Exercise should be a skill, not a weight-loss pill

Right now I’m participating in a November 200-swing challenge on a fitness forum, where you do 200 kettlebell swings per day all month.  I’ve missed a couple of days due to a fall chest cold, but otherwise, I’ve taken this opportunity to bone up on the kettlebell technique I learned last summer.  I’d also like to get better at one-handed swinging, and as luck would have it, the guys at Jersey Kettlebell just put up a great video on one-handed swings (I can’t embed it for some reason).

Now that I know how to do them right, I can’t believe how easy and fun one-handed swinging is.  It’s so cool to learn something new and even cooler to get better at it with practice

And what do you get when you subtract the work from your workout, and add fun?  Any kid can tell you: it’s called PLAY!  Sadly, too many folks view the joy of movement as a form of punishment and purgatory.  They’re trying to transform into a bikini babe, an action hero, or warrior physique.  Or the gym is “cardio confessional” where (after fighting for a parking spot closest to the door) you try to cleanse away last night’s cheeseburger with the most boring, tedious exercises you can think of.

Instead of flogging your sinful self or chasing some Hollywood mirage (created by drugs, nicotine, surgeons, starvation and Photoshop), use your workout time to actually achieve something.  Do a pull-up, a set of pushups on your toes, a Turkish get-up, run as far as you can in 15 minutes or pass a DDR song on Expert.  Whatever it is, if you can’t do it yet, then work on doing it.  Then do a victory dance when you’re done!  It’ll seem more like play than work, and you’ll end up with a healthy habit and a feeling of achievement that no scale can give you.

Count your calories while playing Wii tennis

Wiimote-holders shaped like tennis rackets aren’t new, but this model, coming next week, isn’t just another dumb piece of plastic.  According to the description on Amazon:

With the smart racket from CTA digital you can enjoy those Wii tennis video games while measuring your fitness level all in one accessory. This tennis racket contains a small built in LED display that displays the amount of calories burned, overall distance of swings (in either kilometers/miles per hour) and how many swings have been taken in your session. Just connect your Wii Remote (with or without a Wii Motion Plus adapter) into the cradle of the base handle and you’re set! This intelligent and comfortable tennis racket will not only aid you in dominating virtual tennis tournaments but also help track your path to fitness success!

All that for only $18!  Personally I think it would be more fun to play a few sets of tennis while flinging the Wiiwaa or even the Wii Baby.  With your imagination, exergaming knows no bounds!

ACE is less whelmed by balance-boarding than by arrow-stomping

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) just announced the results of a university study of Wii Fit, and some game sites are crowing that ACE found the popular exergame “underwhelming” when it comes to calorie burn.

When played for 30 minutes, Wii Fit’s Free Run and Island Run burned an average of 165 calories–the most out of the six activities tested–and yielded the highest energy expenditures. Rhythm Boxing expended an average of 114 calories, followed by Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step and Free Step at 111, 108 and 99 calories, respectively. In all instances, researchers found that performing the actual activity as opposed to the virtual has a significantly higher caloric expenditure. This is especially evident with conventional step aerobics, which burns almost 12 calories per minute by typically stepping up onto a six-inch high bench, verses Wii Fit’s Free Step and Advanced Step, which burn much less by stepping up onto the one- or one-and-a-half-inch balance pad provided. Similarly, its Rhythm Boxing activity burns just one third of the calories per minute of traditional boxing.

Never mind that Wii Fit players may be gaining strength, improved balance, flexibility or heaven forbid, are having fun exercising – apparently at the ACE, calories are all that count.  Incidentally, there has been a flurry of articles lately about how exercise has been oversold as a weight-loss tool.  This article in the New York Times cites a couple of studies where subjects lost less weight than one would expect from just an exercise program (hey, the fact they lost anything at all puts them way ahead of many an average American) and contrary to popular belief, the “afterburn” effect of burning more calories during the rest of your workout day is pretty much non-existent.

So exercise is a waste of time if it doesn’t blast away your buns and put you in skinny jeans by Friday?  Not necessarily, as the article points out:

Perhaps just as important, bear in mind that exercise has benefits beyond weight reduction. In the study of obese people who took up exercise, most became notably healthier, increasing their aerobic capacity, decreasing their blood pressure and resting heart rates, and, the authors write, achieving “an acute exercise-induced increase in positive mood,” leading the authors to conclude that, “significant and meaningful health benefits can be achieved even in the presence of lower than expected exercise-induced weight loss.”

Let’s hope that readers actually saw that part instead of clicking away in disgust after reading that exercise may not be the magic weight-loss pill.

Back to ACE, they also studied an exergame called Dancetown which is basically DDR adapted for old folks, with easier steps and classics like “Locomotion” in place of thrash electronica.  ACE found that stepping to Dancetown burned more calories per half-hour (136 on average) than all but the most intense of Wii Fit activities, Free Run and Island Run.

Exergaming gets a lot of flack for not being a six-pack-in-a-box, and one of the most simplistic knee-jerk criticisms is “go outside”.  Well, looking out my window at a cold rainy day, if you gave me a choice right now between the dance pad, a treadmill or the outdoors, I know which one I’m picking.  Your choice may be different, but (in my nonexpert opinion) it’s all good.

Yoga for Wii trying not to be a poser

A new Wii game called simply Yoga is coming later this month or early next month, depending on which website you rely on.  The game is led by a model whose credentials apparently consist of being a model, being in a number of product advertising campaigns, liking yoga a lot, and looking great in a triangle pose.

But according to an article in the Times of India, there are actual yoginis from the land of yoga behind the development of  Yoga.  The article states that this is the first Wii game to be developed by an Indian company, that it will be released worldwide in five languages, and a group of testers has been going through the motions on Wii balance boards for nearly a year.

Here’s a trailer – love that lungs icon

We Cheer 2 review: two poms up

My review of We Cheer 2, also posted at Amazon:

We Cheer is one of my favorite video games of all time, and We Cheer 2 makes a great thing even better.  Cheers to Namco for making big improvements based on people’s feedback.

Perhaps the biggest complaint about the first game was that it was a struggle just to pass a song!  The two levels, normal and hard, were more like harder and hardest.  Not with We Cheer 2.  The new (default) beginner mode has the fewest lines and you will score points even if you’re too slow or fast, making it very easy to fill up that megaphone-shaped life gauge.  The rainbow bonus round is also back – you spell words instead of lighting up stars – but this time you’ll go into bonus mode even if you don’t get all the letters; you just get less time to wildly shake your wiimotes for extra points.  Beginner level is ideal for kids and newbies; my 7-year-old daughter, who was easily frustrated at the first We Cheer, happily tore through We Cheer 2.  Even beginners can move up through the ranks and unlock songs and LOTS of stuff.

Seasoned We Cheerleaders like me will probably want to start with intermediate level.  As with the first game, the squad always does the same routine for any song on all levels, but intermediate adds more lines.  Advanced (which you unlock for each song by passing it) has the same lines as intermediate, as far as I can tell, but the grading’s more strict – you only score on “cool” which is a perfect move, and the card bonus is taken away, making it truly a challenge to fill up that gauge.  Like others said, the controllers feel more responsive, and they fixed the no-quit bug so you can go back to the Wii Menu at any point in the game, even mid-song.

More improvements: the main game mode (Competitions) now has a choice of two games, Championships and Squad Challenge.  Squad Challenge is much like the game mode from before where you have dialogue screens with cheerleaders between songs and challenge them on various stages – fine for kids or those who insist a video game must have a storyline.  But if you’re like me and want to skip all the chit-chat, go to Championships where you just play one song after another.  Each song gives you more cheer points to buy clothes and accessories in the cheer shop, additional cheerleaders and their uniforms, and of course new songs and stages.  (You can even see all the unlockables listed under “Rewards” on the options menu.)

Wait, there’s MORE!  You can now customize hair styles, faces and even names.  The uniform logo is now your team name, so you can have your school name or fave sports team or whatever you call your team on a big banner on the menu screen.  Head for the cheer shop and spend your cheer points on clothing, hats, hair decorations and face paint.  And you can save your favorite outfits, or take and save photos of them.  Multiplayer still has cheer-off (2 to 4 players) and 2 party games, Hot Balloon (similar to Hot Potato) and Balloon Survival (where you try to hit all your moves to keep balloon from popping).

And even more: Workout mode is back, and you have a choice of 2 songs/routines in short or long versions.  (Unfortunately the “calorie” counter is still bogus.)  There’s also a new “cheer camp” where you learn actual cheerleader moves; young aspiring cheerleaders should enjoy this part.  And there are now records, and – well, I shouldn’t spoil everything.  Just buy it!!  Young or old, if you like to get up and cheer, this is your game.

Cheers for the little successes

We Cheer 2, out today, is still on its way to me, but I have a couple of things to cheer about anyway.  Recently I wrote about taking two-minute fitness breaks throughout the day, which I have been doing, and I’m happy to report that I’ve lost just under 5 pounds since I started   I’m not a big scale junkie, but I weigh myself maybe once every 1-2 weeks, and lately I’ve noticed my pants getting looser.  So I guess these mini-workouts were just the thing to give my aging metabolism a jolt.  Woohoo!!

I’ve also been getting my butt in gear, literally.  Someone on another forum I frequent mentioned this article on T-Nation called How Strong Are Your Glutes, Really? It contains two exercises, straight-leg and bent-leg glute extensions, designed to test your glute muscle activation.  I passed both tests, but just barely, so I’ve been doing 15-20 reps of each exercise as a warmup prior to my first set of kettlebell swings.  In only a few days, there has been some real improvement in my swinging!  My back used to give out after about 50 reps, but now I can go 60 or 70 reps.  Activating my glutes has made SUCH a difference – almost like uncovering a hidden fuel tank.  Yeah!!

I love how making little changes like these can produce real results.  By the time We Cheer 2 hits my doorstep, I’ll be able to tackle those tuck jumps with renewed spirit and a lighter load.  Cheers!!

We Cheer 2 workout mode: the panda burned HOW many calories??

Namco released a last-minute teaser about We Cheer 2, due out this Tuesday: the workout mode has a special guest, a panda from their popular Tekken fighting game series.

A few hardcore gamers are crying sacrilege, but here’s what’s really bogus:  that “calorie counter” in the lower right corner.  Watch it soar to 2030 calories!  Now unless you play We Cheer for about, oh, 8 hours straight, there’s no way you’re going to burn that much even if you’re a Biggest Loser-sized panda.

Most calorie-counting devices are ballpark estimates at best, with the counters on some gym equipment being way off.  The DDR workout modes for PS2 and Xbox count calories based on a person’s weight and number of steps, and the result is surprisingly close to my heart rate monitor which counts calories based on my heart rate, weight and age.  But on We Cheer, they simply relabel your score as “calories” when you’re in workout mode, resulting in absurd four-digit results.  I was hoping this would be fixed for We Cheer 2, but it doesn’t look like it.

I know, this isn’t Wii Fit and they’re not claiming to be fitness experts.  But honestly I’d rather see no calorie counter at all than something that might fool someone into thinking they can Wii-cheer off an entire day’s intake in five minutes.

Songlist for Just Dance released

The Wii game Just Dance is coming November 17, and the full song list was just released.  A mixed bag for sure (much like the We Cheer soundtracks) but there’s something for pretty much every casual gamer’s taste, even the ones who remember when the Mashed Potato was the latest and the greatest.

• Calvin Harris – “Acceptable in the 80’s”
• Elvis Presley – “A Little Less Conversation”
• Divine Brown – “Bebe”
• Kylie Minogue – “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”
• Rednex – “Cotton Eye Joe”
• Katy Perry – “Hot n’ Cold”
• Gorillaz – “Dare”
• Survivor (Rocky) – “Eye of the Tiger”
• Irene Cara (cover) – “Fame”
• The B 52’s – “Funplex CSS”
• Blur – “Girls and Boys”
• Cyndi Lauper – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
• Dee-Lite – “Groove is in the Heart”
• Blondie – “Heart of Glass”
• The Beach Boys – “I Get Around”
• Reel To Real – “I Like to Move It”
• Caesars – “Jerk it Out”
• Fat Boy Slim – “Jin Go Lo Ba”
• Kim Wilde – “Kids in America”
• Chic – “Le Freak”
• Iggy Pop – “Louie Louie”
• The Presidents Of The USA – “Lump”
• Dee Dee Sharp – “Mashed Potato Time”
• Technotronic – “Pump up the Jam”
• Anita Ward – “Ring My Bell”
• New Kids On The Block – “Step by Step”
• The Trashmen – “Surfin’ Bird”
• KC & The Sunshine Band – “That’s the Way (I Like It)”
• MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”
• The Spice Girls – “Wannabe”
• Baha Men – “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
• Britney Spears (cover) – “Womanizer”

The new DDRs are out!

Two new additions to the DDR franchise, Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 for Wii and Dance Dance Revolution X2 for PS2, were released this past Tuesday.  I’m still looking around for reviews; for HP3, one DDR novice posted a positive review on Amazon and the buzz on GameFAQs has been pretty good.

The balance board mode for HP3 seems to be working well by all accounts.  I still haven’t heard anything about doubles or workout mode for either game.  Maybe I’ll see if I can test either game out at a store.  So far they are only being retailed in bundles.

Update:  Here’s a good, thorough review of HP3 on Diehard GameFan.  The reviewer raves, but also points out that selling the game only in an expensive pad/game bundle, punishes the fans who already have pads from 1 and 2.  Come on, Konami – at least give us doubles mode (or triples or quad) so we have a reason for all that plastic.

Be a Skateboard Hero

Pro skateboarder Tony Hawk has had his name attached to video games for some time, but his latest license Tony Hawk Ride is a little different. It bypasses the Wii balance board for a controller all its own – a skateboard-shaped one. In lieu of wheels, it has a curved bottom so you can rock and pivot it with your feet to simulate various tricks, and propel your screen self (or your Mii on a Wii) by kicking your foot past a sensor on the side of the board.

Nintendo Channel on the Wii has this short tutorial video showing off the Rideboard’s tricks:

It remains to be seen how well this controller works, or how many calories it burns.  But since Tony Hawk Ride will be released on all three current consoles on Nov. 17, Xbox360 and PS3 owners will finally get a taste of the balance-board exergaming that has helped make the Wii such a sensation.