I hate going to the gym. I feel awkward working on an eliptical machine next to another person and not talking to them. Working out from home is also preferable, because when I screw up, no one is around to snicker and point. This is one of the reasons I adore JARVIS (my Kinect). The Kinect fitness games have the ability to read your body's movements and tell you what you are doing wrong vs a video where you could be doing the entire routine incorrectly and you would never know because you can't see yourself performing the moves.
In my quest for the perfect at home fitness routine, I exchanged Zumba Fitness for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012, hoping it would be a better fit. It was. The first night was a challenge, because I had to figure out how everything worked. The Roommate got a kick out of it and has already threatened to record one of my workouts for YouTube. Why? Because I have taken to bickering and arguing with my "personal trainer" while huffing and puffing through my strength training interval workouts.. I'm sorry but when you say, "Let's do such and such," I am automatically going to hate you a little bit because you aren't doing a darned thing. I'm the one doing all the work, so you can cut that "we" crap right out.
As much as I bellyache about the trainer, it is nice to have her there coaching me on. She tells me when my arms aren't doing what they're supposed to and when my legs should be closer or further apart. She also tells me when I've gone out of rhythm with my "coach."
Things I have discovered about myself while playing Your Shape: 1.) I am more out of shape than I previously thought 2.) My "personal trainer" is trying to kill me. 3.) I hate interval workouts! Don't get me wrong. I will keep doing them, but I feel myself die a little more with every circuit. 4.) Push ups and fast mountain climb are the devil. I can do 12 once, but when I'm doing an interval workout and get to the second set, I need a break in the middle. I'm sure I've made more discoveries as I've gone along, but those are the ones that stand out the most.
As much as I pretend to hate the Your Shape, there are really only two problems I've found with it so far: 1.) There doesn't seem to be a tutorial where you can get the moves down before you have to perform them in an actual workout. 2.) The game isn't geared towards midget people who want to get in shape. One of the warm up activities is called "Wall Breaker." I love this! It's exactly what it sounds like. You break blocks to burn calories and earn points. On the medium setting, however, it want you to break the lower blocks by raising your knee across your body at a 45 degree angle. At 4'10", the game doesn't read my knee raises. This is easily corrected by just kicking out with my foot much like an Oompa Loompa or a member of the Lollipop Guild, but I feel I am missing out on what could be a decent workout for my oblique muscles. That is somewhat disappointing, but all of the other features make up for it.
My schedule has been insane this week, so I haven't been able to explore Your Fitness nearly as much as I would have liked, but that is the plan for this weekend. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with JARVIS.
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