Playing games to boost fitness

Every evening after work I play games – do puzzles, actually. There’s Sudoku, a picture cross game, and another painting game. Sometimes I fit in a game or two of Spider Solitaire as well. I love my puzzles. After lunch, I play a hidden object game. I tell myself it’s to exercise my focus away from the floaters in my eyes, but it’s really fun. I love my games. And the last few years, lots of people are playing games to boost fitness.

Tech to track fitness

Do you use an app that tells you how intense your workout was? Or do you follow an exercise program online? Some even use virtual reality to follow an exercise program. That’s definitely playing games to boost fitness. 

Do you wear a smart watch that tracks your steps during the day? Does it assess your sleep? You’re playing games to boost fitness. When your watch tells you that you’ve hit your goal for the day, how do you feel? Does your watch send you confetti and congratulations? There’s that hit of dopamine. It makes you want to pump your fist in the air and say, “Yes! I did it!” 

It gets you off the couch

“I’m always going to be a fan of anything that gets people moving,” says Laura Girard, CPT, a trainer and online fitness coach. If an app or a VR set gets people off the couch and exercising, it’s a really good thing. Some of the newer virtual reality technology even has the capability of assessing your form as you perform the exercises or go through the active game. That’s certainly more affordable than hiring a personal trainer, if you’ve already got the VR set.

Alternatively, playing active video games can also get your heart rate up while you’re fighting bad guys. Anything that gets you moving is good – even if it’s playing a fantasy role-playing game. Maybe especially if it’s a fantasy role-playing game!

Provides accountability and motivation

Move to get more energy!

The tracker you wear also provides the accountability and motivation that you need to progress toward your fitness goals. Your watch may give you sound or display notifications, and Lauren Cook, PsyD, a clinical psychologist says, “I think a lot of people are more active because they want to get that dopamine kick of seeing that they closed their rings or hit a step goal.”

But at least one field experiment found that, while the tech provides immediate gratification and keeps us accountable in the moment, it doesn’t provide lasting habit-forming effects.

Tech is not the answer for everyone

And tech may not be the answer for everyone to boost fitness and create long-lasting habits for our healthy aging. People can stress over too much tech or obsess over the data it provides. But tracking our goals and our progress is still incredibly important. But no matter how you’re tracking your progress, be intentional about the goals you track. Don’t try to track everything. And if you’re wary of the tech, the pen-and-paper route is still valuable. The Basic Workout Tracker is a great start. And for some it may be even better. It’s the route that I take. I actually did add a pedometer app to my phone, but I hardly ever have my phone on me, so it’s not much use. When you have your goals written in your own handwriting on a piece of paper, you could be even  more likely to achieve them. You’ll still get that dopamine zing when you’re able to check something off on your page.

So games and tech are certainly fun, but playing games to boost fitness is the smart way to use today’s tech for our healthy aging.

Best exercises for healthy aging

I think about healthy aging quite a bit because I write about it. But I don’t think people my age should think about it. I think my peers should be actively doing everything they can for their healthy aging instead. The first thing many people think about  relating to fitness is exercise, so here are the best exercises for healthy aging, according to many experts.

Strength

Strength work exercises are great for our healthy aging.

At our age, we have to focus on strength. When we’re strong, we can do things like get out of a chair without assistance, or climb stairs. When we’re moving against resistance, whether that’s our own body weight, free weights, or even resistance bands, that’s making us stronger. Strength training improves muscle mass, bone density and circulation. And the current recommendation is to do strength training twice a week to promote healthy aging.

Endurance

The dreaded aerobics. When we improve our endurance, we can walk for longer periods of time, making those walking tours a distinct possibility when we’re on vacation. Hikes with family and friends at home are also on the table. We exercise our heart and lungs when we work on our endurance, so we won’t get out of breath getting to the store from a far space in a parking lot. Cardio work also can be great to maintain healthy blood sugar levels and blood pressure. 

Mobility

During the day I can feel myself stiffen up if I don’t move around. Flexibility or mobility work helps us maintain or improve our range of motion. I can tie my shoes. I can reach a spot on my back that has an itch (mostly). A good way to get mobility work in is to incorporate it into our warm-up or cool-down from our strength or endurance work. Don’t skimp on flexibility, but it’s important not to overdo it, either. Incorporate movements that feel good to you.

Balance

Improving balance can help reduce falls. This one is really important to me, and balance exercises are certainly some of the best exercises for healthy aging. I suffered a fall a number of years ago which led me to promoting balance exercises. Here’s a nasty statistic: falls account for three quarters of deaths in people over 75 in the US. Don’t be a statistic. Download Your Week of Core-Centered Balance Moves and join the private Facebook group Balance for Fitness Balance for Life. A variety of balance exercises are highlighted, none of which take more than 2 minutes a day or require changing into gym clothes.

Cognition

Exercise your brain. Like every other body part, your brain needs work to keep it stimulated and operating at peak efficiency. We know that when we exercise our body, our brain benefits. A variety of brain exercises also help keep us engaged. And it’s not just Sudoku puzzles or crosswords that help. Jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, and other puzzles help.

One more thing helps keep us fit and engaged – interacting with others. So get moving and stay healthy.

Find comfort in routine

Everyone seems to be stressed these days. Yes, it seems like I write that every other week. But the times are turbulent and it’s hard to know what will be coming at us next. The weather is crazy, the political climate is even crazier, and then the economy is in turmoil. It’s one blow after another. My head is spinning. If you’re like me, know that you can find comfort in routine.

Routines can improve your health

Northwestern Medicine says, “By providing structure and organization, routines can improve your health in various ways.” Routine can help you manage stress, which is beneficial for our mental health. When you know something will be stable, it puts your mind at ease and boost your resilience.

Experts recommend routines for bedtime and sleep. By having a bedtime routine and getting quality sleep, our mental sharpness improves, as does our emotional well-being and energy. When I get my full seven hours, I do feel much more aware, and have more energy.

Healthy eating can be routine

Northwestern’s experts also recommend a healthy eating routine. Preparing menus and shopping at a set time every week ensures that you’re considering your nutrition. Most weeks I shop on Monday afternoons, which is not when the store’s stocks are freshest, but it’s convenient for me. There’s still plenty of great-looking fresh produce to choose.

There’s even comfort in an exercise routine

And, of course, the experts advocate an exercise routine. Staying active, as we know, is essential for our healthy aging. And, as I’ve recommended as well, scheduling your exercise helps you maintain that routine.

But don’t get too set in your ways

But we don’t want to stagnate, either. I’ve talked about goal-setting the last few weeks. We want our routines, but it’s also necessary to grow. So, think about what you want out of life. What’s missing that you want? And add that in slowly. Adding something to your routine is a great way to build healthy habits.

One thing I’ve added to my routine is meditation because it helps me settle my brain. When my thoughts start spiralling or I find myself scrolling depressing news feeds, I take a couple of minutes and clear my head. It makes me more productive and better able to handle the news coming at me. Sometimes I need a guided meditation if I can’t clear my thoughts by myself. And that’s okay. 

If you don’t like your daily routine, figure out why and change it. You should find comfort in routine, not distress.

Make it fun and it will get done

My new watchword. If you can figure out a way to have fun doing something, it’s more likely to get done. I practice this a few times a week with my fitness routine. I make it fun and it will get done. Like running. To me, running is not fun. Granted, I’m more accepting now than I was a couple of years ago, because I’ve been doing it for a couple of years. But it’s still not fun. Running is hard and it’s not fun. 

It’s not fun, so why do it?

So why do it? Because listening to a really good book while I’m doing it is fun. I’m on the second book of a really good fantasy trilogy now, and I actually found myself thinking on a usually non-running day whether I could get on the treadmill so I could listen some more. (I could have, but didn’t.)

The Fun Theory

In a post on The Resilience Centre’s blog, clinical psychologist Gabriel Wong advocates making things fun so they get done. The Fun Theory was initiated by Volkswagen a number of years ago, saying that people are more motivated to do things when they’re fun. 

Examples like taking the stairs by making a flight of stairs like a piano keyboard, or promoting seat belt use by making entertainment available to passengers when the belt was fastened are popular examples. I particularly like the garbage can painted as “The World’s Deepest Bin” to promote throwing trash away. And the theory seems to work.

People took the piano stairs more than the regular stairs. Kids fastened their seat belts to watch the videos. And lots more trash was thrown in the “Deepest Bin” than a plain one next to it.

What about mundane tasks?

That’s great for odd, random things that you might want people to do. But what about normal, everyday stuff that has to get done. How can we make that fun? How can we get motivated to get all the mundane stuff done.

Confetti?

That’s where our Funtime Menu comes in. There are some things that are just not going to be fun. Like taxes. But online tax preparers figure out a way to gamify the process and give users a little shot of dopamine when they complete a section. You may get a green check mark and a celebratory confetti screen. We can do the same thing. 

Put 15 minutes on a timer and work on a distasteful item on your never-ending To Do List. Just 15 minutes. Like cleaning out a closet. When the timer goes off and you hear that “Ding!” don’t you get a little rush? I do. Now you can do a little appetizer on your Funtime Menu. Dance to one of your favorite tunes. Go outside for a few minutes and enjoy some fresh air. Get a drink of water. 

Make it fun and it will get done

You may think that 15 minutes is hardly any time. The closet will never get cleaned out in just 15 minutes. But you can make incredible things happen in just 15 minutes a day. And then when that closet is cleaned and organized, you can claim an entree from your Funtime Menu! Being able to check something off that list does wonders for our optimism. And when we’re happy, we’re more resilient. And when our spirit is strong and resilient, our bodies tend to be as well.

So, while I didn’t get to listen to more of my book on a non-running day, I know that I’ll be able to listen more in a couple of days. Remember to make it fun and it will get done. No matter what “it” is.