From gaming geeks to fitness freaks

GlobalPost

When thinking of your average gamer, a bodybuilder isn't the first thing most people have in mind, but one company thinks they can be easily one in the same.

Friends Brian Wang and Richard Talens cofounded Fitocracy, an online fitness tracker that uses gamer-oriented ideas like leveling up, earning points and beating challenges. The site, currently in its beta version, has 70,000 users with another 60,000 on a waitlist.

"People don't realize that video games are an expression of personality," Talens told CNN. "There's certain qualities that people have. They're obsessed with improving the stat sheets, getting to the next level; they pay a lot of attention to detail. Guys who play ('World of Warcraft') … are very intense about whatever they do. They can turn that addiction and all its characteristics into fitness."

Talens, who weighed 230 pounds in high school, has shed the fat and now had a bodybuilder physique. "It's esssentially W.O.W. plus fitness," Talens said on CNET TV.

VIDEO: Dick Talens talks with CNET about Fitocracy

In both worlds where there's a sense of community and the goals are clear, two experts on human motivation say there are psychlogical triggers that overlap both gamers and bodybuilders, according to the CNN report.

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