Yet another Wii fitness program
After the fiasco with the My Shape program last week, I might well have been put off buying any more programs. But Kmart was selling something called New U under the Fitness First label that included a choice of dumbbells or a step frame to use with the Wii Fit board. I found the reviews were mostly positive for this one so I decided to take a chance. I’m very glad I did because this is one is proving quite good so far.
As with most, you make a profile to start out. The program gets brownie points for having options on units of measurement and it’s ability to weigh the player. Another big plus for me is the option as to which hand to hold the Wii remote. I am left-handed and find it easier to hold and control from that hand. Although other programs have had options for handedness, inevitably the main remote ends up in the right hand for some activities or exercises. The program also does a food intake profile of sorts. It asks which foods you eat (not a particularly big list but includes opt-outs for dairy, gluten, meat, etc.) and offers menu options for your diet. I probably won’t use this much since it’s not practical for the whole family but I suspect it would suit many single people living alone.The profile also provides options for the goals you have in your fitness routine. You choose one primary and one secondary goal. I think I chose weight loss first and reducing tummy second.
The fitness part of the program has numerous options for fitness routines. I started out on the main fitness routine and it was relatively short and simple, but did provide a very brief workout. Before each new exercise is a tutorial and information on which equipment you should use. There is a circle that changes color during the exercise to assess how well you are doing it. It seems to rate aspects such as timing and effort (not really quite sure what that is supposed to indicate). Sometimes I find this isn’t quite reflective of what’s happening but it is somewhat useful of progress. After each exercise, a screen appears showing how well you have done in various areas and then awards points and, if you have done really well, stars. Each day you have a different routine and it seems to build on the previous routines quite nicely. So far there have only been eight exercises for the routine each day. You can also look at the routine for the next day too, which is probably good for those who don’t like surprises. :)
Because these routines aren’t quite enough for me yet, I’ve been playing around with some other options in the program called challenges. Challenge options are: dance, cardio, boxing, football (soccer) and army. I tried out the cardio the first day and failed most of the exercises. One of them was a three point press up which I couldn’t do. If you are having a lot of trouble (in this or the regular routine) you are given a choice of continuing, skipping the exercise or quitting the whole routine. I ended up skipping this one but managed to complete the other exercises. The next time I used this, I did the army routine which is essentially a 14 minute jog plus crunches that seemed to go on forever. Surprisingly I did finish the jog but my timing didn’t remain steady in the last few minutes so I failed it. I was pleased, though, to finish and then complete the excruciating crunches. There is also an express workout option that has a cut down version of the main workout plus mini workouts for three times of day. It all seems quite flexible.
It’s still early days but I really like this program so far.
