Exercise Games @ Home - Get Fit with Games!

Reboot

2011-11-16T22:57:00.001-06:00

A lot of time has flown by since last year. I just purchase Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and plan on putting it through the paces to see if I can lose weight while gaming again. We'll reboot stats and get going shortly.

Battling a Cold and Holidays

2010-12-24T23:14:00.000-06:00

A rough work and holiday schedule along with a cold brought me down the last two weeks. I have videos stored up to post and will be getting back on track asap with new workouts starting this weekend! Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas!

Lies and Statistics, Death by Graphs: Part 2 - Body Mass Index - REVISED

2010-12-06T22:41:00.001-06:00

There are pros and cons to tracking fitness progress with just about any statistic that you can throw out on a piece of paper to track. As I mentioned in Part 1, weight alone can be very dangerous. You can lose weight in very unhealthy ways, yet people tend to fixate on it.

Therefore I have provided another statistic for monitoring progress called the "Body Mass Index".

Calculating your "BMI" is simple, which is why it is one of the most commonly used methods to track progress. Use one of the following 3 formulas:

As you can see, BMI is a ratio of your height to your weight. Obviously, taller people should weigh more that shorter people, which is why BMI is a better measurement than weight.

Once you have calculated this number, you can compare it to this table to determine which BMI range that you fall into, but as always BMI is not necessary the final statistic to keep track of.

Now you can see that my BMI range currently falls under overweight and is close to Obese. [Note, this new chart can update over time. By you read this, it could show much improvement.] The line across my graph represents my goal BMI of 25 at the time of this posting. I hope to move the goal further into the normal range once I reach 25.

Lies and Statistics, Death by Graphs: Part 1 - REVISED

2010-12-06T13:05:00.002-06:00

This is the first in a series of explanations of each of the graphs on this site, so that you know exactly what you are looking at. Some are basic, some are bit more complicated, and all of them can be deceiving.

Our current feature graph is the basic weight loss graph. This graph simply shows my daily weight changes.

Daily measuring of your weight is generally not recommended while dieting because body weight fluctuates a lot. You are more likely to see progress when measuring once a week. Like all statistics, your weight can be deceiving. If you are exercising, you will be adding muscle. Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue and you could be significantly improving your health but see no noticeable weight loss.

You can also dangerously lose weight while not significantly improving your health by exercising and eating a proper diet, therefore, body weight should not be the only body statistic that you track.

To accurately measure your weight, I suggest getting a weight scale that can actually measure in smaller increments such as 0.1 or 0.2 lbs. I have found that most of the scales that you can purchase off the shelf simply do not accurately do the job. You can test this by weighing multiple times a day and if the scale's measurement does not change then it is probably changing in huge increments. One of my old scales seemed to change only in increments of 1.2 lbs and that just wasn't acceptable for my stat loving self. I currently have a Salter Electronic CR-2032 and we love it, but it simply can't be found anywhere that I know of.

If you are searching for a new weight scale, I quickly searched Amazon and turned up this EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale as a good starting point for shopping.

EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale with 3.5" LCD and "Step-On" Technology

Join our workout group for EA Sports Active 2 (PS3)!

2010-12-04T23:28:00.000-06:00

We just created a fresh new workout group for anyone that want's to join up.

You should be able get there by going to this link.

If not, join the group "Exergamers" and use the password "fitnessfun"

EA Sports Active 2 discounted at Amazon

2010-12-04T13:54:00.002-06:00

You can get the PS3 and Wii versions for $80 and 360 version for $90, as of 12/4.

EA Sports Active 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii) $59.96 with Free Ship to Store

2010-12-04T13:07:00.003-06:00

Walmart EA Sports Active 2

(Xbox 360 PS3 Wii)

= $59.96 with free ship to store

EA Sports Active 2, Workout 5&6, 9 Week Program

2010-12-01T21:16:00.001-06:00

There a two additional videos for today! Workout 5:

The 6th workout on EA Sports Active 2 did not have a pip window, but we will try to include that as much as possible. The workouts continue to get better as time passes. I now use 8 lb dumbbells for some of the strength exercises and 5 lbs for others.

EA Sports Active 2, Workout 04, 9 Week Program

2010-11-30T21:56:00.001-06:00

The early anticipated test for Workout 4 (EA Sports Active 2 on PS3) is complete. This one has a PIP window, the first version of the new intensity meter that we have been using to test the workouts, the heart rate chart, etc. We hope you enjoy it.

We are continuing to refine the method of testing each workout. There are still a variety of factors to consider, but at some point we will begin scoring each workout and hopefully be able to compare each fitness game for it's ability to stimulate weight loss. The intensity points as determine from a formula using the heart rate detected by my garmin forerunner 305.

Wii Fitness Party

2010-11-29T18:51:00.001-06:00

I just discovered videos of a new exercise game that is currently in development in Japan. I'm not sure if this game will come to the USA. It has a lot of diversity and seems to combine features from several other titles. I've tried to put together as many videos as I could find. Check them out.

EASA2 - Workout 03 - 9 Week Program

2010-11-24T18:45:00.000-06:00

Completed workout 3 in the nine week program of EA Sports Active 2. Being able to use dumbbells rocks. The original version on the Wii was a nightmare compared to this. I continued to use the additional heart rate monitor for comparison purposes.

EA Sports Active 2 - Workout 2 - Light - Heartrate Comparison

2010-11-23T22:10:00.000-06:00

I experience a lot more heart rate problems in this workout, but was still impressed with the accuracy of EA's device. At one point I had to adjust it because it was reading very low. Keep this in mind when you are working out with EA Sports active 2!

EA Sports Active 2 PS3 - On Screen Heart Rate Comparison

2010-11-23T01:16:00.000-06:00

Exercise link to Alzheimer’s risk protection: Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cleveland Clinic, Marquette, Wayne State, Rosalind Franklin | Health, Medical, and Science Updates

2010-11-21T13:01:00.002-06:00

Just another reason to go exercise, any way possible.

Exercise link to Alzheimer’s risk protection:

"Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation of participants while they performed a mental task involving discriminating among famous people. This test is very useful, says Smith, because it engages a wide network called the semantic memory system, with activation occurring in 15 different functional regions of the brain.
“When a person thinks about people – for example, Frank Sinatra or Lady Gaga – that involves several lobes of the brain,” explains Smith.
In the study groups of those carrying the gene, individuals who exercised showed greater brain activity in memory-related regions than those who were sedentary.
Perhaps even more intriguing, physically active people with the gene had greater brain activity than those who were physically active but not gene carriers."

This does make you wonder if there is a difference related to the type of exercise. Something tells me that an exercise bike wouldn't be as effective as actually riding your bike out on the streets.

I'm shrinking!

2010-11-20T09:01:00.000-06:00

Over the last few months I have not only lost weight, but the loss can also be seen in my various body measurements. The chart at the bottom of the blog (for those not here using the the iPhone or iPad browsers) has the evidence from my log. Most of this weight was lost through diet, not exercise. I believe I am at the point where only the addition of exercise will allow me to lose more weight.

This is a snapshot of the live chart at the bottom of our blog!

Video-game exercise bikes - not just a gimmick

2010-11-19T17:59:00.000-06:00

Games help keep people exercising. This is just another study that proves it.

BPS Research Digest: Video-game exercise bikes - not just a gimmick:

"Rhodes' team had 29 previously inactive young men embark on an exercise regime, involving three half-hour cycling sessions a week for six weeks. Crucially, half the men trained on GameBikes wired up to a Playstation, such that their peddling speed and steering interacted with in-game events. The remaining participants trained on standard low-tech exercise bikes, although they were allowed to enjoy their own choice of music over an ipod. Exercise intensity was equalised across the two groups."

"The bottom-line: the men who trained on the GameBikes were more likely to stick to the exercise regime. They attended an average of 77 per cent of the sessions compared with 42 per cent of participants in the low-tech control condition. "

EA Sports Active 2: Wii vs PS3 vs Kinect

2010-11-19T15:33:00.000-06:00

Who knew there would be such a huge difference between each version of EA Sports Active. I just got caught up in it the last few days. My copy of EA Sports Active 2 sat un-opened while I started reading quite a few nasty reviews on Amazon, as well as many complaints in the EA Sports Active Forums. Then came the Koystiq review and comments. Add the Target deal with the $20 gift card to the confusion and thus I emerged with the PS3 version and I'm still not sure I made the right choice. Hopefully over the next few weeks we can collect more reviews and determine which version is superior (for those that have options).

Lets look at the advantages:
Has the most activities - Wii/PS3
Can use the wiimote to navigate menus - Wii
Can use voice commands to naviate menus - Kinect
The heartrate monitor appears to also track motion (therefore the wiimote does NOT have to stay in
the hand for all exercises) - Wii
Downloadable Content - Kinect/PS3
Freedom from controllers - Kinect

And the disadvantages
Sensors sometimes lose connection - Wii/PS3
Camera loses track of participant - Kinect
Voice commands accidentally trigger training videos or jukebox - Kinect
Game can freeze if it loses track of participant - Kinect
Camera sensitive to low light situations - Kinect
Requires participant to be 10-12 feet back from TV - Kinect
The avatar lags behind the participant - Kinect

Just tracking the reviews on Amazon (and waiting on other reviews to come in), the PS3 and Wii owners seem quite satisfied but the Kinect owners are running into more problems overall.

New Commenting System

2010-11-19T08:31:00.002-06:00

You may have noticed that all the comments vanished. I threw out the standard blogger commenting system and replaced it with Disqus. This allows for a much more complete and featured commenting system that uses universal accounts for thousands of websites. I hope you enjoy this new system.

100 pushups!

2010-11-18T23:16:00.006-06:00

I haven't been completely ignoring exercise over the last few months. I have to mention one thing that I was doing that I believe was making a difference. I ran into a book, and an iphone app with a plan to get to 100 consecutive pushups in a short amount of time. It was very easy to follow and I'm going to re-start my training along with my exer-gaming this time around. Outside of My Fitness Coach and Wii Fit, I haven't found a fitness game that really "pushes" pushups or upper arm strength training.

You can visit the website here.
Or see the book here.

EA Sports Active 2 reviews coming in!

2010-11-17T19:59:00.005-06:00

The jury is deliberating and I'm going to begin collecting initial reviews for EA Sports active and posting them here:

Day 1 results on a PS3:
World Gaming Review

How was the workout for day 1? Intense! I picked the hard mode and it certainly was hard. Granted, I’m not in the best of shape and I was probably pushing it by going hard, but it definitely gave me a good workout. The heart beat sensor seemed to work well. As I continue to work out, I’ll try to gage if it’s actually giving a fairly accurate reading. It seems the workouts are harder than in the previous EA Sports Active games. At least the fitness program is…I think I had about 33 exercises I needed to do tonight. Ranging from catching and shooting a basketball [not in 360 version] to mountain biking.

Amazon review by Kate (4 of 5) stars:
EA Sports Active Customer Review

The "2" in EA Sports Active 2 is actually a little misleading. The first EA Sports Active came out for the Wii in May of 2009, and the second, titled "More Workouts," came out 6 months later, adding much needed core exercises. This game, in essence, is the third in the series. Needless to say, I've been a fan of the franchise for a while, and it has been a great addition to my workouts. I decided to sell my Wii recently and upgrade to XBOX and Kinect, especially after hearing EASA 2 would be out soon after launch. However, being the third iteration in the series, this title for the XBOX is a bit of a step backwards.

UPDATE 11/18:
Joystiq has a positive review that explains a few differences between versions:
EA Sports Active Review

It's clear that EA's agenda was to make this title immediately accessible to those of all experience levels, beginning with detailed instructions for suiting up in your sensors. For PS3 players this means strapping a monitor to each arm and one to your upper thigh. I'm not going to lie -- this third one is pretty evil, and wearing it any looser than a tourniquet means it will inevitably make a frustrating and slow descent down your leg throughout your workout.

On 360, the Kinect sensor is required, but, as a result you only need to wear one of the arm bands (so that it can track your heart rate). However, as is the seemingly innate problem with Kinect, you need a lot of room and it will regularly lose you -- usually when you've collapsed on the floor in exhaustion and aren't dying to stand up again to be scanned. But on the bright side, you get to keep the feeling in your leg.

Status Update

2010-11-17T12:59:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I reported in, however, there is a whole lot to report. As you may have noticed, I have not been exer-gaming for a little while. The day job has expanded greatly in it's time requirements. I now have a team working for me.

Computer Got Sick
My main desktop's two backup battery's failed, which forced me to spend hours rewiring power threw a new surge protector. Once I had that done, somehow a tripped the breaker and I was able to fix that after a few days of scratching my head because the breaker didn't look tripped. Without my main pc, I can't create videos, but I just got it back up and running today.

Staycation
What time I have had available has been devoted to my 18 month old daughter. We obtained a play set for the back yard and a bike trailer. We have been having a blast. I am on staycation this week. It's also been a great time to get a lot of problems fixed, such as the computer issue above.

Health Issues
I discovered that I have a slight deficiency in thyroid hormone. I'm now supplementing with bioidentical hormones and it appears to have helped stop the weight gain. Along side the thyroid I have switched to vitamins provided by Dr. Hotze. I'm am also on a "yeast free" diet that is most similar to the candida diet or an anti-fungal diet. The first month of the diet required cutting out simple carbs, sugar, vinegar, etc. This diet has contributed to some significant weight loss on it's own and I have not been starving.

Playstation Move
A few weeks ago I purchased the Playstation Move controllers. I was anticipating getting EA Sports Active 2.0 for the PS3. I was convinced that Kinect was going to be problematic. I've only played Sports Champions and I actually like the game a lot. Disc golf is great. I have now determined that all three consoles have advantages and disadvantages with their movement controls. They are all different experiences with the PS3 and Wii probably being the most similar. I fully intend to track my heart rate in sports champions activities to provide that as an example. I need to find a good way to track my calorie burn as well.

Microsoft Kinect
So I was in Frys and they were running a Kinect demo. I knew immediately that for fitness gaming, this was going to be excellent. I've already managed to get nice and sore from just a few hours of Kinect Adventures and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.

Kinect Adventures
This one is probably not the best for burning calories, but the river rafting and the obstacle course games do provide a basic workout for the weaklings like me. Both of these contributed to my legs getting sore for the following two days. The other events might help with balance. I'll post more about this game on a later date.

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
I spent 30 minutes in the game and burned at least 170 calories. A lot of that time was just setting it up. The games appears to come from the same people who created Yourself! Fitness -> My Fitness Coach -> Your Shape -> My Fitness Coach 2. If you've followed the fitness game reviews, the last two games lost their mojo. Your Shape for the Wii was still a great try and ultimately arrived with Fitness Evolved for Kinect. I actually own the old Your Shape and used it briefly, but I didn't feel that it was going to work well enough to dump the other games I've been using such as EA Sports Active and My Fitness Coach. With Kinect, this game is able to track your moves very precisely, unlike what is possible with Move or even more so on the Wii (including the old Your Shape Wii camera). Given my limited time with the game, the jury is still out.

EA Sports Active 2.0 for Kinect
I purchased a copy to review, but so far I haven't opened it yet because I'm still too sore from Your Shape. The current plan is to get the blog brought up to date first over the next few days. I will start to check the game out. I'm very interested in how EASA 2.0 compares to EASA 1.0, how it compares across consoles, and if it can out-do Your Shape.

The Evolution of Fitness Gaming
These new games allow you to go hands free. Caution, the Wii version still requires the Wii-mote but according to an EA Rep on their forums you can opt to not use it on some activities. That was enough to scare me away from the Wii version. You can now use dumbbells with these games. This is going to add a whole new dimension to them. Before now it was all about semi-questionable card activity, but now there is a real chance for some basic strength training as well.

There has a been a flurry of games released over the last few weeks. A new round of dance games has come out. EA also has new workout game based upon the NFL Combine theme. We'll be looking to provide insight about these exergames as well.

Playstation Move - Sports Champions

2010-09-19T22:53:00.001-05:00

I acquired a move bundle and tried out Sports Champions. It was definitely a Wii Sports like experience. My arms are now extremely sore. There are two sports that are highly likely to cause some calorie burn. Gladiator and Volleyball. I'm definitely going to record the heart rate for these for future comparison.

Another notable sport is Disc golf. I have not played a single disc golf game on the Wii that has been satisfying. The problem is that I have played plenty of disc golf in real life. These games never manage to capture the variety of discs types and throws that can be used. Real discs are designed to curve differently, glide differently, and may be designed to roll or slide, etc. Disc golf in sports champions has set a new bar for disc golf games by successfully allowing the tomahawk style throw, using real disc physics, and allowing the discs to slide on their back. This game also has a course that is much more like a typical disc golf course design.

I'd still like to see more control of disc spin. I would like to be able to use a disc that is intentionally over or under stable "curves easily" so that I can throw an "s curve" style shot.

Another workout completed.

2010-07-17T22:16:00.003-05:00

I threw another wrinkle in for this workout by using some wrist weights. They each weighed in at 2 lbs. My goal was to raise the intensity of the workout without having to switch to medium.

Why do I want to avoid medium intensity, you ask? I've found that medium is too much for my legs, but light is too weak for my arms. Once I'm done with the first challenge, I can move on up from there.

I tried to search amazon for a similar pair of wrist weights and this was the closest set I could find: Savasa for Women Wrist Weight Pair. You need wrist weights that don't slide up into the wiimote or put pressure on your watch.

Workout 7/20 - EA Sports Active! (with PIP window)

2010-07-13T23:56:00.000-05:00

For this workout, I was finally able to get the camera up and running. Now you can see my actions and how they match up with EA Sports Active's avatar on screen. There are still quite a few moves that frustrate me. Here is the workout proof for today:

You may notice that I wear a "belly burner" belt. This is something I am experimenting with and it seems to be helping. It is supposed to help get the water out of your belly fat so that it can be burned. I have two belts. One is a "bodyfit" brand from Sports Authority. The other is the McDavid Waist Trimmer (Black, One Size) which is the one that I generally prefer due to ease of putting it on. The bodyfit belt is already set to it's tightest zipper, but the McDavid belt uses Velcro to fit almost any size.

My waist chart can be found on the lower right portion of this page, or right her in this post:

Workout 6/20 - EA Sports Active w/ Live Heart Rate

2010-07-11T19:14:00.000-05:00

I've discovered a way to do something that I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm now able to put my live heart rate on the video to show you exactly how much the workout was effecting me. I'm hoping that over time this technique will make it more obvious which games are helping me shed the weight. Today I'm here to show you my first recorded workout with the heart rate embedded in the video. You can see the heart rate shown in the bottom center portion of the screen.