1 Year Of Kinect Exercise – Interview With Thryon
Posted
Novermber 21 2011 by Keadin
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It’s been just over a year since the Kinect has been released and we’ve seen it make all sorts of new game types possible. Game developers the world over have been reconsidering new ways to approach gaming and coming up with new ways for players to experience their games.
It’s not just developers who are experiencing a mindset shift about gaming though; Xbox Canada community member Thryon took it upon himself to use Kinect every day for a year to manage weight loss. It was a daunting task that took a lot of dedication, but one year later he is happy to report some significant improvements to his health.
I managed to ask him a few questions about his process and how it’s possible to work a Kinect-focused workout into your everyday life.
Can you give us a brief rundown of your experience with Kinect and explain the health benefits you've experienced?
I have always been a large person. My average weight for the past decade has been at about 270lbs. This even though I constantly went to the gym and performed various physical activities when possible. When Microsoft announced Kinect, I instantly started wondering if Kinect could replace my costly gym membership. My goal was simple; I would play Kinect for 1 hour every day – this was the average amount of time I spent in the gym each day – and I’d see what would happen.
I started dropping weight almost immediately. I had been going to the gym long enough to realize that a change in exercise routine will normally be accompanied by a fluctuation in my weight. This change will always stabilize after a few weeks and then I would regain the lost weight after a few months. With my Kinect training, this was not the case. My weight loss was slow but constant throughout most of the year. At one point I was down over 40lbs.
Unfortunately, I was not able to maintain my daily schedule. I started to exercise less and less and my weight started to creep up again. I have since restarted my Kinect gaming (thanks to a crop of new Kinect titles) and once again seeing the digital numbers on my bathroom scale becoming lower each week. As I write this, I am officially 249lbs or down 32lbs since I stated last November.
What games did you play during your year-long Kinect marathon?
I have played just about every single Kinect enabled game released to date, but not all Kinect games satisfied my exercising purpose. To this end my staple games were Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures and Dance Central; all 3 being Kinect launch titles. Now a year later, they are still among the best example of Kinect games and are just as enjoyable today as they were on day one. I tried a few exercise-specific games, but they felt too much like regular exercise and so they were abandoned; I preferred fun.
How long do you play per day? How did you ramp up challenge as you progressed?
My challenge was to play for 1 hour every day. My level of exertion would depend of the game. When I played Fitness Evolved or EA Active 2.0, there was benefit to pushing harder as the game would push you harder during its normal progression. Though, in games like Dance Central you can’t really dance harder that what is required by the game.
Did you expect these sort of results with casual play?
When I decided to stop going to the gym and simply use Kinect every day, I was skeptical if I would lose any weight. Even after I dropped my first 10 lbs I was still convinced this was a short lived weight fluctuation. I started to realize that for me playing Kinect every day could be an effective weight management tool, one to be used alongside with a proper diet.
How did working Kinect into your gaming routine change your overall playtime? Did you forgo traditional titles?
My Kinect gaming session simply replaced my daily gym routine. In fact I created a "Kinect Gaming" space complete with padded floors for all my Kinect Gaming. I even had an offline profile which I would use as this profile was free of any distractions (such as pop-ups) or temptations (such as Netflix). Because of this, I did not consider my Kinect sessions as gaming, but as exercise. I would often play Kinect Sports for an hour, and then go upstairs for a well-deserved "gaming" session.