Yourself!Fitness

"Use Your Xbox, Lose Weight!"

Introduction - The Yourself!Fitness program is not a traditional game, but an interactive DVD. It utilizes the harddrive of the Xbox to help develop a "personal workout regimen" . It helps you to track your progress and develop a workout that is geared to your own fitness level.

Gameplay - Since this isn't really a "game", there's really very little "game play", however it is definitely designed for someone who has never used a console controller before. It's very simple to scroll thru options with the digital pad and you enter with the X & B buttons. Very simple to use. The other thing that I like is the left joystick allows you to change camera angle at any point during your workout so that you can see different angles of the exercise.

You are introduced to Maya, your new "personal trainer". Before she can help you set up your workout, she needs to know a little about you. You tell her if you are male or female, your current weight, then she runs you thru some tests (endurance, lower, upper and core body strength as well as flexibility) and then she recommends a workout regimen for you based on these results. You can over ride her selection at any time. You will be asked to do these evaluations again every 10 workouts.

She then recommends a weekly schedule, but you can over ride that as well, telling her which days you want to work out and for how long (and these are important, as you are rewarded for not missing workouts). The schedule can be changed if you find you can't workout on a certain day, or if you want to increase/decrease your workouts.

Now you're ready for a workout. You get to select an environment, music choice and what equipment you have (this is something that is asked before every workout, so you can adjust it to what you have... or if you don't feel like dealing with a step bench that day... not that I ever would do that, of course). You can use a heart rate monitor (which I highly recommend, as it's the best indication if you're working hard enough), a step bench, a stability ball and hand weights. (Maya does not give any guidance on hand weights, so you have to decide for yourself what the right weight is for you). Every workout is different, the steps are the same, but the order and length changes every workout.

There are environments and music that are locked, but as you stick to the program (and show up for your scheduled workouts), these become available.

The next step is to decide what you want to concentrate on. Maya makes her recommendation, but again you can over ride her decision. The you're off to a workout. Maya will start each workout asking you how you are feeling (just as an aside, if you tell her "you're lucky I'm here", she doesn't make the workout any easier. All she does is encourage you more. Believe me, I've tried!).

Every workout starts with a warm up, followed by a higher cardio workout and always ends with either a strength training workout or flexibility (depending on what you selected). Ending with a short stretching regimen. After each segment she will ask you how you did. She adjusts your next workout based on these answers. At any point during a workout you can also pause the workout and adjust at that point.

I found it took almost 7 workouts to find the right "level", but I didn't adjust in middle of my workout.

One of the things I really like about the workout is that the exercises scroll across the bottom so you know what's coming up. However, there is an occasional glitch with this.... you may see a "break" coming, and it jumps right to the next exercise. After a couple of workouts, you see when it happens, so you get used to it, but it's very disappointing to be working hard, see a break coming, and it's skips right by it. Maya will also remind you when to take a water break.

At the end of the workout, she congrats you for completing your workout and either tells you how many calories you burned or she tells you that you tried a new exercise. I have to say this is one thing I would really like to see changed. I track my calories in vs. calories out, so I would like my calorie burn every workout.

There is a separate "meditation garden" which is a basic yoga workout. If you haven't done yoga before, it's a bit tricky, as she doesn't always vocalize when you need to change positions. It may take a couple of practices to get the routine down for novices.

There is also a menu plan which can also be accessed thru the Yourself!Fitness website. Since I'm following a specific diet, I can't review the menu option.

Maya will encourage you during your workout, and her sayings are a bit limited. However, she tells you to watch your form, keep your elbows back, tighten your abdomen muscles, which actually do help.

The graphics are okay. Nothing spectacular, and Maya is definitely double jointed, as she can move her hips and femur in opposite directions at the same time, but it's not really a problem. The backgrounds are a little generic, and most are very static.

The music is by far the worse aspect of the game. At first, I really hated the music, but after using it for a while (and unlocking some of the more techno music), I got used to it. The biggest problem is that it's glitchy. Maya has to keep the beat and if you are in middle of a workout, and a song ends, you can get a long period of no music while the music and Maya "match" up. There's also no downloadable music option (again, I'm sure it has to do with Maya keeping the beat).

Story - There is no story, just a well balanced workout.

Play Time/Replayability - There's obviously a lot of replayability, as it's designed to be used on a regular basis.

Final Recommendation - As an avid gamer, this is just what I was looking for. It's not for everyone, but if you are looking for a way to be more active and live a healthier lifestyle (and want to be able to use your Xbox too) this is an excellent program. It's not with out it's faults, but one I would recommend to someone interested in working out.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/04