My Fitness Coach - Get In Shape (Wii)

 

 

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I bought Wii Fit and the balance board and after using it a few times I thought that it was good enough to use instead of my £32 per month gym. So, I cancelled my gym membership and off I went, for about two weeks. The more I used Wii Fit the more it became frustrating because of two show stopping reasons.

The first and least show stopping was that the trainer repeated himself so often that I ended up having to turn the sound off. During a 20 rep arm exercise I heard `this exercise will strengthen your arm muscles' four times! At the end of every exercise you hear `doing that exercise regularly will help.. blah.. blah.. blah...'

The second and complete show stopper is the fact that you have to choose every exercise individually, one at a time. This means that, let's say, you chose to do 10 push ups. You tell it that and off you go. At the end of that you have to go back to the chose exercise menu and chose 10 sit-ups or whatever it is you decide to do. It took me about 45 minutes to do a half hour workout because of this.

So, there are none of these problems with My Fitness Instructor. It's a much more fluid and well designed workout program.

When you first install it you are asked to do an initial fitness evaluation. This involves entering your measurements, age and weight. You then do a fairly brief fitness check which has you measure your resting heart rate and then measure it again after doing a few minutes of exercise, which you follow on screen.

When it has your information it asks you if you own any of the following.

1. Heart rate monitor.
2. Aerobic step
3. Balance ball
4. Weights

If you answer yes to any of those it will incorporate them into your workout.

Finally, it asks what your goal is. This can be weight loss, cardio fitness, upper body strength etc. It will make recommendations too, based on your weight and fitness test. It recommended I lose weight, and it's right unfortunately. When you tell it your goal it then sets up a weekly routine for you. It told me to do a total of two and a half hours per week, which it spread over five days. You can tweak the days and duration as much as you like. You can also go back at any time and adjust it if it's too much or too little or inconvenient days.

The first workout. I loved it. The on screen woman that you follow is really good and hops around like a real instructor. She does very occasionally repeat herself but it is very occasionally, unlike the three or for times per minute in Wii Fit! I'm quite fit but the workout made me sweat and I found it just about bang on for what I was after. I did a full (uninterrupted, unlike the Wii Fit) half hour aerobic workout which incorporated my step, weights and balance ball. Occasionally I was asked during a brief rest period if the previous exercise had been too easy, bang on, or too hard. It then adjusts the rest of the session accordingly.

After a few sessions (which are always different and interesting) you unlock new exercise rooms (garden, dojo etc) and new music types (dance, Latin etc). This only happens if you follow your weekly routine, so don't be a couch potato : )

After every 10 workouts you are asked to do the initial fitness test again. It then shows you on a graph how you have improved in all areas. I've lost half a stone in three weeks with this and laying off the alcohol.

I can't recommend this program too highly.

Oh, and this programme doesn't use the Wii balance board.

The first thing you notice about My Fitness Coach is how it differs from Wii Fit. The graphics are clearly aimed at those who prefer a more realistic exercise experience. The software itself seems to have had a lot of input from professional sports technicians and thus the exercise routines are well structured and provide an even workout to various areas of the body.

When you first start the software you enter your age, height, weight, measure your sitting and post warm-up heart rate and measure the circumference of your biceps, thighs, waist, hips and chest. This provides the software with an accurate account of your overall fitness and uses said information to personalise your workout routines. Then after every 10 workouts it will ask for the above information again, minus age and height, and chart your progress in all of these areas. As a man I would want to increase bicep and chest size but reduce waist, thigh and hip, so being able to monitor these areas as opposed to just weight or the highly inaccurate BMI is excellent.

Maya will suggest the appropriate workout each day, e.g. cardio one day, then upper body, then flexibility another. This allows every part of your body to receive an even level of exercise due to the software having approximately 500 different exercise moves. This avoids repetitive strain injuries and helps to improve the condition of the entire body.

The routine length is chosen by the player as either 15, 30, 45... etc minutes. It is constructed as if you were at a fitness class so one exercise move will be followed by another; however there are breaks in between particularly difficult ones. The exercise moves are broken up into difficulties ranging from 1 to 5 so this allows the routines to develop in difficulty as you increase in fitness. At certain points in the routine you will be asked whether that particular set was too easy, a good workout or difficult to keep up. This is how the software monitors your development in the routine and will then adapt the next one based on your answer. The routine is also comprised of warm-up and cool downs which help to avoid any strain injuries. Finally, should you have more than one player profile you can have an extra 1-3 players do the routine with you at the same time.

The trainer, Maya, is modeled on a real life personal trainer and she provides you with constant encouragement. Her tone of voice, while being a little flat at times, is clear and the advice she provides assists you in executing the workout routine accurately and thus avoiding injury. Her movements are fluid and easy to understand, however if you do not understand any of the moves you can ask her to explain them. Finally at the beginning and end of each workout she provides you with a brief screen with some healthy lifestyle advice. This morning for example she told me about the benefits of exercising in front of my daughter and drinking peppermint tea being more effective and healthier than coffee in the morning.

There are various locations available for you to exercise in and there are over 70 different songs across 7 selectable genres of music. The graphics of these locations are nothing special and the songs are nothing you would want to listen to outside of the workout however they do suit the exercise theme of the software and wont annoy you like some chart songs I can think of.

The one thing most people will want to know is how it compares to Wii Fit and since I own both I can make it an accurate comparison. Wii Fit has been constructed very badly. It does not tailor make routines to suit each individual user thus you have no idea what part you should be exercising and how frequently. This causes an uneven development of the health of the body and can cause weakness is some areas whilst strengthening others.
It has a very low number of exercises and because of this you exercise the exact some area each time. This does cause repetitive strain injuries. It does not include any warm ups and does not tell you how you should do them. It just says to do it and for those who haven't a clue how or for how long this can lead to injuries. It has the same music every time and the graphics are very weak and bland. Everything is just white, including the trainer! BMI has been found to be very inaccurate at measuring health and fitness and since this is the only way that Wii Fit measures it you are never given an accurate account of your health development. And finally there is the price. Wii Fit costs ' 70 whereas My Fitness Coach costs ' 15. This is because My Fitness Coach does not utilize the Wii Balance Board which I have found to be completely unnecessary.

To sum up. If you want some software for your Wii to get you into shape safely, monitors you accurately and has enough variety to keep you interested for years to come, then choose to buy the very affordable My Fitness Coach. You will not be disappointed. I know I'm not.

all of the above reviews are correct and this is going to motivate and increase your fitness so much more than the wii fit. If you find the wii fit is out of your budget or you want to get really fit this is the one, so much cheaper and all you need is a bit of space.Having had both the wii fit and this I think this is better(seriously).wii fit now seems more suited to getting the kids and family of the sofa but if you want real results get this one!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Buying this again!
I bought this product three yrs ago to help with weightless and fitness. I lost over two stone with it, then sold it on. A big mistake! Read more

Published 28 days ago by TheresaT

3.0 out of 5 stars Shouldn't compare it with Wii Fit
Let me start by stating that I love Wii Fit, its fun challenging and has a sense of humour. But like other reviewers, I do find Wii Fit a little annoying at times because it... Read more

Published 2 months ago by MK Gent

2.0 out of 5 stars Irritiating
I wanted to like this and I wanted it to be a change from EA Sports Active which produces good results but which is a little dull after a while. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Mr. T. Wilkinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Fit!
The last time I did aerobics at a Leisure centre was a hell of a long time ago. I think I was about 16 actually! Read more

Published 4 months ago by Puzzle crazy

5.0 out of 5 stars A great weight loss game
I've played a few Wii games with the intent of losing weight while having fun but I've never been successful, no matter how hard I tried. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Leona Nette

5.0 out of 5 stars Gives you a good workout
I like this because it gives you a different workout each day which in turn works on different core areas. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Bridget Goskirk

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you want to keep going
I've been working out with this program for a month or so. I find the variety of workouts fun, and as I don't have much time, have two children in tow who may or may not do it... Read more

Published 5 months ago by N. Walsh

4.0 out of 5 stars My fitness coach- get in shape for wii review
If you want a relatively cheap fitness regime on the wii then this is it. You don't need a balance board or any other equipment to use this, although it does have an option to use... Read more

Published 6 months ago by SAM

4.0 out of 5 stars Cheap and Uncomplicated
For a little over a tenner you receive not so much a game, but a motivation to move around. Personally, I spend so much time working in a small office, I just needed to do... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Miss Benjamin

4.0 out of 5 stars Felt like a naughty schoolkid....
I've got the Wii-fit and board and tried out some of the exercises which were good, but wanted something which would give me a full programme work out. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Chatterbox21

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