10 Ideas for Merging Tabletop Games + Weight Training
I've long held the belief that tabletop gamers and fitness geeks are the same type of person with different expressions of their passion and focus.
The thing is, fitness geeks tend to be, well, fit. And gamers can sometimes be less than fit.
And I think that's sad because everybody deserves a chance to be healthy and strong and live longer lives (so they can play more games!)
1. Lifters Use Numbers to Track Progress
It's called "the weight on the bar". If you're following a well-crafted progressive overload weight training program, you will see numbers move in a positive direction (or in a direction that is congruent with your training momentum).
It's like XP, but for lifters.
2. Gamers Use Numbers to Track Progress
These are the "experience points" people love to accumulate.
In order to "level up" you have to earn more XP.
There is an inherent drive in all humans to hit the progress treadmill and watch their "stats" grow over time.
Power is psychologically addictive.
3. Gamers Seek Agency and Control Through Roleplaying
Gamers sometimes use games as a way to escape the reality of their own personal flaws and weaknesses and take on the role of a superhero character.
They seek more control over events in an uncertain world whereas their real lives may be scary and uncertain.
People want control. They want to know they can beat the odds.
They want to make funny voices while they're doing it.
4. Lifters Seek Agency and Control Through Lifting
There's a saying spraypainted on the wall of my training gym:
"Everything seems easier after deadlifts."
If you can pick up several hundred pounds or even 2x your body weight consistently, you feel like a living god. That is true control over your circumstances.
Maybe your marriage is falling apart, your kids hate you, your bank account is 0, your dog has cancer.
You still lifted up 8 big steel plates and you can do it again tomorrow, too.
5. Gamers Love to Talk About their Hobby
The tribe is big, but once you find your little niche tribe, and you know who plays which games, you can go anywhere in the world and have a conversation about your character, what modules you played, your favorite adventures, and what spells you like the best.
It's a true global club.
6. Lifters Love to Talk About their Hobby
The tribe is big, but once you find your little niche tribe, and you know who's into what kind of training, you can go anywhere in the world and have a conversation about your program, your PR, who your trainers are, which Instagram influencers you think are complete morons, and which protein supplements you like the best.
It's a true global club.
7. Gamers Always Have Something to Look Forward to
The next session is only days or weeks away. You have it on your calendar, you know where you left off before, and you're ready to dive in and get back to action and level up some more.
8. Lifters Always Have Something to Look Forward to
The next session is only days or hours away. You have it on your calendar, you know where you left off before, and you're ready to dive in and get back to action and increase your fitness some more.
9. Gamers Need Lifters
Not everybody is a gamer, and not everybody is a lifter. But, lifters who game should reach out to gamers who want to improve their health and fitness to join both a campaign and a workout program (again, if you live longer you can play more games!)
10. Lifters Need Gamers
If you've spent too much time deep in the hole of personal training social media, you know it's a particularly inauthentic place to be. That, combined with intense focus on the self and the ego, creates a deadly situation where failure is unsafe and damaging to one's ego. Gamers should reach out to lifters to get them to put away the influencer babble for a while and go on a fantasy adventure where taking risks is encourage and failure doesn't mean literal death.
And you get to roll funny dice!
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