Retired Elite Athletes' Physical Activity, Physiological, and Psychosocial Outcomes During Single- and Double-Player Exergaming

Elite athletes (i.e., athletes who play sport professionally) are a population who commonly exceed recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines and have higher health statuses compared with the general population. However, elite athletes transitioning into retirement often become physically inactive given they no longer require long hours of training and competition, and their physiological and psychosocial health suffers as a result. Therefore, this study's purpose was to examine differences in retired elite athletes' acute PA, physiological, and psychosocial outcomes during single- and double-player exergaming. Twenty retired Olympic athletes (18 females; (x) over bar (age) = 27.3 +/- 4.3 years) participated in 2 separate 20-minute exergaming sessions (a): Xbox 360 Reflex Ridge single player and (b) Xbox 360 Reflex Ridge double player. Subjects' situational interest, enjoyment, and self-efficacy were examined using validated questionnaires; rating of perceived exertion (RPE) using the modified Borg RPE scale; and moderate-to-vigorous PA, steps, and energy expenditure tracked using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. Repeated-measures analysis of variances revealed no significant differences for any outcome between the 2 exercise sessions except for RPE (F (1, 38) 54.6; p<0.05; eta(2) = 0.11), which was higher in the single-player session compared with the double-player session (10.3 +/- 2.3; 8.7 +/- 1.6, respectively). Observations indicated double-player exergaming to be perceived as less intense than single-player exergaming despite similar PA and physiological outcomes, suggesting retired elite athletes may better adhere to exergaming in a double-player mode.