The Relationship Between Body Weight, BMI, and Exercise Intensity During Exergame Play

Abstract

Exergaming is an effective form of non-traditional exercise. Many exercisers want to enhance their fitness by exercising at higher intensity. It has not been known whether larger exergame players would play with greater exercise intensity (EI) due to the increased work involved in moving their greater mass. We hypothesized that body weight (Wt) would be a better predictor (more often correlated) of EI [measured in Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET)] than body mass index (BMI) as some with greater BMI would possibly have more difficulty performing exergaming movements due to being overweight or possibly having lower fitness levels. PURPOSE: The purpose is to determine whether an individual’s Wt or BMI is more closely correlated with EI while exergaming. METHODS: Twelve video games were played on three exergame consoles with an average of 27 subjects playing each game. Each subject played for 30 minutes at the intensity level of their choice. Accelerometer armbands were used to estimate EI in METs. Results were analyzed by using a Pearson’s Correlation test. RESULTS:Table: No title available.CONCLUSIONS: Neither Wt nor BMI were often correlated with EI while exergaming. All correlations that did exist between Wt or BMI and METS were negative meaning that the greater the Wt or BMI the lower the EI of the subject. The converse was true where the correlation was significant. Overweight players may have found many of the full-body movements such as squatting, jumping, or lunging more difficult to complete properly resulting in lower EI. This could be the reason BMI was more negatively correlated with EI than Wt since a player who is heavy may not necessarily be overweight.