Do gamers have less lean muscle mass on average?

[u/Content-Sherbet-4700]

So I think most of us have seen that study that says that the BMI of gamers actually tends to be lower than for non-gamers. But that doesn’t tell us the whole picture. For people within the same height and weight category, would the gamer have a higher or lower body fat percentage vs muscle mass percentage? Unfortunately I think if we try to post a link to a study in the post it’ll get removed. I think a lot of gamers tend to use that bmi study to defend gaming as a harmless hobby and as someone who once was like “I can play games but everything is under control” while things were falling apart I can see other gamers using that same rationalization.

[u/Key-Debt-5854]

all sedentary people have less lean muscle mass on average

[u/max_but_lowercase]

Normal BMI just hides being skinny fat, sitting for hours without physical activity means significantly lower lean muscle and higher body fat regardless of what the scale says

[u/StopGaming-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Rule #4

[u/Key_Salad_7223]

Yes, gaming addicts don’t go to the gym, but what is it you are trying ti figure out?

[u/Content-Sherbet-4700 → u/Key_Salad_7223]

So if someone games for 16 hours a day then he has less muscle mass but for someone who games 4 hours a day would we see a noticeable difference between that guy and someone who doesn’t game? Because a lot of people come here and say that most people who are opposed to gaming are also “equally unhealthy” because they just do other sedentary things. TBH I don’t really know if this is true and it might just be gamers trying to rationalize their habits by saying other people also have issues. While it is true that not every non-gamer is the pinnacle of human health, we do often see that when people cut out gaming they tend to replace it with more health promoting activities.

[u/Key_Salad_7223 → u/Content-Sherbet-4700]

That’s such a specific question. Sure I’d imagine someone who games 16h a day is rotting, on average gamers do not do enough exercise, someone who games 4x less is much better off, because they have more time spent otherwise, personally, I always enjoyed going to the gym, even when I was gaming, the amount of time I “earned” after leaving it behind just makes everything in my life easier, which includes training, and that’s the key point, that gaming does not makes your life easier, it makes it harder. Which includes your health.

[u/Cryptocaned]

Depends on what you do.

I often lift UPS units, computers, and other network kit at work whilst getting ready for and doing installs, so whilst I have a sedentary hobby, I'm not sedentary at work.

[u/EmperadorPollo]

I'm a gaming addict but I go to the gym just because I have a gym in my house otherwise I wouldn't so I don't know if I have less than average just for gaming.

[u/NoChairGaming]

Honestly, why does some generic group claim should matter? Look at yourself, do you have too much fat or too little muscles?

Gamers is a very large, diverse group. Game addicts is much smaller, depending on how you define it. But then again, if someone is addicted to playing Dance Dance Revolutions, they won't look same as someone addicted to WoW or LoL.

[u/SlientMyth]

It's correlation not causation I think. I have decent muscle mass and go to the gym a lot, but I still struggle with gaming. 

I think actually people who are into gaming would actually do well in the gym because it's quite gamified seeing your strength and numbers going up week on week, it's like leveling up your stats irl

[u/postonrddt]

I've seen the military has had trouble with recruit fitness in basic training for years frequently getting people that can't walk a mile let alone run one. It also shows in general fitness categories especially for youth across the board..

Fitness isn't just about muscle mass either it's bone density ie lack of real road work vs a gym bike or treadmill. Many gamers probably worse.

Low body weight/skinny doesn't automatically mean good health either Ive known people who never had a gut and could wear clothes like a model yet had things like high bp. Poor eaters can look good but they are not.