My Fitness Coach for Nintendo Wii
Get in Shape with My Fitness Coach
Maya, the virtual trainer used throughout <em>My Fitness Coach</em>, is perky but not overly annoying. She is programmed to offer encouragement as well as periodic tips on leading a healthy lifestyle. To get the full effect of her coaching and to track your progress through the game’s various fitness routines, however, you must create a user profile.
Basic profile information includes your name, height, weight, gender, birth date, a list of the fitness equipment you have available, and whether your overall fitness goal is losing weight, increasing cardio fitness, improving upper body strength, improving lower body strength, or enhancing flexibility.
To determine your fitness level, you’ll need to determine your heart rate before and after exercise. Then, you’ll be asked to perform squats, crunches, pushups, and stretching exercises in time with a virtual model.
Keep from Getting Bored
While a traditional workout DVD lacks the variety to keep you challenged on a daily basis, there are plenty of ways to break up your routine with My Fitness Coach. After you’ve created your fitness, you can select your workout length, focus, space, and the type of background music you prefer. Additional music and workout space options will be unlocked as you progress through the game, adding a bit of variety to the experience.
If you are in the middle of a workout and find the exercises to be too difficult or too easy, you also have the option of pushing the minus sign on your Wii remote to adjust the intensity level of the session. A tutorial option lets you see an exercise demonstrated in a slightly slower fashion, which is particularly helpful during the yoga portion of the game.
Comparison to Wii Fit
If you’re interested in using your Nintendo Wii as a workout tool, you may find yourself asking how My Fitness Coach compares to the popular Wii Fit.
The first difference one will notice between the two titles is the price tag. While Wii Fit retails for $80, the $30 price for My Fitness Coach is much more reasonable. However, it’s important to keep in mind that My Fitness Coach doesn’t make use of the balance board technology, so it’s a bit harder to determine if you’re doing the exercises correctly. In fact, many exercises in My Fitness Coach don’t even require you to use the Wii remote at all – making it pretty easy to cheat during your workout.
Another significant difference between My Fitness Coach and the Wii Fit is that My Fitness Coach is clearly intended to help people get in shape. While the Wii Fit contains several games that can double as fun mini-workouts, My Fitness Coach focuses exclusively on fitness. It’s not as enjoyable to play, but seeing the “Calories Burned” screen at the end of your workout provides a satisfaction of its own.
