Hate to start a new thread, but there is not really one with first impressions or reviews. So I figure I would post something.
I wanna start out by saying that I am definately not some one in shape. I am not fat, but I also haven't worked out in 4 years. I am 5'10" and weigh 175. The reason I wanted to pick this up is because it looked like a fun way to at least get the heart going. I have tried to work out in the basement and the gym, but if I do it myself, it never lasts. So I figure, maybe a videogame workout would be good to keep my interest.
OK, so I played it for about 1 hour last night, for a total of 32 minutes of exercise time. I went through all of the available routines, but have not tried the ones I opened. Here are my thoughts:
- While doing Yoga, there is a blue circle that gets bigger and smaller. The game tells you to inhale when it gets smaller, and exhale when it gets bigger. I always have a hard time focusing on my breathing when I work out, so this really helps.
- The Yoga poses actually do make you feel stretched out. In addition, they are not easy to do right off the bat. Some maybe easier then others, but you definately feel it.
- The trainer corrects you if you are doing something wrong. For instance, in doing lunges, I was bending my front leg a bit to much. The scale saw the over compensation, and the instructor told me there is to much bend on the front leg. That is really impressive.
- In the routines, there is usually an area in which you need to keep your marker in. The board will judge your balance and show it to you with a point on the screen. On the screen there will be another circle or something else of the sort where you must keep your assigned balance point in. This definately helps with the exercises, and also helps with muscle toneness in the long run.
- The Muscle building exercises definately are great. They won't build you much muscle, but they will definately tone you as your going to be using different muscles and isolating them.
- The aerobic exercises seem ok. I am not sure exactly how much weight I am burning by running in place. But I did work up a sweat during the 32 minutes of exercise. I think the Hula Hoop exercise had me sweating more then the running in place though.
- The Balance Exercising are more of a game. I can't see getting much benifit from playing these. Most of the games feel ackward, but it could be because I am not shifting my weight properly. This was a first go around, so I want to see what it will be like after a couple of tries.
All in all, I would say that this thing is pretty damn good. It did get me to get a nice sweat going. There are 2 things that I was expecting that I did not get though:
1- A work out regime.
It seems that they just give you the exercises, but they don't have an actual routine you should follow. I was hoping to see something where you would do 15 exercises 1 day and a different 15 the next. This is definately disappointing.
Also, it would be nice if the system automatically raised and lowered the difficulty, reps and so on for each exercise. From my initial play time, this seems like something you need to keep track of and manually change. I could be wrong, maybe the system will change this as the days go on. But it would suck if in a month, I need to switch the push ups to 50 or something like that. The system should do this for you.
I guess I was hoping it would be like an actual trainer. A trainer sets up the exercise routine and keeps making it harder for you. I don't want to manually keep track of things and change them up.
2- While I definately built up a sweat, I am not sore today. For not having done any exercises in 4 years, I should at least feel a little sore. Maybe the acid hasn't built up yet, and I will feel something tomorrow, but I am surprised there is minimal soreness. I only feel it in remote muscle areas like my shin. I hope I do get some pain, that is the way to judge it is working. I do want to make sure I do get a work out here.
If anything, I would say this thing is fun and will help me with my breathing while working out in the future. This maybe a good begining for me to do this for a month, then to move on to real exercising with weights and a treadmill. I hope it does get more intense through further use or that there are other games that come out for the balance board. I read a boxing game will utilize it, so it should be well worth the investment in the long run.
I wanna start out by saying that I am definately not some one in shape. I am not fat, but I also haven't worked out in 4 years. I am 5'10" and weigh 175. The reason I wanted to pick this up is because it looked like a fun way to at least get the heart going. I have tried to work out in the basement and the gym, but if I do it myself, it never lasts. So I figure, maybe a videogame workout would be good to keep my interest.
OK, so I played it for about 1 hour last night, for a total of 32 minutes of exercise time. I went through all of the available routines, but have not tried the ones I opened. Here are my thoughts:
- While doing Yoga, there is a blue circle that gets bigger and smaller. The game tells you to inhale when it gets smaller, and exhale when it gets bigger. I always have a hard time focusing on my breathing when I work out, so this really helps.
- The Yoga poses actually do make you feel stretched out. In addition, they are not easy to do right off the bat. Some maybe easier then others, but you definately feel it.
- The trainer corrects you if you are doing something wrong. For instance, in doing lunges, I was bending my front leg a bit to much. The scale saw the over compensation, and the instructor told me there is to much bend on the front leg. That is really impressive.
- In the routines, there is usually an area in which you need to keep your marker in. The board will judge your balance and show it to you with a point on the screen. On the screen there will be another circle or something else of the sort where you must keep your assigned balance point in. This definately helps with the exercises, and also helps with muscle toneness in the long run.
- The Muscle building exercises definately are great. They won't build you much muscle, but they will definately tone you as your going to be using different muscles and isolating them.
- The aerobic exercises seem ok. I am not sure exactly how much weight I am burning by running in place. But I did work up a sweat during the 32 minutes of exercise. I think the Hula Hoop exercise had me sweating more then the running in place though.
- The Balance Exercising are more of a game. I can't see getting much benifit from playing these. Most of the games feel ackward, but it could be because I am not shifting my weight properly. This was a first go around, so I want to see what it will be like after a couple of tries.
All in all, I would say that this thing is pretty damn good. It did get me to get a nice sweat going. There are 2 things that I was expecting that I did not get though:
1- A work out regime.
It seems that they just give you the exercises, but they don't have an actual routine you should follow. I was hoping to see something where you would do 15 exercises 1 day and a different 15 the next. This is definately disappointing.
Also, it would be nice if the system automatically raised and lowered the difficulty, reps and so on for each exercise. From my initial play time, this seems like something you need to keep track of and manually change. I could be wrong, maybe the system will change this as the days go on. But it would suck if in a month, I need to switch the push ups to 50 or something like that. The system should do this for you.
I guess I was hoping it would be like an actual trainer. A trainer sets up the exercise routine and keeps making it harder for you. I don't want to manually keep track of things and change them up.
2- While I definately built up a sweat, I am not sore today. For not having done any exercises in 4 years, I should at least feel a little sore. Maybe the acid hasn't built up yet, and I will feel something tomorrow, but I am surprised there is minimal soreness. I only feel it in remote muscle areas like my shin. I hope I do get some pain, that is the way to judge it is working. I do want to make sure I do get a work out here.
If anything, I would say this thing is fun and will help me with my breathing while working out in the future. This maybe a good begining for me to do this for a month, then to move on to real exercising with weights and a treadmill. I hope it does get more intense through further use or that there are other games that come out for the balance board. I read a boxing game will utilize it, so it should be well worth the investment in the long run.
