The room is primarily used by teens or pre-teens with the average age of users between 8 to 14 years old. However, many parents come in to play with their children, especially if the children are younger. Children who are younger than 7 must be accompanied by a parent to use the active gaming equipment. During the summer, the room is open for play about eight hours each weekday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The room can hold 30 people, but Dehart limits it to 25 if possible. On average, about 10 to 15 users sign in each day to use the equipment. A coach oversees the room and helps teach active gaming participants how to play the games, she says.

“We make it very basic,” she says. “If a coach doesn't recognize a user or they haven't been there, they take them through a quick orientation. We don't want it to be too informational, or the kids feel like they're at school. The most fun is them trying to figure out how to do the games.”

Because many active gaming users at the community center are drop-ins, Dehart says formal programming hasn't been the best option for the facility. However, the room can be rented for birthday parties, and the center has held active gaming tournaments. Dehart has also been planning a two-hour active gaming camp for which members and nonmembers can register.

“We'll have to see how it catches on,” she says. “If it does well, we'll probably add a programmed class once a week.”

A mix of programming and open play has been successful at the Fort Collins Club in Colorado. The club offers a variety of exergaming choices in an active gaming space that is used mostly by children. In the cardio area, adults can use bikes that are outfitted with virtual reality biking programs. Programs in the active gaming room include challenges with coaches, Guitar Hero battles and exergaming tournaments. Most special events, including birthday parties, are offered to both members and nonmembers, thereby exposing the active gaming room to more people, says Amanda Sides, XRKade director at the club.

“It brings a wonderful sense of excitement to the club,” Sides says. “It's such a new concept, and people are fascinated by it, even if they're nervous to try it out. When we give tours to potential members, there are always giant smiles on their faces as they're shown the active gaming room.”

To further market the program, Sides sends out a monthly newsletter to the club's exergamers, and news about the active gaming rooms is included with the club's traditional marketing, she says.

Although exergaming is a relatively new form of exercise, she expects it to grow and pop up in more clubs around the country.

“The technology for it will only continue to get better and provide more realistic experiences,” Sides says. “And it's fun. Why pedal mindlessly on a stationary bike when I could instead be racing a virtual opponent or my friend on the bike next to me? It makes the time go so much more quickly, and you work harder because there is a little championship at stake.”

Game Off

Not everyone is on the active gaming bandwagon, though.

“Scientifically, the movement parameters in gaming activities are very limited,” says Brian Grasso, CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association. “The human body is capable of so much in the way of physicality. It needs much more in the way of multi-directional/planar stimulus in order to be truly healthy and functional.”

Grasso says active gaming is not a permanent solution and cautions that kids may lose interest in time.

“For our culture to truly change and embrace a newfound physical culture, we must have more than just little doses of activity in our lives,” he says. “A lifelong love of daily physical activity is what kids need. Gaming won't do that.”

Even Hansen concedes that active gaming is only part of the solution to childhood obesity.

“There are always going to be those that are just traditional, saying it's terrible that we're letting our kids watch even more screens, and part of that may be true if they're absorbing too much screen time,” she says. “It's a complement to traditional training for all populations.”

To make active gaming work, club owners must commit resources and time for planning, training of staff and re-investing in new games. Jennings, from the Y of Avery County, says that he plans to keep up on the technology and will probably invest in new pieces as time goes by.

“You have to do more than just have the equipment,” Jennings says. “You have to be committed to the programming side. We're just dabbling, and the community is just learning about it. Nobody, once they get going on the equipment, has a problem with it. It's not hard stuff.”

Active Gaming Tips

RELATED ARTICLES

• “Game Time!” http://fitnessbusinesspro.com/mag/fitness_game_time/index.html

• “When It Comes to Gaming, We All Benefit from Wii Fit,” http://fitnessbusinesspro.com/forprofits/comes_gaming_benefit_wii/index.html

• “Active Games Burn Up to Three Times the Calories of Hand-Held Games,” http://fitnessbusinesspro.com/news/active-gaming-calories-2905/index.html

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