The effect of 4 weeks Interactive Video Games training on the lower limb strength in the college students

BACKGROUND: Today, fun has become one of the most important factors in choosing and adhering to physical exercise. Interactive video games (IVG), as a kind of video game with physical sensation, provide new ideas to explore the effects of different exercise modalities on physical fitness.OBJECTIVE: To examine four weeks IVGs training effects on the lower-extremity muscle strength for healthy college students as well as investigating if IVGs can be used as a new alternative and validate approach on the muscle strength training for all.METHODS: Switch (Nintendo, Japan) was used as an interactive video game device and the game "Ring Fit Adventure" was used as the exercise content. Nine physically fit college students (mean age: 19.44 ± 0.53 years, height: 166.34 ± 10.05 cm, weight: 54.52 ± 7.67 kg) were selected and randomly divided into three groups: group 1: lower limb exercise only using the switch fitness ring (G1); group 2: total body exercise using the switch fitness ring (G2); group 3 (G3): Pilates ring for Lower limb exercise (no physical game experience sense) for the experiment, before and after the experiment were carried out longitudinal jumping cmj and hanging piece thigh squat exercise machine 1RM of lower limb strength test. Paired-samples t-test was used to analyze the differences in longitudinal jump height, power, and leg strength 1RM between the groups before and after the intervention; one-way ANOVA was used to test whether there were group differences in training effects.RESULTS: Interactive video games training affected lower limb strength quality, and there were significant differences in vertical jump height (p=0.001<0.05), power (p=0.004<0.05) and leg strength 1RM (p=0.001<0.05) before and after the intervention training; the training effects of different groups were significantly different in vertical jump height (F=0.130, p=0.881>0.05), power (F=0.119, p=0.890>0.05), and leg strength 1RM (F=2.548, p=0.158>0.05) were not significantly different.CONCLUSION: Full-body or lower extremity Interactive video games training can significantly improve lower extremity strength quality; in the same context, lower extremity training using real Interactive video games fitness rings and Pilates rings without Interactive video games experience can achieve similar training effects. Interactive video games can provide new options for physical exercise for the general public.