Health and fitness are things in life that are regularly seen as incompatible with gaming. Where do you find the time when you have fifty quests sitting in your journal? Why should you have to stand up and put your body under stress when your favourite pastime barely requires you to move a muscle? Why should you even bother when it’s of no interest to you?
The brutal reality is that our body is an extremely important part of us and it needs to be taken care of. Gaming and fitness can very much go hand in hand, and here are five great reasons why it’s important to get out of the house and onto the treadmill.
Experience The Best Graphics Imaginable
No matter how much the visual quality of games has improved over the years, it can never beat the real world. Simply going outside for some fresh air will rejuvenate your body, and getting into the gym will give you a break from your own home. It doesn’t have to be intense exercise; just a way for your body to relax and get a little bit of TLC.
Go for a walk in the countryside, go to the park and play some sports, or get started on some equipment in your local gym. You will always feel mentally refreshed after some time outside, and your day won’t feel wasted.
You Level Up in Real Life
The feeling of your character growing stronger with each level is awesome, but better yet, you can do it yourself! It can be tough starting out in the gym, but with regular exercise, whether that’s jogging on a treadmill, trying out weights or pushing yourself to the limit on the bikes, you will eventually notice a difference.
Losing weight and gaining extra muscle is a fantastic feeling. A healthier body means a happier you, so the stereotyped fat gamer sitting in his mother’s basement doesn’t have to be a reality for you. You don’t have to be a bodybuilder, but you can be a very fit and happy gamer who still sinks plenty of hours into their favourite series.
The Potential For New Skill Points and Squad Mates
Gaming doesn’t have to be your only hobby. Multiple hobbies are the spice of life so why not make exercise one of them? Working out doesn’t have to feel like a chore. If you find something that’s right for you, it can be a really enjoyable experience. People from all over are in the exact same position as you as well, so you’ll eventually start to recognize a few faces when you make gym sessions a regular thing.
Get chatting to them, make some friends, compare exercise routines and help each other out. All of a sudden this feeling of dread when shutting off the console or PC to put your body through the worst will instead become a feeling of excitement. Time to get your body pumping and meet your gym buddies!
Get Amazing Loot at the End of a Long Quest
If you’re on your PC or console day in, day out, does gaming ever start to feel stale? I’ve found that once I’ve been to the gym or done something else productive for a good few hours, sitting back on my favourite game feels like a reward for all my hard work in the day. Get yourself out for some exercise, make the most of it and then come home to your games. Each gaming session will become precious with this mindset. It’ll feel far more deserved than spending eight hours a day in the multiplayer lobby on Call of Duty only to then realize you’ve wasted your day.
I regularly save my gaming time for later in the afternoon/evening so I can get the important stuff done. That way, there will both be motivation to be productive with my gym sessions and also justification for being able to sit and relax by my TV screen.
You Will Discover An Exciting New Questline
One of, if not THE best feelings in an RPG is when you stumble upon a new quest and it turns into an amazing hours long questline with mysterious twists and turns. The same principle can be transferred to your own life. Don’t get stuck in a rut with your gaming. Go out and explore! Set yourself a goal to work out with a specific aim in mind and stick with it.
Months or even years down the line you will discover something remarkable — a healthy new you. Setting goals is important in keeping you motivated and while sticking at it is a reward in itself, reaching the end and then looking back at how far you’ve come will bolster your confidence and provide that sense of real life accomplishment.
Think of your gaming as those boring fetch quests and the gym as that brilliantly crafted questline that has everyone talking. Why would you not venture into the unknown and give it a go? It’s regularly worth it so you may as well give it a try.
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We’re all gamers here. We love sitting back and spending hours in another world. As we’ve now seen it’s important to keep our own bodies in check and our gaming habits don’t need to be sacrificed to do it.
All of these five reasons show just how important it is to get off that bed or chair, head to your local gym and sweat it out. It took me a hefty amount of motivation to do the same, but now that I’m on the other side, it was all worth it. Do yourself a favour and thwart that gamer stereotype from the world.
