We've tested the Nintendo Switch on planes. We've Switched at bars. We've Switched in beds, on couches, at coffee shops, and, yes, in bathrooms. (Don't judge. Once you get hooked on Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you too will come up with excuses for why you couldn't put your incredibly portable game system down for a few minutes.)

Having tested Nintendo's new home-portable hybrid system in all kinds of situations, I got one idea that I was surprised I hadn't seen other gaming and Nintendo fans suggest: the gym. For years, gaming and fitness have eyed each other coyly, with Wii Fit in particular sparking an obnoxious trend of bulky, workout-minded kits for game systems. This trend has mostly fallen by the wayside, and I remember it less-than-fondly every time I notice an old EA Sports Active 2 bundle buried in my pile of old-tech boxes.

I've always been more interested in the stories of gamers who attach traditional games to their fitness regimens, like World of Warcraft rigs slapped onto treadmills. Yet these have also seemed less than ideal. How are you supposed to walk even slightly fast—let alone jog—while managing a mouse and keyboard rig?

Now, I don't own a treadmill, nor do I have any interest in cracking open that old EA box. But I do have a gym membership, and when I went there on Monday, I already had my Switch with me. What started as "I'm not leaving this thing in the car" turned into something surprising: a mighty good fitness accessory.

Now you’re jogging with power

It all started innocently enough. I had time to kill before a lunch meeting, so I grabbed gym gear and my work messenger bag and hit the road. My Switch carrying case fits neatly with the rest of my stuff (a fact that I am terrified will lead me to lose it at some point) but on this occasion, I wasn't annoyed that I'd grabbed it. I immediately thought of modded fitness treadmills for gamers, and I wondered whether I could rig up something similar for some geeky cardio.

Once at the gym, I bee-lined to the treadmill floor, where I had my choice of three workout machines: traditional treadmills, ellipticals, and stair-climbers. Out of the machines that weren't occupied, I noticed that the ellipticals at my gym had the most apparent rigid stands—the kinds that you might prop a magazine on. I set my Switch up on the stand, and it stayed put, thanks to a plastic, curved lip at the bottom.

Before I started, er, elliptic-ing, I popped the Joy-Cons out to hold each in one hand, then plugged my headphones into the top-side jack. I had plenty of slack to move my head and body around without tugging the headphone jack (just like if I'd set my smartphone up in the same spot), and once I found a comfortable volume, I didn't need to touch the Switch again. I began jogging in place while using the Joy-Con joysticks and buttons to boot Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In some ways, this game is far from perfect for treadmill play. There's a lot of distant detail that you'll want to read while traversing the game's massive overworld, particularly to make yourself aware whether you are about to stumble upon any enemy encampments or super-powered machine ambushes, and the Switch's decently sized portable screen appears smaller once you add a perpetual running motion to the mix. However, I was glad to have headphones on, as the game does a very good job telegraphing danger with noises and musical cues, so I never did accidentally rush into any dangerous situations.

While working out, I savored the opportunity to take my time in the game's slower sequences, including open plains, cliff edges, and treasure-filled ruins. I found myself enthralled by combining physical activity and some of the game's more mundane, "wonder if there's loot over here" content, and time began to melt away while I broke into a sweat. However, I did have to disable the game's "move to aim" feature, which lets you slightly move your hands to fine-tune the aim of arrows and other thrown objects. My constant motion made this impossible to use.

And when I reached a particularly harrowing fight, I decided that I wanted a little more screen fidelity, so I saved and ran the opposite direction in the game world. My treadmill's magazine stand let me place the Switch screen relatively close to my face, but I honestly would have killed in that moment to bring it even a few inches closer, so that I wouldn't miss an important arrow or sword strike. What looks totally fine in handheld mode becomes just a bit too rough at treadmill distances.

I ran into even more intense visual fidelity issues while playing Fast RMX. This future-racing game reaches F-Zero levels of speed and intensity, and in addition to making players keep track of sudden turns and perilous jumps, it also asks players to drive through colored boost strips—and to tap buttons so that their ship's colors match. My vision of the action suffered immensely from constantly shifting my weight—and so did my race times. Still, I managed to complete two of the game's championship cups, which unlocked a little more game content, and I appreciated getting a chance to knock out that basic unlocking stuff. I can go back for a better race some other time.

A word of warning: I found myself unconsciously leaning my entire body on a couple of occasions, usually toward whatever direction I was steering, and this resulted in two noticeably awkward teeters in my balance. I didn't fall, but I felt a slight bit of vertigo both times, and I could see some players having a worse time with that.

Further Reading Dance Dance Revolution hits the high school gym class

Where the Switch proved an unqualified workout success was when I booted Shovel Knight. I'm currently burning through that retro-platformer's brand-new Specter of Torment campaign, which includes a new—and very satisfying—air-slash movement mechanic. The whole game feels fresh again, and it's totally worth slapping onto your Nintendo Switch, even if you've beaten the other Shovel Knight campaigns on other systems. (You can grab Torment all by itself for $10 on the Switch, which I think is a good price for "already own it" fans.)

Shovel Knight has some active running, jumping, and sword-slashing moments, but this action was always easy to follow while jogging in place. Its pixelated style lends itself well to exactly this kind of play, and I found myself working out to this game longer than any other I tested.

The Joy-Con difference

The thing all these game tests had in common was that I could comfortably control them with each hand swaying in its own independent direction. I didn't just test this stuff out with a brisk walk, which I might have been able to get away with while holding an Xbox pad. I cranked my elliptical's resistance up to jogging level.

At that speed and intensity, I needed each of my hands to move back and forth independently, both for comfort and for stability. I could do just that with the separate Joy-Cons, and I really savored that feeling. It also reminded me how convenient it is that both controllers sync up as a pair without requiring users to jump through Bluetooth-management nonsense. I can't think of any other peripheral, gaming or otherwise, that lets users tap buttons on two wireless devices and have them just work—in tandem—within seconds.

I was also particularly impressed by how well I could grip the Joy-Cons, even when my hands became drenched in sweat. I come from a long line of super-sweaters, and I always have a towel handy at the gym because I am a disgusting human being, so believe me when I tell you how well they endured my bodily nastiness. (I didn't opt to put on the Joy-Con Grips, but I could see those offering peace of mind for anybody who fears letting them go; fitness gloves might also be a good call.)

And when I occasionally wanted to put the Joy-Cons down to check my phone or wipe my face with a towel, that was as simple as sliding a few centimeters of their edges into their respective slots on the Switch. I didn't push them all the way down, so I could easily re-grab them once I was ready to game again, and the whole rig stayed stable.

Eat your heart out, Power Pad

If you pick the right games, the Switch has just what the fitness doctor ordered. My game system didn't follow me along for other workout staples like lifting weights or doing crunches, but I cannot recall a jog at the gym whizzing by so quickly in my life. I'm already fantasizing about slow, epic quest fare that I might one day slap onto a gym's elliptical stand, and I'm also newly hopeful that Nintendo gets off its lazy nostalgia keisters and starts releasing some slower-paced Virtual Console gold for this specific use case. (I could probably play every single Fire Emblem and Advance Wars game this way and lose 40 pounds in the process. Hurry up, Nintendo.)

Your mileage will certainly vary based on how workout machines at your own gym are set up, but chances are good that if your smartphone can be wedged up for the sake of streaming Netflix without rattling around, your Switch will likely fit in the same spot. This isn't just about wireless controllers, of course: it's about the two-pad Joy-Con difference. They are the single missing piece of the full-body nerd fitness experience, and their value skyrockets when you can take advantage of this simple perk.