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.)

arcade games

[tsunamifirestorm]

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.

Wow

[kdougherty]

That's right Jenny Craig, you're going down! Quickly buy your own DDR and get rid of that stair master!!!

Man, too bad

[bigben7187]

It's too bad im an uncoordinated computer geek...

Damn

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, since this is Slashdot wouldn't you expect the article be about computer memory when you see 'DDR'...

It's all about the feet!

[Zinic]

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 two fold.

[ctime]

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!

Re:Yes...it does work

[molafson]

I'm not sure how it could NOT work.

If you still drink 6 bottles of Coke, and eat a bucket of chicken for lunch -- that's how.

It's a PLOY I TELL YOU!

[gatesh8r]

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!?

Re:arcade games

[Hatta]

Man, I'm getting the urge to pull out the power pad and play some track and field about now.

Re:PyDance

[Coneasfast]

I suspect you will not lose much weight if you play it with your keyboard, however.

i dunno, i just tried it and it seems pretty demanding even with your keyboard, you may get some workout ;) (although obviously not as much as with a pad)

Re:Yes...it does work

[Jeremi]

If you still drink 6 bottles of Coke, and eat a bucket of chicken for lunch -- that's how.

Even then you'll gain less weight than you would have without the exercise. (Of course, if eat your 6,000-calorie meal just before starting your DDR workout, you'll probably lose the entire meal)

Bikes are pretty fun too...

[tentimestwenty]

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.

Trendy Diets...

[Anonymous Coward]

What next? DDR - Atkins Version, now with fewer carbs!

Work smarter, not harder.

[raehl]

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?

Re:arcade games

[Anonymous Coward]

Sex can be good excersie too. I used to weigh 325 lbs. I got some trendy 4XL t-shirt [cafeshops.com], went down to a local bar, and worked my magic on the ladies. Next thing you know I was down to a slim 3XL shirt, and feeling like a stud. Of course they say it was all water weight from me sweating so much, but I've never moved so much in 10 mintues before.

NEWS FLASH!!

[Graff]

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.

Re:Work smarter, not harder.

[uberdave]

Forget Manic difficulty, which move gives you the pulse rifle?

Re:Stop poisoning your body

[Xoro]

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.

Wow, I had the exact opposite experience.

I recently switched from drinking water exclusively to 3+ liters/day of Dr. Pepper, Vanilla Coke and Mountain Dew (all diet). I've found my concentration and memory improved, my food intake cut by a third and my sleep requirements have gone from over eight hours a day to under six.

I guess people are just different.

OT [was Re:Hmmm...]

[fireman sam]

Pffft...

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 ... IT BEGINS!

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.

Testimony

[tjackson]

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 [lightspeed.nu]

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

What a pussy. I'm 520lbs and wear a pants with a 74 inch waist. Fucking PANSY ass BITCH!

I dunno, my parents didn't buy this in 1988...

[raehl]

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.

Re:Stop poisoning your body

[julesh]

I recently switched from drinking water exclusively to 3+ liters/day of Dr. Pepper, Vanilla Coke and Mountain Dew (all diet). I've found my concentration and memory improved, my food intake cut by a third and my sleep requirements have gone from over eight hours a day to under six.

Something tells me you're on a short term caffeine high. Give it a while, you'll stop feeling so good...

Well, I'm impressed

[pjt33]

You're a brave man, promoting a MS product on /. ;-)

I tried your idea

[krumms]

Me: *slightly slurrish* Hi, howsh thingsh?
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 ... *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?

And that's all I remember :/ Next morning I woke up naked next to the pub's seventy year old bar hag.

Thanks a lot man.

Re:NEWS FLASH!!

[zeptic]

You've got it all wrong!

1st rule is: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB.
2nd rule is: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB.

Re:Don't be afraid of looking silly!

[Sv1ad]

I think every geek and nerd has experienced this kind of panic at least once.
Don't stress, there are girls out there who actually like nerds.
Disclaimer: yes, I am female, no, there is nothing clinically or physically wrong with me, no you cannot have my phone number. :P

Re:arcade games

[Mz6]

Yeah.. but to do any good at that game you had to get on your knees and pound it with your hands. Something tells me that that wont help you lose weight.

Re:Stop poisoning your body

[PsiPsiStar]

My diet is healthy as heck. I haven't had soda in years. My sleep schedule is still fucked to hell.

In other news...

[poofmeisterp]

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.

Re:Bikes are pretty fun too...

[Halthar]

Maybe the impact he/she was talking about involves a large tree?

Re:Don't be afraid of looking silly!

[Ignorant Aardvark]

Can I get your AIM screen name then?

Re:Hmmm...

[RESPAWN]

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.

Re:NEWS FLASH!!

[reverendG]

Obviously, some of you have been breaking the first rule.

Meet me behind Safeway at 3 oclock and I'll hand out homework assignments.

Re:NEWS FLASH!!

[The Fun Guy]

I've been trying to find some way to get exercise but nothing seemed to stick.... I'm fucking 24

If your wife is OK with that, then it sounds like you've already found the ideal exercise program.

Now, if I could just find a fun diet...

Take some advice from one of your elders, youngster. Take a look at the Hacker's Diet [fourmilab.ch]. It fits very well with a hackerish lifestyle, and is very effective.