Mark ET Willems, Timothy S Bond
Faculty of Sport, Education & Social Sciences, University of Chichester, College Lane, Chichester,
Abstract
Introduction: Regular moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, provides health benefits. We compared the
energy expenditure during brisk treadmill walking and playing new generation active computer games (i.e. Nintendo Wii
Sports tennis, baseball and boxing).
Methods: Ten participants (mean±SD, 21±1 years; 73.9±12.0 kg; 1.76±0.06 m) walked at a brisk pace on a treadmill
(3x10 min, 5 min rest periods) or played tennis, baseball and boxing (Wii sports) in similar time sequence. Energy expenditure
was measured with the portable Cosmed K4b2 indirect calorimetry system and expressed in metabolic equivalents
(METs). A within-subjects crossover design was used with repeated measures two-way ANOVA and post-hoc paired samples
t-test for analysis.
Results: METs during brisk treadmill walking (5.7±1.2 range: 4.4 - 8.5) were significantly higher (P<0.05) than during Wii Sports boxing (4.7±1.4, range: 2.7-6.8), tennis (3.1±1.2, range: 2.0-4.0) and baseball (2.8±0.7, range: 1.6-3.8). The MET values of boxing were higher than for tennis and baseball (P<0.05). Conclusions: Guidelines for physical activity required to get health benefits could be met by young adults playing Wii Sports but are activity-specific. Playing a combination of Wii Sports tennis, baseball, and boxing may not necessarily be a substitute for a moderate-intensity exercise session as part of a programme to promote and maintain health. Key words: indirect calorimetry, public health, boxing, brisk walking, video games
No comments:
Post a Comment