and still do.

I am happy to see all of the new modern improvements and really enjoyed reading how the games in the past were the foundation to the birth of Exergaming...Its a great read...