Weight Loss through Dance Dance Revolution?

An anonymous reader writes "Looking at the beer gut that's developed over the winter, and the excercise schedule that I haven't kept for more than two days at a time, I realize that I need a new plan. A gym isn't the answer; I can't keep a schedule for working out in my apartment, there's no way I could make it to the gym on any regular basis. I've had multiple people in the last few weeks tell me stories involving weight loss through Dance Dance Revolution, and it sounds like a great idea to me! working out is hard, playing video games is easy, and dancing is fun. But a Google search turned up way too much info, and way too little of it was useful unless I want to spend the next four weeks researching this. Does the Slashdot community have any ideas, suggestions, or personal experience that they cared to relate on any of these topics?" "First, what's the best pad to get? What kind of differences are there between pads? Is it worth spending $100+, or will the cheaper pads do? Second, what software is best to use? Ideally I'd like to have something expandable, which means getting a PC rig rather than a PS2 one. Are there any open source DDR-type programs? How does one acquire songs?"

Comments

"just do it"

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need a "new plan," you just need to screw your head on straight. Your answer isn't coming up with a "schedule for working out" in your apartment, or even a gym membership. Just go outside, and run. Just go. Don't develop a schedule, don't come up with a "plan." Just get it done. Run as far as you can, then walk, then run some more! You will see results, probably faster than playing DDR. That game is a slight workout, but it doesn't compare to amount of energy burned running three miles.

And before you say, "I can't run three miles," neither could I before this most recent spring break. Since I wasn't leaving town or really doing anything, I decided to take the initiative to run, just to see what happened. It's been about a month, month and a half now and I've lost more than eight pounds. Running that far isn't an insurmountable task like it was before. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't particularly fun, and it certainly wasn't exciting, but it did work. Believe it or not, diet and exercise are the absolute best path towards your goal. And exercise is as simple as making yourself run. Times have never been better for the fast food junkie wanting to diet. You can still munch Jack in the Box, just get a pita or a salad instead of, well, anything else on the menu there. :-) Such competition amongst the fast food companies to be seen as healthy may just be a passing fad, but damn, take advantage of it.

One last recommendation: If you can afford it, invest in a treadmill. Running outside takes more commitment than running indoors. Once I didn't have to leave for a gym, or even go out in the cold, running quickly became a daily thing.

Re:"just do it"

[be951]

The problem is one of motivation....

True.

and this is why both running and DDR will fail.

Not necessarily true. If one enjoys DDR (or any other game or sport involving physical activity), exercise becomes recreation rather than work. The key is finding something that motivates you enough to exercise regularly, whether that is making the exercise more enjoyable or getting a kick in the ass from something (someone) else.

The reason gyms work at all for weight loss is that once someone has paid for something, they feel compelled to use it, which forms a simple but effective motivation.

Effective for some people. But many people have plenty of other sources of motivation, and work out in a gym for other reasons (more/better equipment, availability of trainers and/or spotters, etc....)

Re:First, you need a rig...

[spectral]

The biggest thing to worry about is whether the adapter works properly. Some register the dpad buttons as an axis, and thus you can't do jumps properly. The stepmania page has links to adapters that work and don't work.

The OS X version on my friend's powerbook runs about as well as the windows version does on my computer. The linux one seems to stutter a bit more, I don't know why, but I'm working on it.

I play on ignition pads when I'm at my friend's house, but prefer the arcade pad feel. When I can't do either, I just practice rhythm using the keyboard. Even that's fun, I don't know why.

I don't need to lose weight though, I just play it because it's fun. And because the girls seem to like it. ;)

My 0.02GBP

[Second_Derivative]

Hi. I'm Second_Derivative, and I am also a DDR addict. Unfortunately I'm a skinny little bastard so I didn't have any weight to lose in the first place from playing DDR (although I seem to have lost some anyway which is a bit worrying). With that in mind, take what I say with a pinch of salt.

Firstly, before you shell out $300 for a cobalt flux, grab $10 or so and pop down to your local arcade (I'm assuming you live in the US or Canada). With luck you should see a DDR Extreme machine (or maybe some flavour of Max. Don't play DDRUSA, the hardware is ancient and the song selection is pretty abysmal). Pop in a few credits, put it on Beginner or Light mode and try a few songs. Ask some of the other players there if you need any help -- one of the things that really stands out about DDR is its community. Unless the players there are a load of elitist wankers they'll usually be more than happy to help a newcomer get to grips with the game.

Try this for a few days and see if DDR is the game for you. If you don't like the game, it isn't going to work, pure and simple. To get to the stage where you're going to really burn large amounts of energy, you'll need to be playing songs with a rating of 9 (these are referred to as 'catas' in the lingo), or 10 if you can manage those. Ask some of the local players to demonstrate what this involves. The point is it will take several months' worth of practice to get up to that level. You have to keep pushing yourself to try the next difficulty level otherwise you're not going to exert yourself. Hopefully though if you like the game you'll find yourself wanting to do that anyway.

Anyway, if you decide you're up for it, then yeah go for at least a RedOctane pad (although I'd buy a BNS Beatgear if you want to go down that route. Same sort of construction, cheaper, and RedOctane tends to astroturf a lot which personally really pisses me off), but if you can afford it go for Cobalt Flux. If you're in the EU, go to liksang.com or playasia.com and look for "metal mat with rail". Anything below Cobalt Flux will usually require some custom modifications to be able to withstand heavy play. That and I haven't heard of anyone passing, say, Max 300 on a soft mat (the 300 refers to the song's BPM by the way. Let's just say it's one of the harder ones ...).

As for a PC setup, Stepmania is a good bet, and DDRUK.com do some good bumper packs (just download the Dance Dance Revolution (n)th Mix -(Whatever)- and PSX/PS2 and Solo packs and don't bother with all the weird Disney/Tokemeki/whatever offshoot versions). Any good non-Radioshack PS2 to USB converter should work ... other posts have covered this issue in more detail.

Try to get into the community of it a bit as well. Competition with your fellow players is the single best driving force for getting better, and I certainly wouldn't be as good as I am now if I didn't regularly converse with people who were much better. DDRUK itself has a really good community, try joining that (list Tau as your referer :D )

Hope this helps...

Not the most creepy person in the gym

[MythoBeast]

As long as you are not the most creepy person in the gym, you're safe.

A lot of guys have a misguided idea of what "most creepy" means. Usually it means "most threatening". Most women have a creep-o-meter, and if you exceed the green zone they'll start to mind. Some women like to be looked at, but most of the pretty women shy away (and stop showing up) if they get stared at by anyone.

Appearances matter, but not the way you think. Good looks doesn't count as much as good hygene. Women usually don't mind a clean-cut guy, unless he's good looking or leering, both of which will get you marked as predatory.

If you don't want to scare women away in the gym, follow a few simple rules:

1. Don't look directly at them the first day that you notice them. Yes, I said DAY. If they're there on your next visit, then they're safe to briefly check out.
2. Never stare. If you don't get enough information from a breif glance, you need to come up with an excuse to talk to them. If you don't think you'll get anywhere talking to them, then staring will only make things worse.
3. Exercise while you're there. Don't just wander around, look exhausted, sit on a machine, set the weights, look exhausted, change to another machine, sit on it, look exhausted, play with the weights some more, maybe do a few slow reps, then go get a drink of water and stand around the fountain looking exhausted, (etc., etc., etc.) Women notice that kind of thing and quickly tune in to the fact that you aren't there for the machines, you're there for the people using the machines.

Re:I don't play DDR.

[sharkey]

Your statement is false. I currently have my liver monitored for abnormal behavior due to the drugs a doctor has me on which can possibly damage it. So far, the drug has not done anything noticeable to my liver in the past two years. However, drinking alcohol has directly caused my liver levels to spike. How do I know this? I never drank alcohol before under a year ago. It took abstaining two months from alcohol to lower the levels down to what they were again.

You have been on a drug that may affect your liver for two years. After having been on said drug for, you began to drink alcohol, following which you began to notice spikes in your "liver levels". Your conclusion: I mixed a prescription drug that can affect my liver with alcohol, causing issues with my liver. Therefore, your statement about alcohol consumption which does not mention mixing alcohol with other substances must be false.

Does the drug you are taking have a warning on the side concerning alcoholic beverages?