Diary Of A Wimpy Vin Pt2

Day one was a bit a slog for me and I will admit to aching a little bit the next day. My personal Fuel Print shows quite clearly that I lack in both fitness and athleticism (a fact it loves to point out by comparing me to the few friends I have with Nike+ as well as the prints of the two personal trainers). Thankfully, the folks at Nike aren't in this to poke fun at fatties and cripples. The software has preselected which exercises it thinks I would most benefit from and it has allowed me to select precisely which days I can fit my new program in to. Unfortunately for me, my next session was the very next day.

Week One

The sign up and fitness test don’t truly count as your first week, so ‘week one’ starts on your next session (I signed up on the Tuesday, with my first session on Wednesday) and in my personal program I went for three days a week. This input spat out two strength and one cardio session a week for the next four weeks. Each session starts with a good range of warm up exercises and motions that seem to be tailored to get the muscles you’ll be using up to temperature for the upcoming drills. It’s pretty much the same as the fitness tests. The trainer will describe to you what is expected of you, you get into position and complete either the targeted reps or time limit. What’s clever here is the game constantly analyses your movements to try to give tips on how you can improve and get more out of the drill.

My first proper session is a strength workout so once I’m warmed up (read: knackered) it’s straight into my prescribed drills. Nike makes a habit of informing you that strength training is different from weight training in that it’s designed to increase your ‘explosiveness’ (whatever the hell that means) and should keep you burning calories even after you've finished working out. The drills basically boil down to a series of long, slow and determined movements such as push-ups, lunges and squats. Keeping in time is key, too fast or too slow will result in sub-par rep and a sound bite from the trainer.

After the 25 minute workout, I’m given the option to do another round of exercises if I felt particular in the zone (I didn't, and nor did I fancy accepting a challenge in my current state). There are some achievements related to this but I pretty much dying so maybe next time. Then there’s a brief cool-down section to stretch out and bring the workout to close.

Cardio sessions are a little different in that they are all about movement, constant and quick movement, to really get your blood pumping and get a decent sweat on. These sessions are really about proper calorie burning in real time. The drills have a really good mix from bog standard stuff like jogging on the spot to mini game style drill that have you dodging balls or trying to fit through gaps in a glass wall.

After my first week, I’d managed to burn around 400 calories (that’s two pints of lager!) and gained something in the region of 900 Nike fuel points (more on those in a future article). I feel pretty good that I’m actually doing some exercise and I only really had one day of muscle ache while my body got used to the new movements. I did feel like shit straight after one or two of the sessions but I can already feel them getting easier, just.

Next up…Getting used to the routine in week 2!

Diary Of A Wimpy Vin Pt1

Originally posted on PixelBedlam Going to the gym has never inspired me. I join up and go solidly for a few weeks then something breaks my routine (be it illness or car troubles) and I remember how easy it was to NOT go. I severely doubt I’m the only one with this lack of commitment to exercise, especially amongst us gamer types. What can be done with us? How about attaching achievements to it? Enter Nike+ Kinect Training, the latest in a line of kinect based exercise software. Yes, I hear the Internets collective groan of apathy at the slightest mention of motion technology but bare with me as I take you on a journey through my prescribed four week program! DAY ONE That’s right kids, day one is so huge it needs its own article! First things first, make sure your KinectID is set up properly as this will aid your experience no end. Once you put the disc in, it will guide you straight to the set up where you can enter critical info like height, weight and age. This, of course, is not compulsory but let face it, now is not the time to be getting all shy about your weight when your standing in your living room in your pants prancing about in front of your TV. After all, the point is to track your progress accurately. Right, we’re all set up. The next step is brief assessment of your capabilities. In my opinion, this is where the software shines above its direct competitors. Using a few basic movements, the pixelised on-screen trainer will be able to tell if you have balance issues, one stronger leg, problems keeping your back straight and that’s just the problems I had! Think of this as a calibration for your future experience. Straight after this is without a doubt the hardest Nike+ Session you will have. The fitness test. My god am I unfit. By this time, you will have selected which trainer you prefer (obviously I picked the woman, who wants to stare at a bloke the whole time?!) and your personal aim you desire from the program. ‘Get Strong’ focuses on slow, methodical exercises to build up power, ‘Get Lean’ is mostly cardio and ‘Get Toned’ is a decent mixture of the two. I digress, the fitness test is a series of quick movements designed to test your fitness and athleticism, the result of which gives you your Nike+ ‘Fuel Print’. The main idea behind this is to run the test at the beginning and end of your program (or whenever you want) to gauge any improvement and progress. After your test, the software will ask you to choose which days of the week you want to commit to (yes, that right. The dreaded word) and will build an exercise regime based around your goals, strengths and weaknesses by selecting relevant moves from a huge matrix. That’s day one over for now. If you’re feeling brave, or not as dead as I felt, you can jump straight into some unprogrammed sessions or challenges. Personally, I went straight to the shower. I mentioned before about the difficulty of the fitness test. This isn't necessarily about being unfit. I’m not overweight and I have a reasonably active job. The problem is, with life in general, your body is a machine of repetition. Nike+ Kinect will challenge muscles in your body that you never knew you had. Some of the exercises feel really difficult and my body protested at this new strain for the next 24 hours. Next up, the rest of week one!