Since I'm a personal trainer and fitness writer, people are always surprised and horrified that I'm also so deeply a part of the videogame world. (Actually, a lot about me surprises and horrifies people, but we'll just stick with the videogame thing for now.) Sure, there's plenty about videogames that should be of concern to someone in the fitness industry -- the 11-hour jags of Fallout 3 spent in a hunched-over, lousy-postured position; the mandatory diet of pizza, Mountain Dew and Pixie Stix; the reams of irrefutable evidence that prove that even casual exposure to games involving weapons will turn the most mild-mannered gamer into a detached and bloodthirsty sociopath. So, while there are a few reasons that I may theoretically have for not digging videogames as a member of the fitness industry, there are a few reasons that I have for digging them because I'm a member of the fitness industry.

If you're the type of person that goes to a gym, the next time you go to work out, check out all of the stuff that's designed to quicken your reaction time or improve your balance. It won't take you long to list it all, because there's not a heck of a lot of it. But it's the same reaction time that you need to avoid a spectacular high-speed crash in Burnout or Midnight Club, and the same reaction time that you need to avoid getting splattered in any number of online fragfests that'll keep you healthy and happy in real life. The same can be said of the balance you need to post impressive scores in Wii Fit or in Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip.

Why are these things so important? Because the sad fact of the matter is this: The world doesn't care about you. Tree branches fall. Patches of ice can appear invisible. People drive around without paying as much attention to things as they should. I don't care how much you can bench press or how long you can run on the treadmill; if you don't have the ability to safely hop out of the way of a speeding car, it's "Game Over."

To further boost your reaction time and balance, here are a few simple exercises that I do with clients at my Boston-area Black Belt Fitness Personal Training Studio. These will help speed up the process by which your body takes in and responds to external information and help you better determine and understand your center of gravity and how it relates to your environment. You'll not only be better able to deal with whatever the world decides to throw at you, you'll also be sharpening the skills you'll need the next time you get behind the virtual wheel of a 500-horsepower racing machine or throw down against a buddy in Wii Fit Yoga.

Even better is that you don't need a lot of equipment to experience these benefits. If you can come up with a golf ball, a tennis ball, a plastic spoon and a drinking glass, you're good to go. (In breaking with gaming tradition, I told you all of your quest items in advance. Had this been an actual game, I would have told you to get a golf ball, waited for you to return, and then sent you back to the ball store for a tennis ball.)

Blind catch

Not only is this a great way to work on your reaction time, it has the added drama of potential bodily injury. Stand facing a wall holding a tennis ball. You should be about 10 or 15 feet away from the wall. With your eyes open, throw the ball against the wall. As soon as the ball leaves your hand, close your eyes. Keep them closed and don't open them until you hear the ball hit the wall.

Now comes the fun part; try to catch the ball before it hits the ground (or you). In the picture, you can see how fast Lauren's reaction time is. If she were any faster, she'd be able to catch the ball even before she threw it!

See if you can work up to the point where you can make five successful catches in a row.

Practice doing this with your eyes open at first, so you can get a rough sense of where the ball may end up.

Multi-ball mayhem

This is a great way to work on both your reaction time and your hand-eye coordination. Stand holding a tennis ball in one hand and a golf ball in the other.

Toss them both into the air at the same time just above head height. Try to catch each ball in the opposite hand from the one that threw it. Once more, Lauren proves how amazing her reaction time is.

Again, see if you can get to the point where you can nail five of these in a row.

If you want, you can ease into this by using two tennis balls or two golf balls. Two equally sized and weighted balls will be slightly easier to catch than two mismatched balls.

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The spoon thing

While it's good to have great balance while standing still, it's even better to have great balance while moving. Even better, though, is to have great balance while moving with a plastic spoon in your mouth!

Place the handle of a plastic spoon in your mouth and hold it in place by biting down on it with your teeth. Place a golf ball in what would be considered the "spooniest" part of the spoon. Now raise your left leg in front of you and raise your arms out to your sides until they're parallel to the floor.

Carefully -- and without letting the golf ball fall from the spoon -- lift your right arm until it's pointing to the ceiling and lower your left arm until it's pointing to the floor. Hold for a beat and then return to the starting position. Do five repetitions balancing on your right leg and then five balancing on your left leg.

The really thirsty game

Work on your balance while you also strengthen and stretch your lower back and hamstrings. In terms of coolness, this is the fitness equivalent of being able to play a game that was a combination of World of Warcraft, Katamari Damacy and Fight Night Round 3.

Stand with a FULL glass of water on the floor in front of you about a-foot-and-half away.

Slowly, extend your left leg behind you as you lean forward with your upper body. Try to keep both legs and your back straight. Lean forward until you can pick up the glass. Now -- very slowly -- reverse the motion while holding the glass of water. See if you can return to the starting position without spilling any water.

Do five of these balancing on your left leg and then five while balancing on your right leg. And if you can do the whole thing without spilling a drop, you can reward yourself with a drink -- just like Lauren is doing here!

People in the health and wellness field have long harangued the videogame industry for creating a generation -- or two -- of couch-bound and overweight people. Sure, in a perfect world, everyone's leisure time would be a harmonious blend of exercise and play. But just because you spend more of your time questing and racing than crunching and curling, it doesn't mean that you're not doing anything to improve your health. Even if you hit the gym three days a week and do a standard strength and endurance workout, you're not really doing anything to improve your reaction time or your balance. Gaming, though, does help to develop these attributes. And in the real world, these are things you need.