Institute For The Future

Follow up to post about video bikes: They're fun!

I blogged the other day about these cool new stationary bikes I had seen at the gym.  I was there again yesterday (twice in one week!), and noticed a woman who was riding away intensely on one of them.  A few minutes later, she triumphantly shouted, "I won!!" and stretched her arms overhead in victory.  It was as if she had just passed Lance Armstrong to take a leg of the Tour de France. I chuckled to myself, and then realized this was a moment of opportunity for me to conduct some field research. 

When I asked whether she was enjoying this new piece of equipment more than using a traditional stationary bike, she shrugged and said that there was no real difference between them.  In fact, the new bike had a learning curve; but once you figured out how to change the settings, you could get as good a workout on it as on the other bikes.  I persisted.  "Was the experience different because of the video screen in front of her that had resulted in her burst of exuberance at the end of her workout?"  She paused, then replied with a big grin on her sweaty face, "Yeah!  I had a lot more fun!"

Her response brought home a point that my colleagues—Jane McGonigal and Rod Falcon—and I have been discussing with a client recently. Physical activity ought to be more fun! It should feel more like play than work.  Which leads me to conclude this post with the suddenly sad statement that it is time for me to go WORK out at the gym now.  Maybe I'll ride one of those cool new bikes for awhile.  That would be fun!!