Slashdot Mirror
The DDR Workout - It's Official
webster1 writes with a followup to a recent Ask Slashdot question. "An AP news story just released says that Dance Dance Revolution is becoming the weight-loss routine of choice for many young gamers. One quote says '"At first I was playing it for fun, but when you see results you're like, Yeah!" said Matt Keene, a 19-year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, who used to weigh more than 350 pounds and wear pants with a 48-inch waist.' It's for grown-ups too. Even Jason Enos, product manager at Konami Digital Entertainment-America, which distributes the game in the U.S., has lost 30 pounds playing the game. There's even a site for DDR wieght loss fans: www.getupmove.com - My wife and I have been playing for months now with this goal in mind, though we aren't yet seeing these results." (A post from a few months ago talks about getupmove and gives some calorie-burn specifics.)
i used to get a workout from playing old-school arcade games, the ones where you had to press buttons 10 times a second. on the other hand i'm sure eating pizza and drinking soda more than counteracted any sweat i produced.
That's right Jenny Craig, you're going down! Quickly buy your own DDR and get rid of that stair master!!!
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay
It's too bad im an uncoordinated computer geek...
He say 1 and 1 and 1 is 3, got to be good lookin' cause hes so hard to see...
I'm not sure how it could NOT work.
If you do DDR for 45 minutes, 4-5 days a week, you'll be losing about 2 pounds every 3 weeks.
Worked for me, and my daughter.
You should be getting up to about 180BPM near the end of your workout- not sticking to some 130BPM songs.
For me, having the Xbox version, and downloading new songs was a lifesaver- otherwise I would be completely bored of the songs.
And finally- you won't lose anything if you are using the controller! Get a good dance pad!
No reason to lie.
Man, since this is Slashdot wouldn't you expect the article be about computer memory when you see 'DDR'...
I call DDR my 8, 9 and 10 foot work out!
(DDR levels are based on how many feet the song is rated! 9 foot songs are great fat burners!)
It's was never designed to do that...
This is the perfect time to plug StepMania, an open source version you can get here. I'm not a developer, just someone that enjoys short techno songs and a frantic workout.
You zap the moderators with a wand of humor! The moderators resist!
Yesterday's article about DDR weight loss
Is slashdot sponsored by DDR?
the pun is mightier than the sword
If he's anything like most people who want to lose weight, no. No he couldn't. Why not? Because chances are he doesn't like exercise for the sake of weight loss. Evidently he does like exercise for the sake of video games, which is what makes the weight loss work.
Having said that, my reaction to Dance Dance Revolution remains "oh, dear God, that's disturbing".
"up-up-down-down-a-a-b-a"
This konami code reference from the 'department' bar is horribly wrong. Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start is the correct code.
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
I'm not saying DDR can't work for weight loss, or that getupmove.com or the AP story aren't valid. However, the site is run by RedOctance, a DDR pad supplier. Check out the contact information for getupmove.com or the suggested pads under 'Get Started.'
Again, I'm not denying the posibilities of using DDR for weight loss. After the Ask Slashdot thread I downloaded StepMania and am seriously considering buying a pad and USB adapter becasue it does look like tons of fun. I just think it's important to be concious of where you're getting your information...
-Trillian
I'd worry about RSI injuries, DDR is a lot more intense than a focused workout, you're slamming the pads to make time somethines, whereas on a jog or a bike you can conrtol the physical impacts much better.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
I'm sure he could, but where's the fun in that? The whole reason that this DDR workout and similar programs are taking off is because they're fun and hard work, as opposed to a "low impact exercise regime", which is as boring as it sounds. Sure, a regime like that would be better, but for most people, they'd rather have fun doing a sligtly less effective workout, than to be bored to tears being effecient.
this isnt that surprising really, video games are a lot more interesting to some kids than sport. Its great to see some measurable positive results from gaming. Next we could have super fast text scrolling across our screens to 'train' us in speed reading.
Do you need a website upgrade?
There is a free software version of DDR, written in Python. It used to be called PyDDR but now it's called PyDance.
You can play it with a real dance pad, or just play it with your keyboard. I suspect you will not lose much weight if you play it with your keyboard, however.
http://icculus.org/pyddr/
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
This isn't exactly an original idea, but I thought I'd share it anyways.
A local arcade has Para Para Dancing (you use your arms, for those who are unfamilar,) and DDR 4th Mix. My friend and I always thought the ultimate work out game would be some mystical combination of the two. Made, that would get dead tiring (not to mention confusing as hell.)
I'm for a challenge like that though. Hard core gamer for life.
It's true! I used to laugh, say I would never play this game. And now, 2 months of DDR have me not only looking better, but feeling better as well. I am active in general - Football and Wrestling - But DDR has something neither of those have. The biggest problem with exersize is it's repetitived nature. But when you can practice a form (specific Dance) and recieve real time data based on your accuracy, it encourages it to repeat. So far, my only health conern has been the sheer addictiveness - I landed wrong on an ankle after a 4 hour marathon session, and was out for a week. But in general, the experience has been nothing but positive. Hope the next one is online - how about a /. competitive league?
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
Just imagine, not only will you be sweating off those 3 extra big macs you ate for lunch, but you'll also be providing hours of endless laughter and entertainment those around you!
Most slashdot readers probably already have atleast an original Playstation (and if not, used ones can be had for around $20 to $30 or the computer version of DDR can be used). Throw in the cost of a good dance pad (~$50) and the game (another $20 to $30), and your workout system only costs you ~$100, including the cost for a Playstation.
I suggest a dance pad like the one above, because the form insert really helps cut down on the strain on your joints (a must if you are going to be DDRing often as a workout)
Ultimately weight loss is not about how much you eat or how much you exercise. What you need is a negative energy input, on in plain English: You must burn off more calories than you take in.
The reason this works for some and not for others may well be the fact that people naturally increase their energy input (eat more) when their energy output (exercise) increases.
But regardless of if you loose weight or not, any activity causing your pulse to rise will make you more fit. Which is a good thing.
.: Max Romantschuk
But going to a gym and wearing spandex really won't help the slashdot crowd. Sure we might lose weight but chicks defently won't find that cool, and spandex is just asking to get beat up(Just try going around wearing season 1 uniforms from ST:TNG).
Playing DDR not only is good exercise but the females totaly think it's cool. Your not playing some dorky game trying to kill things or collect items, your dancing! They love to dance! Now get out there and knock yourselves out, before you know it, you'll be slim and covered in chicks!
This will be placed right along side the Atkins diet! It's all a conspiracy by the neo-Zionist Christian Communist Right to get geeks to slim down! Soon there will be no more fat geeks, and then the geeks will marry, and then what will happen to Slashdot!?
Karma whorin' since 1999
Yeah DDR is/was fun for me.
I still enjoy playing it occasionally, but about 6 months ago I hit a brick wall where I stopped getting any better.
I played for about a year, and there's only a few songs on Extreme (arcade version) I can't pass (most of the 10-footers except for Sakura, Bag and Paranoia Survivor which are quite achievable with practice).
The problem is that it's really expensive if you want to get good. I've pumped at least AU$300-400 into DDR both at lock-ins (ie. 6 hours of unlimited play for AU$13 etc.) and just normally (AU$2 for 4 songs).
No doubt about it being a good workout. After playing for 6 months I went down from about 85kg to 74kg.
I stopped playing and started eating pizza again and I've put so much weight back on (ie. almost 20kg).
It kinda got boring for me as I found a new game (Beatmania IIDX).
By all means, don't just pass DDR off as lame like many of my "friends". God knows the number of payouts and sexual preference innuendo I've received from them for playing it ("not that there's anything wrong with that!").
It is fun in moderation, and if you're determined to get into it (and you have a lot of kesh), it WILL keep you fit.
Good endurance songs (not necessarily difficult):
So Deep (Heavy)
Can't Stop Fallin' In Love/Speed Mix (Heavy)
Rhythm and Police (Heavy)
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
The biggest problem for most computer gamers I know, is that they drink cola with sugar and eat candy bars. Their biggest arguments for not drinking diet coke are: doesn't taste well, aspartam is dangerous for your health.
:-)
They simply don't get the priorities right - being overweight is much more dangerous than drinking diet coke! The only way to lose weight is to consume less kilojoule (4,18 Joule = 1 Calories for those Americans who don't understand the metric system) than you spend on living. If you want to continue drinking sugar-cola and eat candie bars, you really have to do a lot of exercise!!! - more than most people with that kind of weight problems can or will do.
Personally I lost 15kg in 5 months without doing any exercise, without any special plan for what I eat, just by replacing coke with diet coke and removing all fat and sugar from my meals, replacing food with low-energy and diet products. At Christmas 2004 I expect to have lost 30kg, and spring 2005 I expect to have lost 35kg, and then I have reached my ideal bodyweight and will have to do something to keep my weight up
It certainly helps, but if you still eat too much, that will certainly not change radically. I'm in the US since a month and weighty people is a stunning reality.
For my own person (and it engage only me) I see some bad habits (that I begin to take):
- not eating at regular schedule and eating all day long
- piece are so huge!!
- go to work by car ; it is known that walking
every day (1/4 jour or half an hour) is very
healthy.
Link to that I read an article about a doctor that
sold a slim method that worked: instructions specified just 2 things:
- take the pil after the dinner, at around 8PM,
- don't eat anything after
nothing more.
After a period of time, 2 facts have been revealed:
- treatment was working
- the doctor was prosecuted, because he was selling a placebo.
Indeed the doctor played on the fact that people was still eating after the dinner during all the evening.... quite smart.
my 2 cents
Sometimes I like the Old Fashioned fun of getting outdoors and riding my bike. Of course, I have a GBA duct taped to my handlebars so I can have some real fun. It's fairly low impact... most of the time.
I've been doing martial arts for years and still find these games a challenge and I sure work up a sweat.
A challenge is right! Not too long ago a friend and I fed the boxing arcade machines way too many quarters because we just couldn't get past the first two guys. Most people would give up if a game was too hard for them that early in, but I go to the boxing gym 4 times a week and am involved in the amateur circuit, and my friend was a Los Angeles County champion in Karate (and is currently serving in Iraq as an Army Ranger), so we were completely embarrased by 10 year old kids kicking ass in the game while we were struggling.
At one point it finally dawned on us that fighting like fighters was our problem - whereas in a real fight to avoid getting punched in the face you might duck your head and raise your fists, for the boxing arcade you move your fists away from the screen, to either side or below. In the real world, that's the equivilant of moving your hands as far away from blocking position as you can get them. So the game was reading our real world fighting technique as just standing in front of the punches.
I won't deny that they're a good time, but if you kick ass in the video game don't expect to be able to kick ass in an actual fight... kind of like how a good DDR player shouldn't expect to steal the floor at prom, I suppose.
If you get nervous, just remember that there are a few billion other people who don't really give a damn.
If you check out the www.getupmove.com website, you will notice a gal by the name of Tanya Jensen. I used to work with her at Microsoft testing for the XBox group. What a trip!
You can go to ddrfreak and go check out some stuff there.
There's song lists, codes, step charts and chat forums to meet up with out ddr fans out there.
Good luck, and have fun.
What next? DDR - Atkins Version, now with fewer carbs!
For a mere $39.95, you could have had a controller with a turbo button to do that button pressing for you.
What I found truly amazing about this story was that Konami still existed. Can you dance up up down down left right left right b a b a start? If so, what does it do?
paintball
I've been playing various versions of DDR (as well as Stepmania) for about two years. I couldn't even jog a mile, heck I couldn't walk it without cramping up, but since then I've been able to pass pretty much every song (sans Paranoia Survivor Max Oni), and through this, I can now run a mile in less than seven minutes. I wasn't ever fat to begin with so unfortunately I don't have any I lost 100 lbs story, but wow, having not done any other physical activity besides type on a computer for close to 6 years (when I quit soccer due to lack of being in shape), I can run a freakin 6:40 mile. Hail DDR in all its nerd-refining glory!
If you want to play DDR but aren't otherwise a big console gamer (and don't care about song variety), why not just get an old PS1 and one of the older games... I'm playing on a dreamcast I got for free but it's more of an effort to scare up the necessary items to play on a dreamcast.
Bull Smith
BS Newswire
In the news today, teenagers have discovered that moving around alot helps you to lose weight.
"I tried the pizza dieet, the deep-fried pork diet, and the ice cream diet. Nothing worked until I spent hundreds of dollars a week playing Dance Dance Revolution!" said one formerly husky girl
Adults were a bit confused by the whole affair. One fit mother exclaimed "You mean they pay to dance? I've been doing that for years without paying a dime!"
This phenominon has already spawned a whole new industry. Entrepenurs have in the works a dollar bill treadmill/slot machine combination for gambling adults as well as a bicycle that takes credit cards and which commuters can rent by the day in order to get fit on their way to work.
Sapere aude!
I agree with you but why stop there?
I recently decided to stop drinking soft drinks and go for water (Mountain Valley Spring Water), and I also noticed that I had much more concentration, my sleep schedule became more normalized and my attitude was generally more positive.
It's not just sugar. It's the myriad of chemicals that we put in our bodies in massive quantities that screw up our body chemistry. Dropping sugar may help with caloric intake, but it doesn't address the more serious problem that we're constantly poisoning our bodies with chemicals.
You don't have to be a vegan, but you can choose to shop where they sell meat and produce that isn't bathed in pesticides, antibiotics and other things.
I also found that the "DDR workout" was really good for helping with my asthma-like symptoms. Much better exercise for the lungs than just sitting around all day in front of a PC...
I of course have to take this opportunity to plug our homebrew music beat game for the Dreamcast, Feet of Fury. Like DDR, but with player vs player modes, the ability to create user Swap CDs of your own music, and of course a Typing of Fury mode!
It's not free software, but I maintain the toolkit used to develop it (KOS) under a BSD license, and this toolkit is used by pretty much all DC homebrewers now (with the notable exceptions of DSNES and SCUMMVM). Two new homebrew games just came out actually... check 'em out here if you have a DC and want some more games: Games Of All Types. Yes, I know what you're thinking.. but that's a safe link ;)
Cryptic Allusion - New Mac and Dreamcast Games!
Anybody who thinks they will immediately lose weight playing this game is kidding themselves. This game at best provides a moderate intensity workout with the added twist of being challenging and perhaps addictive.
One thing I have always observed with "I Lost Weight!" articles is they almost always pass over the DIET - that is generally the diet gets an obligatory one line comment (if that) somewhere after most of the information of the article has been devulged.
Anyone who really knows what they are talking about in terms of weight management will tell you that the most important thing in losing/gaining/maintaining weight is your DIET. Your exercise is merely there to burn excess calories you consume over your maintenance calorie level - and of course to promote cardiovascular health and whatnot. (that is, the number of calories required to maintain your current body mass). Easy to understand how you got fat in the first place when you consider what happens when you excess calories are not burnt off
Pffft...
... IT BEGINS!
I lost weight by eating pizza once. It was left out over night, and then put in the fridge. I didn't know that, and had a few slices.
8 hours later
Over 5 hours of water works from both ends of me every 15 minutes. After about the first 2 hours I stopped the dryreeching(sp?) and began to take in fluids.
The next day I weighed myself (I do it every day) and I was just over 7Kg (15.4lb) lighter. Mind you, my weight is only 65Kg (143lb).
Trust me, it is the best (and fastest) diet you could ever have.
BTW, it took me about 2 weeks to get my weight back up to where it normally is.
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
It works. I've gone from 200lbs and kinda flabby to 170 and muscular. It hasn't done much for my arms, but it's done wonders for my legs & metabolism.
I have a video of me doing a particularly hard song. It's neat. MAX300 AA, without clinging to the bar
And I don't think they'll buy it now.
Parents: "It's a nice day out - go outside and play."
"But I'm only one stage away from beating super mario brothers for the first time without dieing!"
Parents: "You're never going to get anything from video games."
"Video games increase hand-eye coordination!"
Parents: "ooooooooo, you've convinced us, play video games all day!"
Could you lose some weight playing DDR all the time? Probably. That doesn't change the fact that you wouldn't be a LAZY FATASS IF YOU GOT AWAY FROM YOUR FREAKING GAME CONSOLE FOR MORE THAN 5 MINUTES AT A TIME!
If you're seriously considering using DDR as a means to weight loss, maybe you should consider TURNING OFF THE GAME CONSOLE for good and going to PLAY SOME BASKETBALL or something, you lazy physically and socially uncoordinated fatass.
paintball
I think you made a very important point. The problem of pathological shyness is often related to the neurotic anxiety that could be described as "OH MY GOD I'M GONNA TO LOOK SILLY IN PUBLIC AGAIN". I think every geek and nerd has experienced this kind of panic at least once. It's like when a gorgeous girl approaches you and says "Hi, how are you?". If you are too much afraid of looking silly in public, you'll get that kind of panic, the panic will eat your tongue and you will probably mumble some uncomprehensible "Um... errr... ahem... nice... I mean, fine... I mean, ok... I mean, cough, how are you....". Then you'll start to realize, that the fear of looking silly in public made you actually look silly in public and then you will feel very silly. In public. So the panic will incrase and you will look even more silly (in public).
But if you get rid of that fear and STOP being afraid of looking silly in public, you might just have a friendly laugh with the gorgeous girl and say something like "Now, that was surely the Guiness top ten of the worst small-talk ever... speaking of Guiness, can I get you something to drink?", and the problem will be gone. You would no longer look silly, because you HAVE LEARNED HOW TO ENJOY IT!
You're a brave man, promoting a MS product on /. ;-)
No.
The actual gameplay concept DDR is basically a cross between playing the drums with your feet and jumping like a jackrabbit on amphetamines. The only thing the game grades you on is how close to the beat you are (the highest step grade is within about 30 milliseconds).
I'm a hardcore DDR player... I can pass just about all the songs on the game and with a good grade, but my dancing sucked awful before I started and it hasn't got any better (trust me. There's bad dancers and there's people the bad dancers point and laugh at).
DDR's really good fun and all but I strongly recommend you don't try and bust out Max 300 on an actual dance floor. Although, to quote a guy on a DDR messageboard: "You wouldn't DDR step in a club, but then you wouldn't mosh in a ballroom either". Dancing has a fairly broad definition... but even so it does tend to involve some upper body movement. A lot of expert players just clamp their upper body to the support bar behind the dance stage so that they can hit 10 steps per second and still stay upright, although I personally find this to be bad form.
Me: *slightly slurrish* Hi, howsh thingsh? ... *eyes slowly, and very floppily blink* ... Shpeaking of Guinessh, reckon there's any chance I'll get a lay outta you tonight? Like, if I buy you one or ... *hic* ... shomething?
:/ Next morning I woke up naked next to the pub's seventy year old bar hag.
Gorgeous Girl: Go away. Not interested you drunken son of a bitch.
Me: *laughs heartily* Well, that was shurely the Guinessh top ten of the worsht shmall mrshnahmblah
And that's all I remember
Thanks a lot man.
The Xbox version (Ultramix) has a Live! play facility... but personally I think it misses the point a bit.
Even if you've got a CF kit and all the damn home mixes ever DDR is still at its heart an arcade game. You play on standardised hardware with good, challenging timing windows. There's a scoreboard for you to try to knock local players' scores off, and there's usually plenty of other people around who you can chat with and compare accomplishments with. I've got a few good friends in a nearby city just because I turned up at the arcade there once for a quick game.
DDR has a major competitive element, and it's the driving force that makes people keep playing and accomplish more and more. There are a lot of tournaments, but the problem is it's very hard for a new player to get a look in there. Most of the people in the tournaments have been playing for _years_ and they know every in and out of every last song on the machine and it's becoming more and more common to see people with tens or even hundreds of AAA's under their belt (a AAA is a perfect score on a song which requires you to hit every last arrow to within 33 milliseconds of the beat. This is HARD -- I've done it a couple of times on one really really easy song, although that was on Standard difficulty and when someone says AAA the implication is AAA on Maniac difficulty). There is also a general concensus that DDR is dying at the moment (cue BSD trolls). The fact that Konami have all but officially axed the arcade series of games, which is the only one that expert players really care about, doesn't help matters..
http://ddr.bandwidthmonkey.net/csa2/jsb%20vs%20ref lex%20-%20legend%20of%20maxx.mpgw idthmonkey.net/csa2/jsb%20vs%20ref lex%20-%20daikenkai.mpge y.net/csa2/jsb%20vs%20ref lex%20-%20the%20least%20100sec.mpgn dwidthmonkey.net/csa2/jsb%20vs%20ref lex%20-%20trip%20machine%20climax.mpg. bandwidthmonkey.net/csa2/jsb%20vs%20ref lex%20-%20xenon.mpg
http://ddr.band
http://ddr.bandwidthmonk
http://ddr.ba
http://ddr
http://aaroninjapan.com/ddrvideos.html
I doubt these sites will last long from the slashdot. In anycase hopefully someone will mirror these.
Fixed.
I actually started doing this myself for just this purpose a while back. I can't stand working out but I love video games, and the DDR in arcades looked fun but I couldn't ever try something like that in public. So I picked up a pad and DDR for X-box, and it certainly is a work out. But not orthopedically safe, necessarily. If you're overweight and doing DDR you have to be aware to all the stress you are putting on your lower joints, specifically your ankles and knees. All that pounding on your feet is just not good for people who are very overweight. But for the more mild, it's fun. Of course, I think I spend more time dancing around the "select" and "start" buttons to get the game started than I do in game.
You might use more fat as a substrate during low-intensity exercise, but that doesn't mean you'll lose more bodyfat overall. The 1994 Tremblay study demonstrated that high-intensity interval training, which burns mainly glycogen during the workout, induces bodyfat loss much more efficiently than endurance cardio even though fewer calories are burned overall. This article provides an overview of the study and its results.
I love games that involve physical training, and I hope to see many, many more titles like these. This opens up new doors to geeks by offering them a way to learn a new ability that isn't strictly mental.
I can only speak for myself, but learning any form of athletics is extremely difficult for me, mostly because learning requires other people. And I am so awkward and uncoordinated that is humiliating for me to even try.
Games like this allow me to learn the way I like to, alone where I am free to make mistakes. It also provides a completely unbiased measurement of progress. (Nothing says improvement like a new high score!)
I have known about DDR and other dancing games for quite a time, but it wasn't until half a year ago when I started actually playing the game, and let me tell you, it's a bliss. Not only you do excercise and listen to pretty enjoyable music at the same time, it also improves social skills if done at the arcade and properly. People gather around watching you dance, and it always feels good to hear some complete strangers say nice things to you, doesn't it?
:)
Myself? I have lost about 10 kilograms, and I can surely lose more. A friend of mine made a hard dance pad out of plywood and had a article written about him in the nationwide GameLand magazine. Now we are in for organizing a tournament.
BTW, after getting hooked up to DDR and being long-time Eurobeat fans, we went further to discover other BEMANI games like ParaParaParadise where you dance using your hands to cross infrared motion sensors imitating the para-para dancing style popular in Japan, and many others like DanceManiaX. Go and see for yourself, it's fun!
___
On Slashdot, Russians comment on YOU!
The makers of the RAMBUS workout are suing the makers of the DDR workout, claiming that the DDR workout's prices were fixed in a subversive plot to drive the RAMBUS workout off the market.
When contacted, the makers of the DDR workout commented "Hey, hey, let's go, so let's fighting."
The makers of the RAMBUS workout had no comment, but stated that their case is very strong and legal action is already in progress.
Actually, in video game stores :) Back when I was really heavy into the DDR scene, I was playing for the sake of, "Hey, this is a new game," and "I bet I can get a higher score." I mindlessly pumped credits into the machine every day, playing at least 4 hours a day rotating with other DDR players. I probably got in a solid hour of DDR. After a month of sweating, I noticed my stamina was a lot higher, my pants were looser (31" waist on the pants), and I was just so damn happy all the time because of all that J-Pop music!!!
I don't recommend going to the arcade to play DDR as the most cost effective way to lose weight, but the home versions are pretty good and even come with workout routines built in.
It is fun for a while, but sometimes the attitude of the kiddies around the machine get on the nerves.
I use it as the exercise part of The Hackers' diet and voilà! instant weight control. I lost 10 of the 20 pounds extra I had.
You're not old until regret takes the place of your dreams.
If he's anything like most people who want to lose weight, no. No he couldn't. Why not? Because chances are he doesn't like exercise for the sake of weight loss. Evidently he does like exercise for the sake of video games, which is what makes the weight loss work.
He just needs to think of it as exercise for the sake of sex. Best comment overheard from some friends after jogging:
Friend 1: This is so much work. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Friend 2: Becuase we want to get laid.
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
And it was a blast. Yeah my legs are sore. But DANG I had fun with the kids. I kicked their butts. we were all sweating at the end, the kids were vowing that they would get better then me, and my youngest daughter was expressing shock and dismay that she had been beaten by "my uncoordinated brother!". LOL. The wife unit stood back and mocked me. even turning her webcam on me to show her freinds. I then pointed out that if she continued with such behavior I wouldnt buy her more computer toys. Said behavior stopped. Bottom line-Good execise, good family fun, but expect some taunting from non-participants, and some competition within the family. Will I lose weight? I don't really care. The family had fun.
www.getupmove.com
Registrant:
Redoctane
955 Benecia Ave
Sunnyvale, California 94085
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: GETUPMOVE.COM
Created on: 30-Dec-03
Expires on: 30-Dec-05
Last Updated on: 30-Dec-03
Administrative Contact:
Huang, Kai akim@redoctane.com
Redoctane
955 Benecia Ave
Sunnyvale, California 94085
United States
4084819121 Fax -- 4084819123
Technical Contact:
Huang, Kai akim@redoctane.com
Redoctane
955 Benecia Ave
Sunnyvale, California 94085
United States
4084819121 Fax -- 4084819123
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.MAXIMUMASP.COM
NS2.MAXIMUMASP.COM
end whois
Don't get me wrong, I love DDR. I have 3 copies on the PlayStation (1 and 2) as well as just about every song out there on the PC.
For those of you that like DDR, or maybe just like the idea of a new way to loose weight/get in shape, check out the sites below, they are not simple product advertisments. Tsk tsk redoctane.
www.ddrfreak.com
"DDR Freak was started on March 12, 2000 for the benefit of Northern California DDRers to get together and promote DDR around the SF Bay Area. It began when a small group of DDRers gathered at Milpitas Golfland every friday night to play DDR. As the group became larger, we decided that a website was a good idea, and it was first hosted on a UC Berkeley instructional server. Weeks passed, and DDR Freak started to get more than a few hundred hits a week, then a few thousand... Eventually, ddrfreak.n3.net became ddrfreak.com, and it continued to grow.
DDR Freak has since expanded its reach to DDRers nationwide and continues to serve as a community for DDRers."
www.ddrgame.com
"Welcome to ddrgame.com. We are the leading sellers in dance dance revolution games such as DDR Konamix, DDRmax, DDRmax 2, and the new Xbox DDR Ultramix.We are also the leading experts on dance dance revolution pads such as regular pads, non-slip pad, ignition pad, metal pad, and arcade super metal pad. At our website, you can find great selection and high-quality products, and also the best shopping experience. DDRgame.com is pleased to have you as our customer. We hope you will enjoy the shopping experience here. If you have any questions about our products, please feel free to contact us at the following information. We do welcome school purchase orders."
p090.ezboard.com/bddrjamzglobalbbs
"A heavily trafficked ddr message board with area specific forums and lots of cool goings on."
www.akddr.com
"One the the biggest DDR site in way up North! They have a DDR for PC Game to download as well as many ddr pad reviews."
I had played it a bit a couple years ago in the arcades, not very much, just enough to be intimidated by the really good players. But then a couple months ago, I started spending more time with my 14 year old niece, who is a DDR fanatic and wanted me to take her to arcades in between other activities. We'll be driving around and she'll be like, "Do you know if there's a DDR machine around here somewhere?" Anyhow, we played it together in the arcades to the point of exhaustion, for several consecutive days before I decided to go get a dance pad for my PS/2. It's an awesome workout for one simple reason: It doesn't feel like 'work', yet it truly is. The motivation to keep going, to beat a given song, at a given difficulty level, is very compelling. My DDR rig is right beside my main PC, and is often running throughout the day, so I can just get out of my chair, take a step to the left and I'm playing. Do a few rounds, while waiting for something on the computer, and take a break. Rinse, repeat. It's great if you know someone who plays, because you can encourage each other. I've gotten competant at Light mode now, but my niece has edged into playing on Standard more often, so I've got to catch up, because we still hit the arcade a lot.
My weight was already acceptable to me, just over 200 lbs, with a slight gut. I'm in it for the cardio workout. What I really notice from it is the energy I get out of being more active. Other forms of activity (well except for sex) just aren't fun to me. But a video game that's keeping score, that really keeps me going. And keeping active carries a momentum with it, one tends to *gain* energy from burning all that energy through working out regularly. It's nice to see that there's a whole 'movement' forming out there around the fitness this game encourages. I've been telling everyone I know that it's the best piece of excersize equipment I could have ever bought.
After playing DDR at a friend's, I thought what a great workout it was, so I got it myself along with a nice thick pad.
The problem? It's pretty high impact when you really get going, even on a 2" thick soft Red Octane, and that's bad for people who aren't used to exercise. Or if you have weak ankles like I appear to. I can't DDR more than once or twice a week if I want to avoid ankle and knee pain.
But it's great for someone who's already in better shape and wants a high-impact aerobic workout. More fun than doing another workout tape, because you can make your own moves.
When I started dieting, I also got a copy of DDR for my playstation. The game actually has a "workout mode" that keeps count of calories burned. I would play it everyday, for about 30 minutes to an hour. I noticed improvement after the first week: when I first started, I couldn't play for more than 5 or 10 minutes without getting winded. After a week, I was able to play for 20-30 minutes. I stopped playing it a few months ago. In the end, I dropped around 85 lbs. I feel much better doing it this way (a traditional program of diet and exercise) than going on, what is IMO, a "fad" diet, like Atkins.