Video gaming is virtually exercise, new research suggests.
Game platform Stakester has revealed in a new study that two hours of gameplay burned about 420 calories in men and 472 calories in women.
That’s as good as performing a staggering 1,000 sit-ups, according to Stakester’s findings reported by the Daily Mail.
CEO and founder Tom Fairey said he knew an increased heart rate and “gaming sweat[s]” burned calories, but they were “surprised” by the actual metric, he said in a statement tied with their research.
Fifty volunteer gamers were hooked up to smart devices that tracked their heart rate and energy consumption while playing two different videos games — “FIFA” and “Call of Duty: Warzone” — for two hours, and while performing sit-ups (no, not all 1,000).
Results showed that the male gamers burned an average of 210 calories, and women an average of 236, during one hour of gameplay.
That may be welcome news, as an estimated 214 million Americans say they play video games, thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, years of research has pointed to sedentary lifestyles as a threat to desk-bound Americans, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Previous studies have shown marginal cognitive benefits to gaming, such as improved focus or spatial reasoning, and its potential as a diagnostic tool, including for autism spectrum disorder in kids and Alzheimer’s in adults.
And despite countless hours spent seated in front of the screen, e-sports players are notably fit compared to the general non-pro-graming population — by up to 21%, according to a joint university study last year. In a survey of some 1,400 participants worldwide, researchers from Australia and Sweden also noted that the top 10% of e-sports competitors — who are known for exercising IRL to improve gaming stamina — were far better off than bottom-level players, suggesting that physical training could improve gameplay.