DDR and Video Games: Not Quite Enough?

I actually bought DDR recently for my PS2. I use it to get my blood pumping when I'm feeling an energy dip or for a light aerobic workout when my legs are sore from lifting.

Though I will say it gets less time out since I bought Final Fantasy XII :)

I'll point out here that you could lose weight doing less than 1 hour a day if you moderately reduce your calorie intake as well.

But teenagers, kids and young adults really DO have a lot of fun with the game. I've been at parties where they put DDR on a bigscreen and literally everyone in the room gets sucked in to at least practicing along with the people on the controller pads. Go into a videogame arcade and you'll see some teenagers who are completely hooked on the game with all kinds of crazy moves. Maybe the kind of kid that gets sucked into shooting things and the kind of kid who gets sucked into DDR are different kids, but it's a great approach for some young people.

All the jumping around is a bit tough on the joints though so it's probably not ideal for older folks and people with injuries.

I actually play this 4-6 times a week for my workout. I use the workout mode and go until I've burned 300 calories (which takes me about 45-50 minutes). In combination with a reduced calorie diet (1200-1500 per day) I've lost 12 lbs and 2 sizes in 3 months, so yes, it can be done. I'm a horrible gym attendant and would rather be overweight than running in place going nowhere. DDR allows me to have fun while I burn calories, and keeps my legs in shape for snowboarding in the winter. I actually look forward to working out with this game!!

An interesting thing to note also (I just read the article linked on Reuters) is that they had the kids play DDR on it's "lowest" intesity workout, which will hardly break a sweat if you've ever tried it. Crank it up to "Heavy" or "Difficult" mode and you'll discover a world or anaerobic excercise you never thought a video game could provide.

I think it could be both.

DDR is great! Unfortunately, I no longer have a system to play it on, but when I did I would play it off and on throughout the day (I'm in grad school so I have random days off in the middle of the week). It's a great way to break up the time writing a huge paper!
I never really did it for weight loss, but rather as a workout substitute on days I didn't feel like leaving the house to hit the gym or was too bored with the elliptical machine! I definitely would break a sweat.

Some teens spend hours on those things. ]
Can't you put a dance pad on other video games :-)

I believe some games like Dance Dance Revolution could become popular but I don't think they will be the main choice in gaming. I love what they are trying to do but it is hard to see active video games becoming very successful in our society.

We shouldn't only exercise to lose weight - I do it because it makes me feel healthy, alive and vibrant and if I lose weight, well that's a bonus

DDR is my main cardio workout when I don't get a chance to go to the gym. I used to play at least twice a week, but the thing is I play on the hardest levels ('cause I'm cool like that ROFL). But anway... yeah... I lost about 30lbs since. It's awesome.

I do agree with what some people said though; it also depends on decreasing your caloric intake for it to be more effective.

I think studies like these just add to the confusion about activity. Of course DDR is not a magic bullet-you won't suddenly drop pounds just because you play it for a while-but isn't is better than sitting and playing a video game for hours on end? I played for about an hour a day when I first started working out (and didn't feel comfortable at a gym because I was so obese) and it definitely got my heart pumping. I agree with other comments that weight loss isn't the only benefit of exercise-cardiovascular health is important too! Plus, if kids have positive connotations with moving and being active (i.e. memories of having fun playing DDR rather than the traumatic experience some kids have in gym class) they may be more apt to incorporate activity into their lives. But perhaps I'm just biased because I love DDR!

DDR is a great game and gives me a great workout personally.Especially when I get a bit bold and crank it up to..*drum roll* Standard!I swear I don't see HOW some people can even function for 10 seconds on Heavy.Anyways,I saw an article about DDR being put into Virginia schools.I think that would be a lovely idea.Another step into trying to help prevent childhood obesity.Plus,its almost as fun as dodgeball.(Managing to whack the snot out of one of the bullies in class FOR class:Priceless. )

well im fat so i think this is stupid. I like being fat because all my non-fat friends are cold during the winter. Im also a commi so i love being fat and gay har har harrrrrr

Now we have the Wii, I think this is great for our over weight Americans.

DDR is cool . Today I played for an hour on workout mode and burned 350 calories ! I just started playing after stopping for a while . What I wonder is how long until I lose a couple of pounds ? Preferably 10 pounds .

Lyss, assuming your food intake remains the same, after 10 to 20 similar workouts to what you had yesterday, you'll have lost 10 pounds.

I recently bought the DDR dance mats and a few games for my PS2 and I'm having a blast. Im a teen and I'm a little bit overweight. DDR is tons of fun and I've been doing it for a few hours each day. It leaves me feeling good and I look forward to doing it. My mom who is 50 even joins in with me and loves it as well. It's important to consider nutrition too if you are going to expect results. I think that when you start doing something healthy that you injoy it motivates you to eat better too. DDR works all your major muscles and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in alternative exercise.

I'm approaching 40, and I play DDR at least an hour daily on Heavy. It's an excellent workout, and I've toned up quite a bit. In fact, I had to increase my caloric intake because I found myself losing weight too fast - and I didn't have much to lose to begin with.

DDR is addictive, fun, and great exercise. If you get good enough to dance on Heavy & Challenge, you won't need to dance over an hour a day (as the article suggests) to see a benefit.

DDR is great, i did some research on the nature of this, well, research and i realized that you had them doing light or begginer. Of course when comparing light or begginer to sprinting you wont come up with much evidence of of its effectiveness. But try say, psmo (pandora survivor max oni) argualy the hardest song in the game on heavy, in combination with a few hours of play to attempt to double A it and i can gaurrente its not less effective than any kind of excersise short of running a marathon. In just a few months of trying to double A psmo i lost easily 10-15 pounds and i wasn't particularly over weight to begin with. Sure i might have been addicted for a while but DDR is a rarity, its one of the only good addictions you will come into contact with during the course of your life, and thats something very respectable.

i love ddr got the xbox 360 version play it every day for bout hour and a half a day. Ive already lost like 10 pounds ina month so im very happy. Ive started to get a lot better than i thought it i could get to; i play on difficult. i will report back on my weight loss.

hi i just got ddr, i play on difficult/expert, how long would it take me to lose 10 pounds if i played it every day for about an hour and went on a diet?

I am going to get DDR soon but I was just wondering something. When on work out mode, does it ask you your weight and height? Because a 5'11'' 230 lb man would burn a lot more calories than a 5'3'' 115 lb girl, you know? So, just wondering!

Wow, you honestly can lose weight from DDR. There's this dude that has lost over 100 pounds in less than a year. He said he barely changed his diet, just had oatmeal a lot for breakfast, and drank diet soda instead of regular. He said he could burn about 1,000 calories in just one sitting of playing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9vX7bKE1hho

Watch that. I'm starting later today:]

Hey peoples.

@ Kristen:
Yes it does ask for weight and height and I'm pretty sure it takes that into account when playing. I wouldn't trust the calorie burning thing though. It can't be too accurate.

Anyway, here's my 2 cents. I do believe you can lose weight playing DDR, I did. You wouldn't have to adjust your diet but it would definitely help. I lost 35lbs playing. I went from 180 to 145 but I've gotten lazy recently and I'm up to 160 now. So, I'm getting back into and I'm drinking diet sodas and drinking more water. I play on Heavy/Challenge and that has a lot to do with losing weight. Heavy will get your body moving and blood pumping a lot more than Basic. Also, teens can get addicted to this just as much as shooting games. I'm a hardcore gamer all around, I'm 17, and I love DDR and games like Gears of War. So, I guess it depends on the person but DDR will definitely get you to lose weight. Also, if your just getting started don't worry if you can't play the hardest difficulties for a while. It took me a couple of months to play the easy Heavy songs but I would play 5-6 hours a day. =]

Yes, DDR does assist in weight loss. Last year I played on average about an hour in heavy on the endless mode. In about 3 months I lost just over 40 pound. I went from 260 to 220. I also destroyed the mat :P

Either way I know that it was not that I was more active or ate less. I ate at places like Pizza hut on a daily basis. So, for the life of me I can't imagine why people would say you don't loose weight with it. because I can tell you, you do. Also shortly after when I had no DDR mat it helped me with including other exercises into my life!

I just started my workout plan with ddr =) i really need to lose a good 50lbs.Hopefully in a few months i will =)
DDR IS GOD!

Sareh said:
Wow, you honestly can lose weight from DDR. There's this dude that has lost over 100 pounds in less than a year. He said he barely changed his diet, just had oatmeal a lot for breakfast, and drank diet soda instead of regular. He said he could burn about 1,000 calories in just one sitting of playing.[...]

Yes I saw this and that is why I started researching DDR. I'm 32 and I could use to loose a few pounds. I HATE the gym and get this...my husband works in one...I'm just tired of the gym ESPECIALLY here in LA. I want to loose weight doing something FUN! Not boring...I need to keep my interest kept. I'm going to try DDR on top of my yoga and see how this works.

Definitely you can lose weight with this! Before my wedding I lost about 10 pounds playing (one month). After the wedding, I kept playing and lost weight for about a month (5 pounds).

I then realized that I was pregnant and stopped playing. I actually played up until I was one month pregnant (when I found out). I used to play on heavy mode and I was scared to death that I had damaged my baby!

Anyhow, he's one now and perfectly healthy and I have just gotten back into it. I am 145 now and want to get down to 130, so we'll see how that goes! I'd love to hear other stories from folks who have lost weight this way, too.

These weight loss stories from everybody is amazing. I just wanted to know...does anybody change their diet as well? I don't know if I need to or not. See I used to be 130 lbs (I'm 19 years old and 5'4") and I was 110 lbs before that. I stopped my regular exercises (jogging, sports, etc) for about 7 months. I ate a lot of bad foods like fast food, deep fried foods, chicken wings, etc. So I gained 20 pounds. 130 may seem normal for my height and age, but you can really see the rolls developing on my stomach and developing really bad love handles. My butt got much bigger (in a flabby gross way) and my neck was developing some fat. So 130 is actually a lot of weight for me. Well, here's my story:

I started DDRing around July of this year. Just for fun you know. I started out on light mode and did it everyday. I still ate the foods I have been eating...not doing much for my weight. At around 2 weeks ago, I started playing on Heavy/Standard modes a lot. About 30 minutes every other night. I've cut my eating habits down (I used to eat 5 times a day but now I only eat 3 times, with 1 being half a meal's portion.) My results? I am now 115 pounds and still losing. I've lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks. Well, thats my story!

Oh, I forgot to mention I used to wear size 7 jeans because of the fat that developed around my butt and stomach...I am not back down to my original size. I used to wear size 1-3, now I can fit in it all again. As for tight shirts like I usually wear? My fat no longer shows, my hip bones are visible again, and when I wear tighter shirts there are no more rolls when I sit down!

Annie: That's amazing! I'm 18, 5'4" and about 125 pounds and wear a size 7 so it seems I'm in almost the same predicament you were in before you started losing weight with DDR. I got it for Christmas and have been playing probably 3 times a day since I got it for an hour or so at a time. I really hope to get down to 110 too!

well, i am 20 and will be 21 in april.(woo) I used to be an avid swimmer. i swam 3 a days for 2 hours each(drills) all through highschool. i got pretty chubby a few years after puberty because my step mom had me on medication all through elementary (ridilin + prozac) bad combination! so when i got to highscholl i joined the swim team and lost all that chubby. i was in great shape, i dont think a week ever went by that i wasent swimming. and to top it all off we were very big into carb loading wich i loved. in case you dont know what that is, the idea comes from the fact that your body needs carbs to function and given that we were all so lean before a big swim competition we would all get together and load up on carbs. all the best(worst) stuff too, unlimited pasta, pizza, rolls, more pasta (my favorite) and then i graduated, stopped swimming and kept eating the same way, at the time i did work at the arcade, where the spastic ddr lights flashed nonstop and i heard the same songs over and over and over (and over) again. i was less than approving of that wretched loud machine but it was definatly fun to watch the new people come in and give it a shot. i never tryd it. so here i am 3years later still not really an excersize i enjoy in sight plenty of fad diet books around my apartment. no i am not huge but compared to what i used to be it makes me sick to look in the mirror. and now... my boyfriend for the last 3 years has asked me to marry him. looking this unfit is not an option. right now i have a job doing phone tech support wich means i wear a head set and am chained to my desk for 40 hours a week or more. as my name suggests i am a game addict. right now i am playing WoW witch is addicting on its own. and into my mind creeps this memory of the little asian friend i had that jumped up and down all day long to get a new high score in that arcade, the same arcade i met my new fiance in, so 2 days ago i went and picked me up a copy for the xbox and now the once ddr critisizer game addict has found a new fix!!!! right now i am 172 pounds 5'5' when i was my fittest i was 150 witch seems like a lot but i was very thin. my goal= look good by my wedding so that i am able to enjoy my skiing honey moon.

let me also mention that it is a lot more fun just to play the game and not worry about losing weight , yeah watch your diet, dont do fast food or icecream more than once a week or not at all if you can help it, and have fun! wish me luck.

oh and i know this may seem kinda dumb but i like some of the songs so much that since i am still getting used to playing and can really only keep up with the begginer setting to just set it to one song that you like and just dance to it. how ever you want to, make sure you set it to a mode that you cant fail though. i dont feel dumb at all and its a good confidence booster.

I WANT TO PUT ASIDE THE PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT DDR DOES NOT RESULT TO WEIGHT LOSS. FIRST OFF I ALL I AM 5.4 AND I WAS 163 POUNDS. I WORKED OUT EVRYDAY FOR AN HOUR AND CONSUMED 1,300 CALORIES FOR TWO AND A HALF MONTHS. I WENT DOWN TO 119 POUNDS THAT FAST. NOW THRE YEARS LATER I ONLY GAINED BACK 10 POUNDS BUT THAT IS BECAUSE I DO NOT AT HEALTHY. 10 POUNDS IN THR YEARS IS EXCELLENT AND THIS IS WHY I RECOMMEND DDR FOR EVERYONE. YOU SAVE THE MONEY FROM GOING TO THE GYM AND ITS AT THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME. ALL OF THE SKEPTICS...TRY IT! IT DOES WONDERS. I STARTED AT LIGHT MODE AND WROKED MY WAY UP TO HEAVY MODE X 3 SPEED. ITS SIMPLE AND A HUGE BENFIT FOR YOUR BODY!:)

Amazing i have just ordered my DDR i weigh about 156 and want to lose 20-40lbs i used to be slim but with 2 kids i have piled on the lbs i cant wait to start seeing results!!!!! Does it also tone the upper part of your body and how fast does one drop dress sizes ???????? I am so excited cant wait to start

i got ddr about a week ago, for my wii, and i have quickly become an addict! with the wii you get an arm workout as well, b/c you have to use the nunchuck and controller to "step" with your arms. i'm planning on doing it for an hour a day, and i'd like to lose about 15 pounds by swim suit season! i'm 5'9" and weigh 145, so 130 would be nice. it's the easiest workout i've ever done, not in terms of intensity, but in terms of fun! i find myself thinking about it all day long, and i look forward to it, which has never been the case with me and working out before. i hate working out and i hate gyms, but this is the polar opposite of going to the gym. i would HIGHLY recommend this game, and i will be back to report how much weight i lose!

oh and on a side note, i've been taking a calcium supplement (600 mg, two times a day) for the past 3 weeks or so, since i've heard that it helps aid weight loss. i don't know how valid that claim is, but i have dropped about 5 pounds without altering my diet or doing any additional physical activity. just food for thought....

hehe I love DDR I've played it for hours and hours that is until I tore a muscle in my chest(my breasts are big) so I had to stay off it for a while, when I finally got back on, I've seen in a few weeks that my leg muscles were intensly strong!(including run and hiking) but loosing weight I'm still trying but it looks good so far

I am not sure if anyone is still visiting this site, but if you are can someone who has had good results with this please tell me which version of DDR the've used. Thanks.