She needs to drop her bum for good form. But she looks cute in her plank.
I love this study which came out recently in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Exercisers who were worked out in tandem with a “virtual partner” worked out 24% longer when the virtual partner was superior to them.
How cool is that?
The study monitored almost 200 participants. Everyone performed a series of five plank exercises solo and then were told to do the exercises again with their virtual partners. The difference was that dramatic 24%.
If someone was self conscious about going to the gym they could get their motivation from Wii or the PlayStation. It’s a clever way to use our competitive natures to motivate us.
My general view of “virtual” workouts is iffy. I can see their potential but there’s a lot of room for improvement. I’d like to see programs with smooth, professional cueing, that are motivating to the appropriate level of fitness and that are long enough to be effective.
I do hope that gaming companies will take this information and program a little competition into their software. In the long run I could see this being a way to cross-train for fitness. Unless your circumstances are unusual, I’d like to see people do their workouts more in the real world, but if you’re super busy, or would otherwise miss a workout I think this is a good potential alternative.
What do you think? Do you think exercising next to a “partner” will push you to do more? Do you think you can live a healthy lifestyle if you only workout with a computer? I’d love to know your thoughts,
Cheers,
Lisa
