I bet professional gamers are fitter than professional darts players.
I bet professional gamers are fitter than professional darts players.
That's not really saying a lot. 
The number of hours you spend in front of a screen has nothing to do with your fitness and health. What matters is your diet and exercise.
For example, I spend 10-12 hours in front of a computer screen each day. However, my fitness and physique is probably in the top 1-2% of the population. This is because I to the gym almost every day, and I eat an extremely healthy high-protein and low-fat diet.
I watched a documentary on professional gamers where they took their fitness quite seriously since reaction speeds and concentration will be better if you are in better physical shape.
I'd guarentee the average office worked is in no better shape than the average professional gamer. What was their sample size - 1?
Working out is fine, but excessive sitting in a chair is unhealthy in and of itself.
http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/warning-excessive-sitting-is-dangerous-and-unhealthy.html
The number of hours you spend in front of a screen has nothing to do with your fitness and health. What matters is your diet and exercise.
For example, I spend 10-12 hours in front of a computer screen each day. However, my fitness and physique is probably in the top 1-2% of the population. This is because I to the gym almost every day, and I eat an extremely healthy high-protein and low-fat diet.
True that. I know a lot of us office workers/researchers who run half-marathons and do triathlons like myself but I spend most of my day in front of this bloody screen.
If I understand the sitting is dangerous research correctly. It says that it doesn't matter if how much or regularly you exercise, if you regularly sit for a certain amount of time it's still a health risk.
That's something I hope will change in future generations. Because I don't think we'll ever think it's a good idea to move around while focusing on doing something creative on any sort of canvas. We will always end up walking into things and our big toes will always find the sharp corners. Also, working while on a treadmill is just silly.
Therefore we must change our genes so that humans get a body that can sit for hours regularly without health risks.
However, in the end sport is socially defined and there are sports, such as snooker and darts, which you might argue are on the boundary.
Why the jab at snooker? 
You're constantly walking around and stretching over a table.
So what if we are out of shape? Put a couple of guns on a drone and we'll match wits with the best in the world and live to tell the tale.
What about so called sports like poker and (I just saw this on tv recently on the sports network) barbequeing.
Barbequeing is a hot sport!
I look like I'm in decent shape, but my lungs fail hard. I have trouble breathing whenever I exert myself. I'd like to start "training" myself with a treadmill or something. Additionally, I'd like to build a lot of muscle with a home gym (i.e., BowFlex).
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Exercise
I still live with my parents and don't have the space for that equipment. 
I look like I'm in decent shape, but my lungs fail hard.
Do you smoke? or have asthma? I have light asthma. It can make it harder to get the exercise I need, even if it is only light asthma.
Additionally, I'd like to build a lot of muscle with a home gym
Gah, I'd never want huge muscles.
Gah, I'd never want huge muscles.
They are good if you want to scare away the women. They all want fat, balding men. (Just watch any good sitcom for evidence.)
Yeah, too much exercise would definitely be a problem when it comes to women. You don't want to end up like this guy, now do you? Just look at the damage he's done to himself. It would take half a decade of inactivity and mountains of junk food to fix such a serious condition. Just don't go there. 
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It would take half a decade of inactivity and mountains of junk food to fix such a serious condition.
Nah, muscles will un-tone in no time, and you can bulk up on fat really quickly. Just eat a lot of junk and don't exercise. It'll kill your muscles AND gain lots of fat. 2-for-1.
I've heard that some actors have gained 40lbs or more in a few weeks for a part.
Nah, muscles will un-tone in no time, and you can bulk up on fat really quickly. Just eat a lot of junk and don't exercise. It'll kill your muscles AND gain lots of fat. 2-for-1.
In the year I spent unable to do anything physical due to my neck injury I pretty much did nothing more strenuous than stand up. Combined with eating lots of junk food, I put on a whole 2Kg.
Do you smoke?
No. At least, not regularly. I smoke "socially" when a situation calls for it (which is rare, though I'm still not proud of it). I'll also smoke Captain Black cigars when I'm trippin' and actual high quality Cuban cigars taste pretty decent so I'll get one now than then (like once very couple of years).
...or have asthma?
When I was a child I was diagnosed with [mild] asthma by "my" family doctor. He gave me two "puffers" for it. They never actually seemed to help though and I eventually stopped using them a long time ago. I haven't died yet. It makes me think that I was misdiagnosed. Whether for profit or incompetency, I don't know. Maybe it's just mild enough to not kill me, but again the puffers never seemed to make a difference. During the testing it felt "wrong" to me. I'm not a doctor so I could easily be wrong.
I have light asthma. It can make it harder to get the exercise I need, even if it is only light asthma.
I love to shoot hoops and used to do it for hours a night. It's more enjoyable on your own[1] and with music because you can "meditate". It would get hard for me to breathe, to the point where I would cough up shit, but that never stopped me. That isn't really my problem (though I was always more of a shooter than a runner).
Personally, I'm too insecure and anxious to exercise in public which "eliminates" things like walking (which BTW isn't exercise), running, or bicycling on the streets, or joining a gym. That's predominantly why I don't get much exercise. The property that I live on is in the middle of wet lands so it gets really messed up every spring and doesn't dry until about August which only lasts until September. I spent a lot of months playing in the muck and getting covered in wet clay during elementary and secondary ("high") school, but these days I'm not motivated enough for that.
I've heard that some actors have gained 40lbs or more in a few weeks for a part.
Those actors are "prescribed" with diets and lifestyles specifically designed to gain weight quickly (without threatening their life) for roles that they deem worth the risk. They're practically eating butter 8 times a day.
It's not hard to keep weight off when you're fit. In fact, it practically happens automatically as long as you don't eat as a vice. Indeed, it's relatively effortless to keep weight fat off when you're fit, and keeping muscle should also come pretty naturally.
References
- Of course I fail at being social.
When I was a child I was diagnosed with [mild] asthma by "my" family doctor. He gave me two "puffers" for it. They never actually seemed to help though and I eventually stopped using them a long time ago. I haven't died yet. It makes me think that I was misdiagnosed.
After I was diagnosed I was put on a puffer as well, but my mom noticed that all it was doing was making me dependent on the puffer itself. The more I took it, the more I needed it. It actually made my asthma worse. After I stopped taking it, my asthma receded somewhat. I've only had what you could call a major attack two or three times my entire life. And one time it was because I was over exerted, and was in a low oxygen environment.
Personally, I'm too insecure and anxious to exercise in public which "eliminates" things like walking (which BTW isn't exercise), running, or bicycling on the streets, or joining a gym.
Heh, my social-phobia is somewhat like that. I can't even get outside often because of it. So my asthma is really only a minor problem. Not to mention it tends to improve fairly rapidly with a little rest.
Nah, muscles will un-tone in no time, and you can bulk up on fat really quickly. Just eat a lot of junk and don't exercise. It'll kill your muscles AND gain lots of fat. 2-for-1.
Yeah, fat gain/loss can happen very quickly. It's muscle gain that takes many years. It's where all these "I got ripped in 4 weeks" adverts come from: invariably it is someone who has spent years bodybuilding and has then completed a 4-week cutting phase. It only works if you've got enough muscle not to look emaciated after the weight loss. The final cutting phase is about 0.5% of the total effort.
What makes me laugh is when gym newbies say "I don't do weights because I don't want to become too big". Even if you eat the perfect diet and follow a perfect weight-training routine for an entire year, you won't naturally gain more than 1 -1.5 kg of muscle.
you won't naturally gain more than 1 -1.5 kg of muscle.
I'd estimate I was gaining 8 - 10 kg of muscle per year when I was young and lifting weights about two hours every other day. Muscle can get stronger and tougher without getting bigger (maybe it's losing fat embedded within it, butchers call this "marbling"). I was also one of those skinny types who couldn't put on any fat. Of course there are diminishing returns as you approach your natural maximum.
I'd estimate I was gaining 8 - 10 kg of muscle per year when I was young and lifting weights about two hours every other day
You were growing.
I grew maybe one final inch (2.54 cm while going from 137 pounds to 165 pounds) while being able to do more than twice as much weight at squats, clean & jerk, deadlift and bench press. Maybe all those "I'll bet an entire two-week paycheck I'll be able to do X amount of weight in two months" was extra motivation.
Regardless of your gains in height, that was an adolescent growth spurt that was probably slightly augmented by your training. What really matters while you are growing is genetics and protein consumption.
I'm talking about the gain of lean muscle mass in adults.
I'm talking about the gain of lean muscle mass in adults.
As measured by some researcher in a lab coat who tested some reluctant volunteers?
[EDIT]
As usual I'm prone to exaggeration, though I would still claim that it is much slower than the article suggests, especially if you want to maintain a low fat percentage. If you were going for all-out gains, you would be putting on huge amounts fat as a consquence of the calorie excess required for maximum muscle gains, and most of your additional mass would be fat and water.