Monday, 19 Sep 2005
Last night, Maya the virtual personal trainer kicked my ass.
I’ve been working out almost daily with Yourself Fitness for the Xbox, and gradually getting used to the crazy aerobics shenanigans in the 10 minute warm up periods, but I’ve been somewhat doubtful regarding the claim on the box that Maya will adjust and plan my workouts based on my fitness test and feedback.
Well, lo and behold, she did.
My sixth workout with Y!F was an upper body strength focus session, and it began with the usual cardio warm up. After 10 minutes of assorted aerobic exercises, she got down to business with the upper body work. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at my own place, so I didn’t have any dumbbells to use, but I did my best to squeeze my biceps hard with each weightless bicep curl, and I replaced the tricep kickbacks with some reliable old chair dips. All of this was nice, but the killer portion was the push-up series.
Based on the weenie level fitness test push-ups–they were modified knee push-ups, not full–I expected Miss Maya to drop on her knees for the push-up sets last night, too.
I was wrong.
That digital slave driver made me do two sets of 12 full military push-ups and six sets of 12 full regular push-ups. And she did them suuuuuuuuuper sloooooooooooooooooow. By the time I finished those 96 turtle-paced push-ups, I was dripping sweat all over the tile and making scary faces that reflected back at me from the pool of perspiration beneath my chin. It’s true that I could have gone to my knees at any point, but there was no way I was going to let a collection of pixels out-push me.
I am pretty positive that someone who does poorly on the diagnostic push-up test probably wouldn’t get the same upper body workout as I did last night.
I’ve completed seven 15-45 minute workouts so far with the program and have yet to lose interest. This might be some sort of record for me and guided home workouts. Normally, I am lucky to do a given video more than four times before I get tired of it. In the case of Y!F, I haven’t repeated a single workout sequence yet, and (gasp) I actually find myself eager to log in and knock out my daily session of low impact aerobics mixed with some light resistance. Crazy, eh?
This is a very good investment for a beginner or casual exerciser looking to improve overall conditioning or lose weight, but I don’t believe it is hardcore enough to replace a plan like Body for Life if your goal is maximum physique transformation. You don’t burn as many calories as you would doing a pure cardio workout on a treadmill. (At 5′6″ and 135 lbs, I burn an average of 100 calories for every 10 minutes I run at 6 mph, but after a 30 minute workout with Y!F, I am told by the program that my total calorie burn is only 130-150.) Furthermore, the resistance exercises all tend to follow a 12 rep, fast tempo pattern which makes it nearly impossible to lift the heavy weights one would need to build significant muscle.
I do think that Y!F can be a great supplementary workout for someone doing a more traditional bodybuilding transformation program, however. I’m using the program in the evenings after work when I feel like being a bit more active, but don’t want to drag myself out to the fitness center for a run or overtrain with the Powerblocks and bench. I haven’t unlocked any new songs or workout environments yet, either, so my gamer instincts are still engaged.
The key seems to be that even though I am sweating and burning calories, I don’t feel like I’m exercising. My brain thinks I’m just a human video game controller playing a Simon Says game. :prop:
It’s just not the same when there’s a whole room full of spandexed people doing the exercises on a fitness program or video because they are too real. All you see are ripped physiques that definitely did NOT become that way by doing only Tae Bo or aerobics exhorting you to keep your abs tight and your energy levels up. There’s no reward for finishing or consistently coming back, and doing the same routine over and over becomes tedious after just a few sessions.
With Maya, I am progressively more and more challenged, and I almost see myself competing with the virtual trainer to complete each set of exercises. I look forward to each session because I want to see just how much punishment Maya can dish out, and every time I make it through a workout at the next higher level without falling out of any of the exercises, I win.
:claphigh:
Now if only they’d make the Yourself! Fitness Martial Arts and Tai Chi edition and the special Y!F Bodybuilder Version…
