In the light of the recent global outbreak, the PC Gamer team will soon all be working from home. We're trying our best to prepare. We can buy all sorts of wrong and horrible food online, but what about exercise? Our fittest team member Harry (he plays football every week!) offers some ideas.
When I stay home, the main thing I'll miss is the gym. I go a few times a week usually, and without it it wouldn't be long before I succumbed to cabin fever. And carbs.
My solution? Ring Fit Adventure. Yes, it's not on PC, but I'm not going to turn anything down that makes fitness fun. By all accounts this is what Nintendo's squeezy hoop-based RPG does as you take the fight to a fearsome bodybuilding dragon through the medium of squats and yoga. The problem? Everybody else seems to have thought the same damn thing. According to Nintendo's website at time of writing "availability is extremely limited."
But us mouse-and-keyboard folk don't need Ring Fit Adventure when we have PC games, and our imaginations. There are plenty of ways of turning a marathon gaming session into a calorie-burning extravaganza: we can squeeze in a few press ups between deaths or some squats to optimise time during loading screens.
Below I've set out a few example routines around a few of the most-played PC games around, just in case you have to work from home. This is also something I'm absolutely qualified to do, I've just, err, misplaced my paperwork (I'm in no way qualified and you should consult a doctor before embarking on any major new exercise regimes). Now, make sure you have a bottle of water to hand, and let's get started.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Each Multiplayer death: Two press-ups
- When a Multiplayer match ends: Ten squats
- As you wait for the Gulag in Warzone: Five burpees
- Melee death: Plank until failure
Call of Duty multiplayer is ultra quick, and deaths can come thick and fast. Not only does it not take long to get back into a game, you don't want to tire yourself out too much with more than a few press ups per death. At the end of a match you have a bit more time, so perform ten reps of the undisputed king of all exercises: the squat.
However, if you suffer the ignominy of getting killed in a melee attack, reflect on your shame in the plank position for as long as possible.
Rainbow Six Siege
- Each death: Five shuffle press-ups
- You've been clutched: Ten single-arm rows on each side (find something heavy-ish, like a milk carton)
- You got killed spawn-peeking: Ten dips
- You killed the hostage: Squats AMRAP (as many reps as possible) with two pulses for each
Unlike Modern Warfare, you've likely got some time to kill if you die. Of course it's important to keep communicating with your team and use cameras to ping enemies, but your general health is important, too. When it comes to your rows, try holding the weight at the top of the rep for two seconds for a little extra challenge.
And if you got the hostage killed with Fuze, give yourself a break after your first set of squats and get those hips down for a second.
PUBG
- When you're feeling safe with good loot and nothing to do: Ten single-leg deadlifts
- The storm killed you: Ten walking lunges
- Between matches: 30-second side plank
- You got butt-panned: Five dive bomber press-ups
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is one part action, five parts nothing. Punctuated by high-stakes firefights, most of your time is spent ambling from one area to the next, stopping off now and again to get the loot you need for all hell to break loose later. So, when you're camping in a safe spot mid-match, have a go at the deputy king of all exercises: the deadlift.
Work your abs with some time in the side plank position between matches, but give yourself a challenge if you get offed with a butt pan to the face.
