Gamers Can Burn As Many Calories As 1,000 Sit Ups In A Two-Hour Session

A new study has revealed how many calories people can burn during a fairly hectic gaming session.

While you might think playing video games is a fairly sedentary hobby, it can shred the calories when you're particularly focused, committed and jacked in.

Looks like you can just pick up the controller to get that summer body.

Tom Fairey, CEO and founder of Stakester, said in a statement: "We all know that competition increases our heart rate and most of us have experienced the 'gaming sweat' that happens when you're searching for a last-minute goal in FIFA or in a tight spot in Warzone.

"It's no surprise that this burns calories, but we we're surprised to see just how many is burned during a two-hour session, it certainly beats doing 1,000 sit ups."

The only difference is that burning calories isn't the same as shaping and building your core.

You might be wondering how these researchers discovered this groundbreaking reality.

The good people at Stakester hooked a bunch of gamers up to heart rate monitors and made them play FIFA and Warzone, which can be two very intense and stressful games when you're invested in winning.

The researchers managed to work out an average calorie burn rate of 210 per hour.

This dispels the long-thought idea that gaming results in poor health, however it's up to the individual gamer on whether they choose decent food for that two-hour long battle session.

Interestingly, Aussie researchers discovered gamers are 21 per cent more likely to have healthier body weights compared to the average population.

The Queensland University of Technology did a survey last year of 1,400 gamers from 65 countries around the world.

They also found people who enjoy video games drank alcohol and smoked less than the general population.

QUT esports researcher Michael Trotter said after publishing their results: "The findings challenge the stereotype of the morbidly obese gamer.

"When you think of esports, there are often concerns raised regarding sedentary behaviour and poor health as a result, and the study revealed some interesting and mixed results."

This adds to the already established evidence that video games can be beneficial to people building visual-spacial and problem-solving skills.