I hesitate to think that it’s because exergames are ‘too good’ that they make additional instruction unnecessary. I think exergames could be either good, great, bad, or ineffective – but they still reduce the roles of the fitness professional to a mere supervisory, passive role. Fitness professionals are trained in program design, and when a game is doing most of the instruction and modifications based on user feedback – what is left for the instructor to do?

Fitness professionals are definitely willing to work with exergames, provided that these games have something for them to do (other than set up the machine and turn it on and supervise players). But at this point, they have no real incentive to couple their efforts with exergames.

The benefits of having professionals support exergames is crucial. Fitness professionals are a huge part of the health and fitness industry. They have access to a demographic of athletes, fitness enthusiasts, gym rats, and health seekers (who like the health club environment). They are trusted in their communities as the health experts. When members and clients have questions about health, they turn to their community experts (usually the personal trainers or group exercise instructors). If these fitness professionals support exergaming, then exergames would be targeting another audience.

Currently, exergames are successfully targeting schools and recreation facilities. They are being used to combat childhood obesity and these are commonly the places exergames are popular. Although there are instances where exergames are in the health clubs, they aren’t being fully supported or utilized to its potential by the personal training or group exercise staff.

So, it’s not about creating another job for the fitness professional – trust me, they have plenty to do without having to supervise over exergames, too. It’s about having the support of this community to keep the exergaming movement strong amongst all health educators.