Wii personal trainer

Computer gaming with emphasis on building fitness – you just buy the add-on pack for the Nintendo Wii Discuss this article

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What is it?
Computer gaming with emphasis on building fitness – you just buy the add-on pack for the Nintendo Wii.

Where?
In the comfort of your own home – where no one can see you.

How it promises to transform your body
It has a variety of workout programmes, demonstrating different exercises onscreen that you need to copy, with focus on upper body, lower body and cardio. The software monitors you via the movements of the Wii nunchuck (placed in the supplied leg strap holster), and Wii Remote, which you hold.

So what happens?
The first thing Active: Personal Trainer requires you to do is create a profile. Enter your vital stats – height, weight and body type, which by the way doesn’t really cater for those of us who embrace our curves. On the plus side, you are able to choose your attire for your workout, including a selection of snazzy trainers. The next step is to fill out a couple of surveys – Lifestyle & Nutrition and an Activity survey. For the exercise you can choose a ‘30 Day Challenge’ or ‘Preset & Custom Workouts’ – I opted for the latter, as a month’s worth of exercise is a bit scary. The challenge starts off nice and easy with some jogging on the spot (shown onscreen by a virtual running track). Next it had me doing squats, bent over rows and lunges. All seemed well, and my personal trainer – a somewhat patronising female computer ’bot – was impressed with my sustainability. But after 30 minutes of exercise I was expected to run around the athletic track doing kick-ups. By this point, my AC was on full blast in the living room, yet I was sweating and still being taunted by ‘Too slow’ messages popping up on the screen.

The verdict
All in all, Active: Personal Trainer definitely put me through my paces, and I used muscles I never knew I had. Suffice to say I paid for it the next day, but it was worth it and I’ve found myself signing up to the 30 Day Challenge. Whether I’ll go through with the torture or not is another matter altogether, and my Wii may remained switched off until the guilt has passed.
EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer is available for the Nintendo Wii from Virgin Megastore, Bahrain City Centre (17 172 300), price BD30 approx.