Introductions x.x

[KosmicKittyKyo]

Okay so I suck at these. M' name's Jinni and I'm 5'3" and weigh 290. I know that sounds like a lot and I AM big but I'm also stupidly muscled in my lower body. I used to be semi healthy but my parents pulled me out of high school and had me taking home school. I'm antisocial and it just gave me an excuse to be on the computer 18+ hours of the day and I topped out at 350. I've stopped binging and I go out but I don't really diet or exercise...or didn't anyway, and my body balanced out where it is now. I got DDR at the beginning of this month and since I've been playing for about 3-3.5 hours a day. I haven't seen a huge weight difference but my body usually puts on stupid amounts of muscle before I lose fat. Anyway, my question is. I'm naturally uncoordinated and all the stories I've read have been people who (I assume) play on normal or heavy settings. I'm still on beginner. I know any activity is better than none but has anyone seen results on beginner levels? If not I guess I'll just have to stick with it till I can play heavy x.x; I just can't imagine keeping up since I have trouble now. Any encouragement out there?

[sly rax]

Results on Beginner and Light level actually tend to be better than those on Heavy. The reason is that a beginner playing tends to be moving a lot, while a Heavy player usually is trying not to move much at all. Your movements eventually become less wasteful. That is better from a DDR perspective, but worse from a weight loss persepective. That is my experience, anyway.

[Manga]

I disagree with the whole movement thing. I do DDR on Maniac mode and I make sure to move around a lot. The recent trend of Bar-Rapers, flat-footers, etc. is just disappointing to me. They don't look like they're having any fun.

When I DDR, I do it to have fun and if that means moving around a lot, then heck yes, I'm gonna do that. Take, for example, Burning Heat!. That song is funky, has gallops, all the like and I can't keep my feet in a "Left-Right" constant pattern, also like in End of the Century on Maniac. I have to hop around, move my feet quickly.

Also, I rarely ever use the heels of my feet. I play on my tippy toes. Builds up more muscle that way, I've noticed, and is just more fun.

[abrannan]

As long as beginner mode is getting your heart rate up, you'll do fine. For example, a marathon runner and I run a mile. It's a good workout for me, since I have difficulty running and my heart rate will be cruising. But for the marathoner, it's barely a warmup.

[KosmicKittyKyo]

;D Thanks so much guys. I'm glad to hear the encouragement. I play on my toes too, just a habit I guess and I'm thinking about getting some wrist weights just to give my upper body some resistance. (I have like NO upper body strength ) Oh I've also noticed that I'm right foot dominant...what I mean is, I tend to use my left leg for balance and do more complex movements with my right. But I'm left handed. Go figure. I've been having serious knee pain and tiger balm and ibuprofen are helping a little but I'm also going to check into those new thermal care knee pads, the ones that heat up? I'll post when I know whether they're any good.

[abrannan]

Don't heat it. Remember R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression Elevation). Your knee is inflammed, and heating it will only make the inflammation worse. Ice the knee to reduce the inflammation. Heat is for muscle tightness.

And check with a doctor. You aren't meant to play in pain, and you run the risk of injury if you push too hard on something that's damaged. Better to take a week off voluntarily than to have to take 6 months off to recover from knee surgery because you pushed too hard.