EA Sports Active Review (aka Wii Sweat...A LOT)

The responsibilities of pet-ownership have surprised me a bit. Mostly the realization of how little extra time I actually have. My after-work time was typically dedicated to workouts at the gym or creating reasons to avoid workouts at the gym (also referred to as "errands"). Now my after work routine consists of rushing home to release the hound.

I was faced with reassessing my home exercising options. I'm a big fan of workout DVDs, but it's only a matter of time before I either find something better on TV to distract me or develop a reason why I hate the instructor ("she's skinnier than me" is my go-to). I needed something fun, different, and capable of holding my interest, not my wet towels and dirty clothes like most fitness machines.

Enter the Nintendo Wii. After years of pleading and begging, Mr. Drama finally allowed us to become a two-console family (I have my suspicions that he just wants quality time with his XBox). Add on the EA Sports Active "game" + Wii Fit and I've just built myself a pseudo gym! Sure, I'm a little late to the Wii exercise party in general, but it's never too late to try something that might result in smaller jeans.

This post will focus on the EA Sports Active program. I call it a program because really, there's nothing fun about it that would make it a game. It is a straight up workout program - more like a workout video that can catch you when you try to slack off. It definitely feels more like a personal trainer with the personality of a mannequin. No really, the people who demo the moves in the handy instructional videos look like they stepped out of an Old Navy commercial.

The workout was a doozy. I'm admittedly a little rusty, but the medium intensity workout left me dripping in sweat! I jumped right into the 30 Day Challenge. It sets you up with a schedule and routines to work different muscle groups. The workout is divided into about 20 mini-segments, so getting bored is out of the question. The trainer keeps tabs on you with motivating messages that range from good ("you'll make real progress with this pace") to cheesy ("you, my friend, are poetry in motion" really?!).

Strength segments include some basic exercises with the assistance of a resistance band. The band is pretty weak, it will need to be replaced with something more aggressive soon. However, the easy resistance lets you concentrate on form. This is a biggie, because you don't want to hurt yourself. But also, some of the moves require some funky hand position or movement to let the Wii know how you're moving. For example, shoulder presses. Each time you press up, you also need to point your controllers to the ceiling. If the Wii catches you avoiding this step, your rep won't count, and the trainer will tell you that you're a pansy (ok, not really). It took a few tries to hold the controllers and resistance band handles in the right way to make it all come together.

Cardio can get a little fun. But it can be boring too. In my 2nd workout, I was stuck running the track. UGH! It's my most hated of all activities in a normal setting. Worse when you're running in place! But I can stick it out for the few minutes. However, I'd rather be in the other cardio sections, like dancing or tennis or boxing. You hardly realize you're doing cardio because you have something to do, like hit a ball or target.

After a couple workouts, I'm hooked. And in pain. All the squatting and running has really done a job on my under-utilized leg muscles! But the scheduled workouts and journal (you can enter your general healthiness regarding food & other activities) keeps me wanting to come back for more pain.