I have decided what I am going to do for my next set of challenges both in game and out.  For those of you that are new to the blog, this blog exists to help people balance their gaming with exercise and fitness.

My next physical goal is to lose weight without losing muscle mass, and to level a Guardian in Guild Wars 2 from 1-80 with the following restrictions:

• Only do World Vs. World combat
• No gathering
• No crafting
• No attacking mobs; only Player vs. Player
• No buying of items of the Trading Post
• No food or potion buffs
• No transferring items from other characters

I will keep tabs on my Kill vs. Death ratio and see if anyone wants to try the challenge with me.

As for the physical challenge of losing weight, it's going to start off easy and get harder as the time goes on.  Losing weight is not an easy thing to do for most people, and it will take months of work to achieve.

------------- Losing weight --------------

Alright, so let's start with the biggest, most time consuming, and most interesting topic for my return:  How to lose weight.

There are two things that you have to worry about when focusing on the topic of weight loss.  It is a very simple concept that many places will try to over-complicate.  It is a simple ratio of calories in vs. calories out.

Let's look at what a calorie is:

A "food calorie" or "dietary calorie" is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water to one degree Celsius.  This is an abstract concept when thinking about how it affects your body, but basically it is a unit of energy measurement that is fairly consistent when metabolized by the body.

So calories in is as basic as how much food you eat.  Diets that limit what you eat reduces the caloric intake. This sucks.  We will not be doing much of this.

The first thing we will be looking at is the Basal or Resting Metabolic Rate.  This is the amount of energy expended daily by your body just keeping yourself going through the run of the day.  This is usually a normal person's highest calorie consumption.  The best part about this is that this Basal Metabolic Rate is going whenever we are doing anything, including gaming!  As if that wasn't good enough, there are ways we can increase our Basal Metabolic Rate.

There are a number of things that affect your BMR that we cannot control, like age, gender, and heredity, but there are a number of things that we can control.

The three that we will be focusing on in the coming month:

1. Muscle burns more calories than fat does.  So if we can increase our muscle mass, more calories will be burned by just sitting around playing games for hours at a time.  
2. Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise.  These burn calories while you are doing them, but also increases your metabolic rate between exercise.  You've probably heard accounts of people claiming they feel like they have more energy when they are exercising a lot.  This is direct feedback from having a higher BMR.
3. Drink water!  This is probably the most important.  In order to burn calories by just sitting around, your body acts like a giant chemistry experiment.  Most chemical reactions inside your body uses water in some way or another.  If you dehydrate yourself, your body will limit these chemical reactions, and therefor you will burn less calories.

So in conclusion, we are doing 2 things:  We are creating a Guardian at level 1, and leveling him to 80 with the above restrictions, and we are learning about metabolism, and being aware of ways to increase our metabolism.

First physical challenge is easy:  Drink a 500mL of water right now.  Then weigh yourself, and take the following measurements with a tape measure:  Waist (belly button level), chest (nipple level), thighs (at widest), arms around biceps (at widest).  Add the measurements together.

I will post my results.

If you have 10 minutes and are interested in more Mesmer PVP guide videos, check out my latest:

 

Alright, time to get off my butt...  or get back on my butt... and get back to writing this blog.  Why did I stop?  I enjoy writing this too much to stop!  I moved to my new location and immediately got swamped with a bunch of work.  Before I knew it, 3 or 4 weeks had gone by and I hadn't published a single post.  I felt like I was letting down the community and I continued not posting.

One thing lead to another, and suddenly 5 months had gone by.

This has got to change!

SO NOW it's time for change.  What will be changing?  I no longer play World of Warcraft.  I have moved most of my gaming time to playing Guild Wars 2, and I have been playing PVP combat.  I was lucky enough to be accepted into a very good World Vs. World guild named Lords of Death.

I still want to provide physical challenges to do between my posts, and while I get this organized, I started making my videos again.

The first video is about playing the Mesmer in PVP and using the clones for the psychological factor they have against your opponent.

Enjoy.

Moving!

Me and Versace are in the process of packing up our old house, and moving 300 miles North of here.   We just thought we would let anyone know not to expect a video or update for a few days.

For a quick update, Versace has survived level 43, so is now the 6th (tied) highest Ironman Rogue in the world.

See you soon!

Physical Challenge 7

Hey all!

Last night while I was sleeping, a house fly flew down my gaping mouth, and rubbed the inside of my throat with sandpaper.   Then as he left, he flew out my nose, and left the booger generator on max power, breaking it so it can't turn off.  At least that's what I theorize happened.  Science...bah!

I looked for that bastard fly all morning, but he must have escaped into the night.  I'll put up some flyers around town, and hopefully track down that malicious insect if it's the last thing I do!

On a more normal note, I have released Physical Challenge 7, that being the Diamond Push Up!  Along with the challenge, is a video update for Versace.  Check it out!  Don't forget to subscribe, like, favorite, and tell your friends!

A Diamond Push-up is similar to a regular Pushup except it's more expensive, and ranges in carat, colour, and clarity.   It is also different in that you bring your hands closer together while in the standard push up position, they call it the "diamond push up" because if your hands are touching, you make a diamond shape with your fingers and thumb.

This variety of push up stresses on your triceps more than a regular push up.

Physical Challenge 7:

Adjust your push up into a diamond push up so you can only do between 10 and 20 push ups before failing.

You can adjust the diamond push up the following ways to make it easier:

• lengthen the distance between your hands
• go on your knees

By doing those adjustments, you should be able to get in the range.

Do 10-20 diamond pushups 4 times, with only 2 minute breaks between sets.

On the Ironman Challenge front, Versace has reached an all new high of level 41, and is now the 7th highest Rogue in the world for this challenge.  She is listed on page 3 of 51 now on the general listings, behind about 2 million hunters it seems.

That's it for now.  Cross your fingers that Versace continues her ascent.  In the meantime, keep fit and keep gaming.

Versace

Physical Challenge #6 and Versace the third

Impatience is going to be the death of me.  I was rushing too much to get the next Versace up to the same level that I rushed through the Hills of Stranglethorn quests and ended up making a pull that proved too much for an Ironman Rogue.

I pulled King Bangalash on top of a hill, and he ended up pulling 2 elder tigers with him, and then spawned his two guards.  I made an attempt to run away, but vanish was down, and I got dazed.  Pretty soon I had 4 bleed dots on me, and I knew the gig was up.  Versace the next generation lays to rest in Northern Stranglethorn.

I've succeeded in getting another Versace up to level 29 quickly, and I'm going to take my time, and avoid Stranglethorn altogether now.  I think that area was revamped too much in cataclysm, with the developers expecting people to have great gear.  I'll be sticking to the Arathi Highlands and Hinterlands for this attempt.

Check out my latest video, it's very simple, and non-climactic, but I felt I should put one out, since it had been a couple days, and I had promised another Physical Challenge.

Physical Challenge #6 provides us the opportunity to work our Triceps, another important muscle in the push up.

We are doing Tricep Dips, another body weight exercise.  You're going to need at least one chair or stool, or you can use the stairs if you have to.  Two chairs is ideal, but the higher your feet are, the harder the exercise will be.

Tricep Dip:

Sit on a chair, with your feet straight out in front of you, on another chair or the floor.
Place your hands beside your butt on the chair, palm down.
Lift your butt of the chair, and scoot forward, so if you lower your body, your butt will not hit the chair.
Lower your body until your elbow makes a 90 degree angle behind you.
Lift your body back up.

Physical Challenge #6:

3 sets of Tricep Dips until fail, with 2 to 3 minute rests in between.

We have another 4 physical challenges focusing on Push ups, and then I will be working on some weight loss techniques.  This will also in turn help our body weight exercises, because the lighter we get, the easier these exercises will be!

In a real life note, I am getting ready to move to another community, so I will try my best to keep everything updated, but if you don't hear from me for 4 or 5 days in a row, be aware that I am SUPER busy trying to organize everything for my transfer.  I only expect a 2 day period without internet, but things may go sour.

In the meantime guys, keep fit and keep gaming.

Versace

Ironman Rogue Guide

Hello and welcome to Athletic Gamer!

I have finally clipped together and narrated a guide for playing an ironman Rogue.  Check out the wowironman challenge rules if you're not familiar with what the restrictions are.

This video took me much more time to produce then my usual ones.  Usually my videos consist of just hitting the record button, and blabbing while playing.  For this one, I made 4 clips, and narrated clip 2 and 3, adding some freeze shots and such.

I also made the leap to dedicate myself to this project of making videos and such.  I purchased the software I use to clip and convert videos, instead of using the demo version.  If anyone is interested, I use NCH Videopad and NCH Prism for editing, narrating and converting video, and it works great so far.

I have been using music from the talented Daniel Yount who namely produces the music for the Shadow of Israphael series by the Yogscast, who I take a lot of inspiration from.  Daniel Yount has made his music available on iTunes, and it is royalty free, which means you don't have to worry about copyright issues when using them with your videos.

I have been working to try to improve the quality of my videos, and I feel that my quality is improving.  I still want to work on making the videos more entertaining, and keeping a better camera position while playing.  I think the only way to continue improving is to simply continue producing content:  Practice makes perfect!

It has been a couple days since the last challenge, and if I have time, I will release a quick video for Physical Challenge 6.  We're going to be working on our push ups for another week or so, and then we'll spend some time and challenges working on improving our %body fat at around Physical Challenge 11 or so.

I hope you all enjoy the videos so far.  If you like what you see, help get my videos some views by hitting the Like / Favorite button, share it on social media sites, and subscribe to my Youtube channel!

Until next time, keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Versace: The Next Generation

You saw the end of Versace, the heroic Ironman Rogue.  At level 35 she met an untimely end at the hands of an idiot.  Can this really be the end?  or shall she be reborn... IN FLAME!

The new Versace is well on her way to giving the name the respect it deserves.  She has stepped in the shoes of the last great ironman Rogue, and even threw down some new tricks of her own.

Never have I felt more confident of this challenge.  There is just something about this new Versace that gives me the perfect balance of confidence and wisdom.  She has yet to come close to death in her journey to 20, and leveled up with a smooth constitution.

Join me in my newest adventure, as I continue keeping updates as the new Versace reaches new heights on her way from level 1 to 85 in the World of Warcraft Ironman Challenge!

Don't forget to click like, and subscribe to my youtube channel if you like what you see!

An update to the Physical Challenge #5 that I issued yesterday.   I was able to do 72 push ups today, which is a 7 push up increase, or 10% increase!!  That's huge, and not what I expected.  My end goal is to get to 100 push ups, but 72 is a great number to be at now.  Again, don't worry, I have no expectations that most of you will be at the same number I am, if your number seems abysmally low, keep in mind that at one point, I was there with you!

Keep it real.  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Hardcore Minecraft: The adventures of Grimble the frog

Ribbit everyone!

So while I recover from the horrible loss of Versace, I created a new hardcore minecraft world where I will be recording the entire adventure start to finish through video.

Grimble the frog was born blinking into a strange new world, covered in snow.  Grimble, being a tree frog, understood that he had to quickly leave this snowy area, or else he would be frozen, and die.  Luckily, around the corner, stood a beautiful jungle!  He began a search for a new home, and was eventually able to reach the top of a great jungle tree to build a platform for a home.

In this video, I also release Physical Challenge #5


Physical Challenge #5 means we have spent 10 days working on our pushups, therefor should be able to see a significant improvement already.  That means Physical Challenge #5 is the same as #1, find your maximum again.

I know I said it was physical challenge #6, but that's because I live way up north, and you've all heard that Eskimos have 20 different words for snow?  Well they only have one word for both the number 5 and 6, so sometimes I get confused...

And if you believe that, you shouldn't be on the internet.

Here's the video of the first night, where I brave the monsters to retrieve some coal:

Leave me some feedback telling me if you enjoyed this video vs. my WoW Ironman video updates.  If this is something you enjoy, I will continue.  My goal to start is to have 20 episodes per season, and regardless of the feedback, I will do an entire season.

Thanks everyone, and keep fit!  Keep gaming!

Versace

300k damage was enough...

Versace, the greatest hero I have ever known, received 300k damage from failing during a quest.  She has passed from the world of the living.  And as per the rules of the wowironman challenge, she has been deleted.

This happened this morning, as I sipped my freshly brewed coffee, and continued along in the Cape of Stranglethorn, I was doing a quest where you venture into Zul'Gurub and disrupt the raising of the undead troll priests.

At the end of the quest, you have to click a ladder as the boss is casting a bad looking spell.  That spell is not only bad looking, but it caused 300k damage when I failed to click the ladder in time.

Death is bitter, and still weighs heavily on my heart.

R.I.P. Versace.


This is not the end though!  Versace's soul will be reborn into another undead.  You may be able to destroy her already fetid body, but her soul is invincible.

Videos on the ironman challenge will resume once the new Versace hits similar levels.  In the meantime, physical challenges will still be coming out every couple days.  I will be doing some minecraft videos, and other videos of games that I enjoy while the new Versace emerges blinking into the World of Warcraft.

Time to take the rest of the day off in shame.

Keep it real folks.  Keep fit, and keep gaming.

Versace.

Level 28, and Physical Challenge #4: The Lower Ellitot Potato-jam

Hello everybody!

Versace, my ironman challenge Rogue has made it to level 28 and is still leveling up in the Hillsbrad Foothills!  In my latest video I give some tips for questing in the area, and give out my 4th Physical Challenge!

So to start everything off, I had the Cat Carrier (Black Tabby) drop for me AGAIN!  It dropped on a previous Versace who died a couple weeks ago.  If you end up getting this drop (world drop at 0.01% drop rate), unless you don't care about the gold, don't use it!  It's a rare pet that easily goes for 3000 gold.  I posted mine for 2995g for 48h, and when I logged in next, it was sold!  This pet can probably go for even more, considering in the new expansion, there are the non-combat pet arena, so people are scrambling to grab the rarest pets they can.  Not to mention that in the lull between patches, people are already geared to the teeth, and start spending their extra cash on pets and other cosmetics.

I may put out a post or two about how to get a ton of gold in World of Warcraft, I took this up as a hobby 6 months ago, and made 300k gold on my main in the period of about 2 months.  If you guys are interested, I will share my gold making secrets!

You can tell by my video that I have the "singing sunflower" pet now, and that's from a chain of quests north of the Sludge Fields.  Definitely hit this area up.  There are no quests that lead you to this area, so you just have to know about it.  There are 5 quests in this chain where you play a version of "Plants Vs. Zombies".  There is no risk of dying, and they each give you a decent chunk of experience, followed by a non-combat pet which will sing for you on occasion.  He doesn't give you any tasty seeds to roast though, the bastard!

Stay vigilant throughout the quest "A Fighting Chance" where you throw hearts at Hill Fawns.  They turn into big black angry deer that explode after a certain amount of time.  If you are in range of the explosion, it will deal a significant amount of damage, and this is how my last Versace died.  Just let them do their own thing, and explode on their own time.

To make matters worse, a large elite Yeti named Yetimus the Yeti Lord patrols the area.  There is a quest to kill him, but it easily takes 5 people to kill him, and chances are some people will still die, so don't even try him on your own, and it's against the rules to get a group to kill him.

Enough of that, onto Physical Challenge #4!

We're doing what I called the "Lower Elliot Potato-jam", a position named after Sir E. Potato-jam.  The position is the standard pushup position with the following adjustments:

• Hands shoulder width apart, instead of wider than shoulder-width
• Hands / wrists parallel with your body.
• Hands in a fist, knuckles on the ground:  the ground should be in contact with your first two knuckles only, with your last two almost touching the ground.
• Lower your body so you're at the bottom-most part of a pushup.
• Stay there!
• Do 10 minutes of this position throughout an entire day, depending on your ability.  So do 1 minute, 10 times, or 20 seconds of it, 30 times.  You have the entire day to do it, so keep track until you have 10 minutes total in that position.

Okay you got me, it's a plank (modified slightly), but there's so much stigma around "planking".  Just don't go around town doing this in weird places, and no one will make fun of you.

We use our hands in fists, because this is easier on your wrists while in this static position.  If you take any martial arts that uses punching, you'll be familiar with this position, as this is how you should be punching something, to minimize injuries to your wrist, and to have the maximum impact possible.

If you haven't done it yet, click follow on this blog, or create a youtube account (if you don't have one yet) and click subscribe on my channel.  And please, leave comments!!!! I love feedback and I want to be a little more interactive with the community.

That's it for today!  Keep it real!  Keep fit!  Keep gaming!

Versace

Physical Challenge #3 + Versace reaches level 26!!!

Hello everyone!

Welcome again to Athletic Gamer where we try to balance fitness and gaming.  We're still working on our push ups, and doing challenges that help us get our max push ups even higher.

On another note, Versace is still going strong in her World of Warcraft ironman challenge.  For a recap of the rules:

• only white or grey gear, 
• no enchants or gems, 
• no specs, talent points or glyphs, 
• no professions except for First Aid.
• no food buffs or other player buffs
• no groups or assistance from other players
• no dungeons or battlegrounds
• no guilds except for level 1 guilds created for the Ironman Challenge
• NO DEATHS

So if you die, game over.

Here is the latest video following Versace's journey through this challenge.  The video takes place in the Sludge Fields of Hillsbrad Foothills.

Physical Challenge #3:

Physical Challenge 3 is quite straight forward, and we are working our core a little bit more for this one.  Do three sets of:

50% of your max, and on your last push up, hold yourself at the bottom of your push up (so a couple inches off the ground) for 20 seconds.

Do this three times, and you're done!

That's it for now guys!  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Push up form demonstrated by Berard the Moon-Crazed

I wanted to do a demonstration for proper Push Up form just so everyone knows exactly how to do it.

Fortunately, Berard the Moon-Crazed, a rare spawn in Silverpine Forest, nobly volunteered to demonstrate for me.  Unfortunately though, he doesn't listen too well, and his form is horrible...

All joking aside, here is some tips to make sure you have proper push up form:

1.  Get on your hands and knees.
2.  Place your hands flat on the ground, slightly wider than shoulder width.
3.  Now move your feet back, up on your toes
4.  Ensure your back and legs are straight.
5.  Lift your head up and look ahead of you.
6.  Lower yourself, to a couple inches above the ground, then back up.
7.  Profit.

Thanks for watching the video!

Please subscribe and like the video, tell your friends, I'm working hard at improving my video quality, and they're going to keep coming!

Along with this video, I released a Tera Online video talking about my Warrior Versace, and my initial impressions of Tera Online.  I talk about the importance of taking a rest day when your muscles are sore, to help them rebuild.  Check it out!

Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Physical Challenge 2 Recap, and Quality Control

Hello everybody and welcome to Athletic Gamer, where we try to balance fitness and gaming.

To make a long story short:  This attempt at a lengthy video was a bit of a clusterf**k (sorry kids).  I was not at all satisfied with the quality of the video, and I'm still working on getting my account verified by Youtube so I can upload longer videos, instead of splitting it the way I did.

I decided to do a quick video recapping the 2nd Physical Challenge, and to show off that Versace hit level 19!  Check it out.

Keep it real.  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Second Challenge: A lengthy video and more push ups? WTF!

To continue trying to balance fitness with gaming, I put out another video, and I wanted to display a longer "let's play" style session while I leveled Versace from 13 to 15.  The video is a little lengthier than I had originally wanted, at 30 minutes long, but I go into detail explaining push up form, why the push up, and what to do if you can't do a push up.

The video is split into three parts, since you have to have a verified account to upload anything longer than 15 minutes.   I feel like I was a bit too quiet, but it was 3 in the morning, and my family was sleeping, so I was unconsciously trying to be quiet I suppose.  I am still waiting for youtube's response for a verified account, so I don't have to do this in the future.  Click the "youtube" button in the video below, it will take you to my channel, and I will have annotations for the next video.

So to start, my max push up is now at 65!  I realize this is a little high for most people, but I have to admit I started working on my push ups about 2 months before even starting this blog, so I had a bit of a head start.  2 months ago I could only do about 25 or 30 push ups.  Make sure you right your max push ups down!  It's an important number, and we'll be doing some simple calculations to it during our next few physical challenges.

Pushup form:

Form is so important when doing any physical exercise.  It not only keeps you from getting injured, but also ensures you're working out the right muscles, and using your body to its fullest.  To ensure you have proper form do the following:
Get on your hands and knees.
Put your hands down flat, a bit more than shoulder width apart.
Straighten your arms.
Move your feet back, toes on the floor, legs straight
Keep your back straight!
Keep your head up.
This leads easily into one of the most important parts of a push up:  Core Strength!

Keeping your back straight is hard on your abdominal muscles, and this may very well be where you are lacking.  You're abdominals will probably be giving out while doing push ups, making your back sag, so watch out for that!

Other muscles used during a push up are the Chest (Pectoralis) muscles, the back of your arms (Triceps), and the front of your shoulders (Deltoids).

Along with form, make sure you keep breathing.  It's okay to hold your breath for short times during the hardest part, but make sure to keep breathing all the time.

Keeping a steady rhythm is a good way to keep yourself from tiring too quickly as well.

IF YOU CAN'T DO A SINGLE PUSHUP, DON'T WORRY!  You can work on your pushups by doing some modified stuff.  Even strong, large framed people sometimes can't do a push up.  You can do knee pushups, where you have your knees contacted on the ground instead of toes, or push up against a wall standing up.  You can use small weights and do a Chest press or Bench Press, or you can elevate your hands by a bench or some stairs.

The 2nd physical challenge is this:

Take your max pushup and find 80% of that.  Mine is 52.  Now do the following:

80% of your max pushups normal.
2 minute rest.
80% of your max pushups with arms elevated (by bench or stairs.  The further the elevation, the easier this part is going to be).
5 minute rest.
80% of your max pushups normal (if you fail before 80%, that's fine, move to next step)
2 minute rest.
80% of your max pushups with arms elevated
5 minute rest.
Normal pushups until fail.

This gives us 5 sets of pushups, and you should be really sore come tomorrow if you do these.  This is good!  This means your muscles broke down, and your body will have to rebuild them stronger.

That's it from me, I'm going to bed.  It's way too late for old men like me to be awake.

Keep fit.  Keep Gaming.

Versace

WoW Ironman Challenge: Level 10 Rogue

  We could call this the beginning.  Wowironman.com checks the armory, and the armory doesn't list any characters lower than 10.

  It is surprisingly difficult to get a rogue to 10 without dying.  Versace is so squishy.  Now that I have hit 10 though, it is getting easier.  I have some defensive abilities, and better weapons.

  I made a quick 3 minute video on her progress.  The video is a quality experiment as well, it can be watched in 1080p.  I'm not going to be releasing my videos at this quality often; my internet speed is crap, and there is a significant internet cap as well, so it costs me money to do that.

  Enjoy the video, more physical challenges coming very soon, hopefully you wrote down your maximum.  We're going to get that number up, and you'll be in personal record territory in no time, if you aren't already!

  Keep it real.  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

  Versace.

World of Warcraft: Ironman + Pushups!

  Hello everyone!

  Welcome to Athletic Gamer!  So I started yet another Versace tonight in World of Warcraft.  What do I mean by another?  I'm playing an Ironman character.  Check out wowironman.com for the rules if you want to start one along with me.

Basically you level a character from 1 to 85 with the following restrictions:
- white and grey gear only
- no talents or specs
- no enchants or gems
- no professions
- no food buffs
- no potions or elixirs
- no groups
- AND NO DEATHS.

Let's look at our first physical challenge.  I wanted to choose something that did not require any weights, since not everyone will have access or want to run out and buy weights if you don't own them already.  So this gives us one of the most common and beneficial activities out there:  Pushups!

I forgot to mention in the video:  If you can't do a single pushup, don't sweat it, do them on your knees, or against a wall, and we'll work on getting you into a standard pushup over time.  Once you can do a couple, you'll improve fast!

So the first challenge:  Find out what your maximum is.  That means do pushups until you cannot do anymore.  WRITE THIS NUMBER DOWN!  On your calendar, on an agenda, or even just in a notepad document.  It's so important to keep stats.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be focusing on this, and watching Versace level up to 85 (yeah right...)

If you like the idea of this blog, or my youtube channel, do me a favor and subscribe, like, or favorite my video so this challenge gets to more people!

Until next time, goodbye!

Why Fitness. Why Gaming. Why this Blog

   To introduce this blog, I attempt to answer the reason why this blog exists:  I love gaming.  Ever since I was a child, delving into the shadows of an 80s arcade, there was something about the challenge, the excitement, and the satisfaction of gaming that grasped deep.

  We used to live in a world where children played video games, and as one grew old, they "matured" past jumping Mario onto the goombas.  As we experience the 21st century though, this seems to be changing.  There are mature games, and gamers are aging, and still playing games.

  This leads to challenges.  Time management challenges.  Relationship challenges.  Health challenges.  I don't think it's a stretch to say that sitting in a chair and playing a game for 8 hours a day has an effect on your health.  Gaming and fitness is a balance that needs to be maintained.

  Enough seriousness, and enough of me trying to answer something that only months of blogging will be able to answer.  It is my goal to keep steady content streaming in, and I have plans of adding audio and video to my blogs.  So keep watching, and if this topic interests you then follow me, tell your friends, and keep gaming my friends.