Wii Work Out

Hey! We meet again (and if it's your first time reading this space… lucky you!). Now I'm downloading a new iteration of iTunes (9.1.1 I believe) and I figured it'd be a nice time to blog a bit. Hope your week has been alright, don't ask about mine, I've been reading a lot, making notes and hardly leaving home. So, what happens when you miss a bit of that outdoors experience? Well, you just do, there's no substitution to it… oh well, sort of.

Since I like to exercise (not sure about working out, I just like to be active) sometimes I need to squeeze a bit of time here and there in order to do so, but the thing is, even though you find a good 1 hour to do your thing you still lose time in driving to the gym, getting there, if you're not lucky to wait for the machine in use, and then, after you're all sweaty, to get back home. Don't think I hate that (for many, the idea of working out is all that), because I don't, but what if you only want to work out and nothing more? How can you make every 60 minutes count?

Sure you can avoid all lost time by working out home, that's sort of the solution here… but working out on your own can be boring and non-motivational, so what can we do? Well, I'm happy to say I've been experiencing the solution for a while now and I love it… a session of Wii Work Out!! Since I've been 'playing' with it for a while now I'd like to tell you my thoughts about this new way to do some exercise. I think I'd not be fair to call this a 'game' (not in a narrow sense of the word) since I never rescued any princess, killed a demon or lived in an apocalyptic world (neither in video games nor real life). But it's still a disc you insert in a console, so people can debate all they want. For the sake or writing, I'll refer to it as a game -though I'd prefer another term- since I can't think of any other fancy word for it.

There're some 'games' designed to work out with the Wii, my experience was based in the EA Active line. As most titles, you create your Avatar (way slimmer than the real you), pick some clothes, add data as weight, height, age and such and just like that you're about to start a work out session. And, as expected, you choose what to do, either in a predefined session or selecting each exercise to customize it your way. What I liked about this scheme was the related data to each exercise, you can know the level, time, calories burned of each routine, so you can plan and maximize the work out.

Once you've picked the routine, you start it. Here's where the real fun begins, and since the first moment you can tell if this new way of exercising is for you or not. You do what you see on the screen, and a personal trainer (if that's even possible) tells you exactly how to perform your moves and -for me- the best part… he/she motivates you. A simple 'Way to go!' or 'Two more reps and we're done' from time to time are enough for me to run that extra mile when wearing out.

And, once you've finished, you get your stats, some health tips and sweat on your face, all without leaving the room. But the experience doesn't end here, since there're challenges to keep for days or even weeks and feeling great. Overall, from my point of view is a great choice if you want to work out not caring much about the whole 'gym experience' said before. Even my mom joins the fun each other time.

Final thoughts? Well, is a great alternative for those of us who love squeezing time to the max, you just need to have a decent free space to do your thing (don't want to end up smashing the tv with your wiimote like many people have). Hope you give this a chance someday, it may be the best new way to work out, who knows? Time and burned calories will tell. See y'all next week and eat your veggies!