I know there are a bunch of people out there who have significant others who either hate the Xbox or just “don’t get it.” When my wife asked for an exercise tape for Christmas last year I took it as an opportunity to get her better acquainted with the Xbox through a piece of software (it’s not a game) called “Yourself!Fitness.” “Yourself!Fitness” is a comprehensive workout plan and guide available for Xbox, PS, PS2 and PC
When you first start it up you are asked to create a profile (You can sign-in as a guest, too.) which takes about ½ hour to create. When you create your profile, Maya, your guide, asks for individual stats (weight, height, etc.), asks you what training equipment you own so she can incorporate anything you own into the workout, and has you do some exercises to get feedback on your current condition. All of these factors are taken into consideration and an individualized workout program is recommended including a schedule and type of workout (e.g.-Upper body, Cardio, etc.). If you want to work on something in specific, you can select that type of workout, too. In addition to standard workouts there is a “Meditation Garden” feature. This is essentially a Yoga workout. One of the best features is how at any time during the workout you can stop and get a tutorial on the specific exercise you are doing. After your workout, Maya congratulates you tells you how many calories you burned.
In addition to the type of workout you want to do, you can choose your music (Xbox doesn’t support the jukebox feature, unfortunately) and environments (some of which you have to unlock). There is also a meal plan with recipes, individualized for your program and regional taste. From San Francisco? It might suggest a Mango smoothie as part of your meal. From Jakarta? It might suggest falafel as an alternative.
Throughout your workout Maya gives words of encouragement, cracks (bad) jokes, and checks in on how you are doing. She also remembers when you worked out last.
Even with all of the features available in the program, it only works as good as your commitment to it. It has been over eight months and we still use it. (Ok, SHE still uses it, but I do jump in every once in a while.) “Yourself!Fitness” is great for people of all ages. We have found that kids have fun with this program too because it resembles a game.
“Yourself!Fitness” costs about $30 new. For more information, you can check out the Yourself!Fitness website at http://www.yourselffitness.com
Throughout your workout Maya gives words of encouragement, cracks (bad) jokes, and checks in on how you are doing. She also remembers when you worked out last.
Even with all of the features available in the program, it only works as good as your commitment to it. It has been over eight months and we still use it. (Ok, SHE still uses it, but I do jump in every once in a while.) “Yourself!Fitness” is great for people of all ages. We have found that kids have fun with this program too because it resembles a game.
“Yourself!Fitness” costs about $30 new. For more information, you can check out the Yourself!Fitness website at http://www.yourselffitness.com
