If the gym is too expensive, it is too hot, and you are just bored out of your gourd with the idea of exercise, you may want to consider downloading the latest new free app phenomenon – “PokemonGo.”
I was a bit of a skeptic too. How can a phone game really make anyone move more? Isn’t it silly to have your head in some game? What the heck is a Pokemon anyway and why would I care?
So many questions! The Pokemon game uses Google Maps to help you align with your current environment & plugs in to common spaces various Pokemon to be found or fought with.
From Our Guest Blogger Today: Tracey Anderson –
Technology Integration Specialist & Gamer
PokemonGO is a landmark game. We are living through rapid digital history-in-the-making right now. Augmented Reality (AR) games like PokemonGO are going to start popping up in all guises as an option on all your devices in the very near future.
I am recognizably a ‘bored’ exerciser in gyms, I like what it does to my body, and I give it 150%, but my mind lacks a lot of stimulus during workout time. I become overly competitive with myself and others in gyms, pushing too hard, expecting too much and resultantly usually injuring and demotivating myself from making a workout into a daily habit that sticks. My mind focuses in on the minutia of stats, times, weights, body measurements because I need to engage my mental faculties – and it is that kind of mental engagement which is absolutely counter-productive for me. I burn out quickly because I’m not achieving at the rate I want to; my body cannot possibly keep up with my mind. Realizing this was a very important piece of the puzzle for me as I’ve become accustomed to a seesaw of working out a lot over a period of time, or not working out at all. Weight loss followed by weight gain and so on. Maintaining fitness has been very difficult for me and PokemonGO is helping me understand how to achieve a much more sustainable daily exercise routine.
The game engages my mind and my body in very different ways – at the same time. This is essential for me. My body does the physical work while my mind ponders the ever increasing complexities of the game as I walk around. It’s a lot like multi-tasking while exercising, and it does a beautiful job of diverting my brain from over-analyzing my fitness progress. I simply lose track of how much or how hard or how long I am exercising for because I’m focused on playing the game in the real world. I’m out and about in my town, meeting people, exploring new places, getting a lot of fresh air and yep, catching those Pokémon! In the 17 days I’ve played it I’ve walked nearly 100 kilometers. That’s 62 miles. I’m averaging a 5k+ every single day and I’m loving it. I don’t get up in the morning and have to drag myself to the gym. I get up thinking about how lovely the water looks at 7am and how I’m going out to compete with other players as I walk around town. I’m getting close to adding in some jogs to my walking because I’m curious to see what effect running will have on my ability to cover more in-game ground, which means potentially new Pokémon I’ve never even seen yet. The hook is inside playing the game – not in competing with the ability of my body but a fitter body is going to inevitably be the result.
I’ve started craving more protein naturally and snacking less as a result. I sleep better. I’m less anxious about everything and more even tempered. My outlook on being with people has a done a complete 180. Rather than being less engaged with the world around me because I’m playing a game – I feel much more engaged with the world. As someone employed to teach technology and a passionate life-long gamer, the freedom from the computer is immense. I can game outside and keep fit at the same time. It feels miraculous to me and I can see the lifesaving potential I’ve always suspected games could provide, coming to some kind of fruition here.
Yes, we’ve seen sensationalized news stories of people walking off cliffs or into traffic playing – out of 45 million and rising players, those stories are isolated incidents. Focus instead on all the socially anxious formerly housebound people who are out and about playing PokemonGO and documenting how much better they feel being given a way to connect with others that is really possible for them. Doctors are now going on record talking about the benefits of the game to physical and mental health for people of all ages. This is a phenomenon and rightly so.
The future is bright and filled with Pokémon.
Denise’s Two Cents:
These are amazing times we live in with the tech world becoming another way to get support for your moving life. Fitbits/Jawbone and tons of cool apps or online services allow you to track your movement and food daily… and good many of them are free!
Check out FatSecret for weight loss and give Pokemon a try. See you in the streets!
Thanks for Checking In!
Denise Gaylord
Personal Trainer & Challenge Coach
Provincetown USA