Not practicing makes perfect??

[mattbell]

I use a video game (Dance Dance Revolution) for aerobic exercise.

I usually play around three times a week.  However, I didn't play at all between mid-January and this week.  Six months of no practice.  The first time I played this week, I was not as good as I used to be.  However, the second time I played this week, I broke my all-time records on five of the ~40 songs.  This is kind of shocking.  I don't know if it was my running around the world and feeding my brain lots of interesting data that led me to be more nimble at this well-practiced skill.  Maybe it was also those brain games I started playing around with earlier this week that are helping me track the arrows faster.  Maybe it was a complete fluke.  Unfortunately, running a controlled experiment on this one would take a lot of time.

Generally being an expert at one skill (eg tennis) actually interferes with your ability to perform a related skill (eg racquetball).  However, perhaps at my fairly moderate level of physical dexterity, picking up a variety of physical skills instead of purely focusing on one makes them *all* better. 

Comments

[jhogan.livejournal.com]

Danielle and I just did a 45-min DDR workout in a Tokyo arcade a few days ago. I haven't played in at least a year (since I lived with you), but I found my skill hadn't really rusted at all, and was maybe even better. I think the difference is that I'm in better shape so I could really sustain myself on faster songs more.

My knees were starting to get sore, though. I have some doubts about whether I want to keep using DDR for exercise for this reason... if running is supposed to be bad for the knees, DDR must be fucking horrible.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I do think that for long DDR sessions, doing it barefoot on a soft pad is better on your ankles and knees than doing it with shoes on a hard pad.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

Running is much better for you if you're doing it with proper form and the right shoes, that are replaced so they're not worn out. Most shin splints/knee problems happen not from running itself, but running improperly, or with improper prep/materials.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

(That said, I can still get occasional twinges in my knee if I do high-impact for too long. There are ways to do DDR lower-impact, or to build up flexibility and endurance and such for any exercise.)