What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cross-Sectional. Population: Healthy, physically active young men (n=39). Intervention: Exergame Hollywood Workout on XBOX 360 Kinect vs. Joystick game (Injustice: Gods among us). Primary outcome: Percentage of session time with heart rate below the first ventilatory threshold (VT1).

August 30, 2018Open Access

Profiling exercise intensity during the exergame Hollywood Workout on XBOX 360 Kinect®

Key Result

The exergame Hollywood Workout elicited light to moderate exercise intensity, with heart rate remaining below the first ventilatory threshold for 86.1% of the session, representing a significantly higher physiological demand than a traditional joystick game.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=39)

Blinding

Open-label

Randomization

Randomized order of sessions

Multicenter

Structured PICO

Does an exergame session increase heart rate and oxygen uptake compared to a sedentary joystick session in participants?

Population

39 participants

Intervention

Exergame session (Hollywood Workout on XBOX 360 Kinect)

Comparator

Traditional sedentary game (with a joystick) session

Outcome

Responses of heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (VO2) during an exergame session compared to joystick session and ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2)surrogate

Exergames elicit light to moderate exercise intensity, suggesting they may be a viable alternative to traditional forms of physical activity to counteract physical inactivity.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 86.1% vs 100%

Limitations

Participants performed sessions coupled to the mouthpiece of the metabolic system, causing discomfort that may have interfered with performance.
The study population included only physically active young men, limiting the transferability of findings to sedentary individuals or other demographics.
Lack of blood lactate assessment to provide information on metabolic stress and anaerobic pathway contributions.
Acute study design does not confirm long-term improvements in musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Abstract

Background Despite the increasing popularity of exergame practice and its promising benefits in counteracting physical inactivity, limited research has been performed to document the physiological responses during an exergame session. This study aims (i) to investigate the responses of heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (V̇{O₂}) during an exergame session and to compare with HR and V̇{O₂} measured during joystick session and (ii) to compare HR and V̇{O₂} obtained during exergame and joystick session with those HR and V̇{O₂} associated with first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT 1 and VT 2, respectively) obtained during a maximal graded exercise test. Methods A total of 39 participants performed a maximal graded exercise test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (V̇{O₂}), VT 1, and VT 2. On separate days, participants performed an exergame and traditional sedentary game (with a joystick) sessions. The time that participants remained with HR and V̇{O₂} below the VT 1, between the VT 1 and VT 2 and above the VT 2 were calculated to determine exercise intensity. Results Heart rate and V̇{O₂} were below VT 1 during 1, 503 ± 292 s (86. 1 ± 16. 7%) and 1, 610 ± 215 s (92. 2 ± 12. 3%), respectively. There was an increase in HR and { { V}}{O₂} as a function of exergame phases, since HR mean values in the ‘warm-up’ period (119 ± 13 bpm) were lower than the ‘main phase’ (136 ± 15 bpm) and ‘cool-down’ periods (143 ± 15 bpm) (p 0. 05) and lower than the ‘cool-down’ (28. 0 ± 4. 8 mL. kg −1. min −1) (p < 0. 001). For all times of the joystick session, average HR and { V}{O₂} were below the VT 1 levels. Conclusion Exergames can be classified as light to moderate exercise. Thus, exergames could be an interesting alternative to traditional forms of exercise.

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