WMBD/WYZZ TV - PEORIA -- A new fitness program combines video games with exercise.

Video Games and Fitness

Reported by: Angelica Alvarez, WMBD/WYZZ TV

Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 @11:34am CST

WMBD/WYZZ TV - PEORIA -- A new fitness program combines video games with exercise.

Riverplex in Peoria introduces Exergaming, a program to get the unmotivated, motivated. Exergame Fitness uses interactive games to keep kids moving. Organizers say with the alarming rise in childhood obesity, it was imperative to find a way to pair the popularity of technology with health. Kids are so wrapped up in the game, they don't even realize they're improving their health. Exergame Fitness is the worlds largest provider for Exergaming, Exerlearning (Brain Fitness) and medically driven programming. 

Carl Cannon with CHOICES and the Park District, says, "The only exergaming room of its type in the nation, and it played in Peoria first. So if I had advice for parents this Christmas, tell them to get rid of those things you do with your hands and have them start using their legs, their hearts and their minds.

Sixth grader, Timesha Bailey, was one of the first students who got to try to program and when asked what she'll tell her classmates about it, she says, "You all need to come next time, it is so much fun! You're really in the game, fighting people, it's so fun!"

Organizers say Exergaming isn't just a great way to get in shape, but the games also improve hand-eye coordination and engages the mind and body together in active problem solving. 

Kids from the CHOICES program are among the first to be able to use the Exergaming program.

Let's get physical - Exergame Fitness

By BY FRANK RADOSEVICH II

OF THE JOURNAL STAR

Posted Nov 13, 2008 @ 10:00 PM

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PEORIA —

PEORIA - Austin Schroderus spent Thursday morning playing a lively game of dodgeball with a handful of other children at the RiverPlex Recreation and Wellness Center.

"All you got to do is just make sure that little ball doesn't hit you," the 14-year-old Peorian said while waiting on the sidelines, "and if it does, then you got to get off the screen."

Screen? What screen?

Instead of ducking rubber balls hurled in a gymnasium, Schroderus enjoyed the venerable schoolyard game by dancing along a lit, interactive floor and avoiding a red orb as it slithered across the ground. The video game, called Lightspace Play, was one of several the RiverPlex is hoping will get sedentary kids moving.

The fitness center is betting that activities inspired by video games - known as exergames - are one way to get kids healthy, by offering them an arcade-like atmosphere without the snack bar. The room, which opens to RiverPlex patrons today, uses muscle-power instead of joysticks to earn points and burn calories.

"This is an opportunity to help children be excited about being healthy," said Chief Operating Officer Sue Wozniak at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, which partnered with the RiverPlex in creating the room. "It's not just an arcade."

One game requires players to pedal and steer a stationary bike while their video-game persona plows a motocross bike through a dirt course. In others, participants don boxing gloves for virtual bouts or swing toy baseball bats at digital pitches.

Matt Freeman, general manager at the RiverPlex, said the exergame room cost $60,000 and the facility plans on renting it out occasionally for private parties or events. Freeman said organizers eventually want to involve parents in the fun.

Ed Kasanders, president of the Palatine-based company, Motion Fitness, which sold the equipment to the RiverPlex, said the market for exergames has soared over the past several years. His business use to deal with all types of exercise equipment but switched about four years ago solely to exergames.

"We can't get away from kids wanting to play games and from technology," Kasanders said. "What we are doing is we are actively making them play in a fun, exciting, engaging environment."

Medical studies, however, remained mixed on the benefits reaped from exergames. Most maintain more traditional sports and forms of exercise are still the gold standard for physical activity but find exergames to be a good workout and source of entertainment.

"It's certainly better than sitting behind a chair in front of a computer screen," said Blair Gorsuch, director of the cardiac rehabilitation program at Proctor Hospital. "Anything to get the kids up and moving, I'm all for it."

The real problem, Kasanders said, is keeping the games fresh and entertaining in a world where children are bombarded with new games, distractions and gadgets.

But spending time with his friends in the exergame room, Andrell Taylor said for the time being he would rather be on a robotic climbing wall than on the basketball court.

"I'd rather be here," Taylor, 11, of Peoria said, "because it's fun, and I like playing video games, too."

Frank Radosevich II can be reached at 686-3142 or fradosevich@pjstar.com

Exergame Fitness | XRGame Zone at The RiverPlex in Peoria IL

Just imagine for a moment...

Kids voluntarily playing videogames to stay active, healthy and educated....

Exergaming is the Answer!

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RiverPlex to introduce 'Exergaming'

Studio will encourage kids to exercise by using interactive video games

Thursday, April 24, 2008

By Brian Feldt

Of The Journal Star
Peoria - In efforts to reduce childhood obesity in central Illinois, the Peoria Park District Board of Trustees will fund an "exergaming" studio in the RiverPlex to promote physical fitness among young people.

The board voted unanimously to give the RiverPlex a $56,000 loan to complete the project, which will fill the empty space of the former Peoria Athletic Club, RiverPlex Superintendent Brent Wheeler said Wednesday. The club will be using an American company called Motion Kids to install, train and educate the entire facility on Exergaming. Motion Kids is located in the Buehler YMCA in Palatine, Illinois and provide solutions to the growing epidemic of Childhood Obesity.

Exergaming is a new and innovative approach to traditional exercise programs that caters to children and teenagers by incorporating video games into an exercise regime.

In theory, young people can play video games while enduring physical activity instead of sitting on the couch and pressing buttons.

While the popular video game Dance Dance Revolution may be the most popular form of exergaming at the moment, many other programs exist.

"Your body is the controller," said RiverPlex General Manager Matt Freeman. "We are recognizing what this generation likes to do, and physical activity is something that doesn't excite them. They are excited about gaming, and this will get them excited about physical activity again."

Upon completion, the exergaming studio will be used for a 16-week program that will focus on keeping kids active and healthy while keeping the family involved.

Once drawn into the exergaming programs, the hope is that the kids will then continue to exercise throughout their lives.

"This is what can get some young kids started with physical activity," said Wheeler. "Then, it can prepare them for more traditional means of exercise."

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center has already jumped on board with the program and will split all project-associated costs with the park district while providing nutritional information for the 16-week course.

The program is believed to be the only one of its kind between Chicago and St. Louis.

Park District Board Vice President Roger Allen saw the addition as a no-brainer and described the equipment as cutting-edge.

"The park district will be better and the community will be better with this," he said. "We'll all be better for it."

Wheeler said if the RiverPlex gets three family memberships per month - which he thought plausible - studio costs should be covered.

The studio also will be used for a number of other activities, including open play, birthday parties, field trips, lock-ins, private rentals and other such activities, which Wheeler said also will help the studio pay for itself.

Brian Feldt can be reached at 686-3194 or bfeldt@pjstar.com.

Exergaming Kids exercise through video games

Exergaming Kids exercise through video games

Watch the latest Exergaming Fitness Video.

Exergaming gets a Wii bit technical

CALL it The Great Indoors. From May 8, Australians will be able to do ski jumping, snow boarding, even tightrope walking — indoors. With the help of a video game, of course.

Computers have often been accused of fuelling the sedentary, stay-at-home lifestyle. Nintendo's latest product, Wii Fit, will keep its users at home, to be sure, but its backers claim it is anything but sedentary. But why fork out $149.95 for Wii Fit when you can do the real-world activity, in many cases, free?

Wii Fit is an extension of Wii Sport, released in 2005, which allowed users to "play" simulated Nintendo sports while watching a computer-generated character of themselves competing. Wii Fit, by contrast, uses a wireless motion-sensitive "balance board". Stand on the board, and Wii Fit will measure Body Mass Index and centre of gravity. After that, there are 40 exercises: balance games such as ski jump and tightrope walk; yoga poses; muscle workouts; and aerobic exercises including boxing.

The Wii Fit and console are available thru an American company called Exergame Fitness. E-Fit is the leader in interactive fitness programs for kids, teens and adults in America. On their USA website they sell Exergame Fitness equipment to YMCA's, Schools, Park Districts and more.

Tom Seilheimer CEO of Exergame Fitness says "The Wii Fit and Wii gaming console is really bringing Exergaming to the forefront of the fitness industry. A rapid incline of obesity rates in America is affecting every demographic age group therefore Exergaming is a positive way to bring families & kids together by associating fitness with gaming. These 2 simple concepts combined will deliver mind blowing health benefits without the needs of traditional fitness routines. It's 2008 and kids love to play games...why not just add healthy benefits to what they are already doing?!"

All the exercises, except jogging, involve placing some body part on the balance board "so your on-screen instructor ensures you perform every exercise correctly". Wii Fit, of course, stores all the fitness data on the Nintendo's hard drive.

Wii Fit is, to use industry parlance, an example of "exergaming". But why do people need computer software to do something as basic as push-ups?

"Generation Y are technologically savvy people, they like doing stuff in front of computers. It's what they've grown up with," said Shannon Ferney, from the University of Queensland's School of Human Movement. "It's the next step, (going from) sitting in front of the computer playing the game to being the person (in the game). Me, I'd much rather go outside. I haven't spoken to anyone who says they like using (Wii)." Dr Ferney obviously hasn't been to Japan, where Wii Fit has sold nearly 2 million copies. It will be released in Europe this week, in Australia on May 8, and in the US on May 19.

Japan has notoriously little space for outdoor sports. But Australia does, so will Wii Fit take off here? "The price is a little high at $150 and a similar fitness-oriented concept from Sony and Nike a few years back called EyeToy Kinetic…was a spectacular failure," said Australian games writer Jason Hill.

However, "the Wii has been extraordinarily popular in Australia — over 340,000 sold — mainly because of the novel motion-based control scheme, so I'm sure Wii owners will also be excited by the balance board in Wii Fit".

Wii Fit and Nintendo's "Brain Training" programs were part of the company's shift from "kid's time-waster" games to "lifestyle-oriented gadgetry good for people of all ages", said Mr Hill.

"The pseudo-science behind the stated benefits is questionable, and Nintendo's design genius Shigeru Miyamoto has even said, 'I don't think Wii Fit's purpose is to make you fit,' but I don't think that matters as long as the games are fun in themselves."

At the very least, however, Wii Sport and Wii Fit are a slight improvement on traditional video games. A study in February's British Medical Journal by British researchers found that youngsters playing Wii Sport burned an extra 60 calories an hour compared to those playing sedentary games on a Microsoft Xbox.