Profiling exercise intensity during the exergame Hollywood Workout on XBOX 360 Kinect®

Background Despite the increasing popularity of exergame practice and its promising benefits in counteracting physical inactivity, limited research has been performed to document the physiological responses during an exergame session. This study aims (i) to investigate the responses of heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$) during an exergame session and to compare with HR and ${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ measured during joystick session and (ii) to compare HR and ${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ obtained during exergame and joystick session with those HR and ${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ associated with first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2, respectively) obtained during a maximal graded exercise test. Methods A total of 39 participants performed a maximal graded exercise test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}\max $), VT1, and VT2. On separate days, participants performed an exergame and traditional sedentary game (with a joystick) sessions. The time that participants remained with HR and ${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ below the VT1, between the VT1 and VT2 and above the VT2 were calculated to determine exercise intensity. Results Heart rate and ${\dot{\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ were below VT1 during 1,503 ± 292 s (86.1 ± 16.7%) and 1,610 ± 215 s (92.2 ± 12.3%), respectively. There was an increase in HR and ${{\dot {\rm V}}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ as a function of exergame phases, since HR mean values in the ‘warm-up’ period (119 ± 13 bpm) were lower than the ‘main phase’ (136 ± 15 bpm) and ‘cool-down’ periods (143 ± 15 bpm) (p < 0.001). Regarding ${\dot {\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ values, the ‘warm-up’ (25.7 ± 2.9 mL.kg−1.min−1) were similar to the ‘main phase’ (25.1 ± 2.8 mL.kg−1.min−1) (p > 0.05) and lower than the ‘cool-down’ (28.0 ± 4.8 mL.kg−1.min−1) (p < 0.001). For all times of the joystick session, average HR and ${\dot {\rm V}}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}}$ were below the VT1 levels. Conclusion Exergames can be classified as light to moderate exercise. Thus, exergames could be an interesting alternative to traditional forms of exercise.