Wii My Fitness Coach

So, Dani and I wanted to buy the Wii fit for a long time now. We just saw the balance board and the training exercises as so cool. Well, long story short, it still hasn't happened, and the deadline for it has past. Dani and I started looking for alternatives to in-home fitness. We tried Julian Michaels for a bit, but it made me sick to my stomach every time I did one of her workouts. We tried Tae-bo with Billy Banks for a while too, but it just moved so fast that Dani and I could hardly keep up.

I knew, from advertisements and what not, that Wii Fit was not the first workout or in-home fitness program for the Wii, I just couldn't remember the name of the first one I saw. Julian Michaels has her wii game, and there are a number of other newer ones, but I wanted to find that older one.

Today, almost by accident, I found it on gamestop.com. It's call My Fitness Coach, by Ubisoft. It doesn't require anything but a wii to use, but can make use of an aerobics platform, hand weights, heart monitor, and exercise ball if you have them. They have 480 work-outs on file, and they start you off with a comprehensive health exam. They test cadio vascular, upper body, lower body, and flexibility. Based on your initial test results, they give you a recommended workout. In my case, it recommended upper body strength--something I've always been lacking in.

Well, I just bought it today, but already it's way better than any workout DVD I've ever used. It covers all the core health and fitness fundamentals--target heart zones, workout lengths, different types of resistance, endurance, and overall muscle strength. Sadly, Ubisoft put out a second My Fitness Coach and it totally tanked because they replaced the 3D trainer with workout video clips, so there probably won't be a third by them.

What it lacks is the intuition and experimental aspects of personal training. The trainer cheers at you and encourages you to keep going--and it does help, because she does it when you start slowing down, or when the workout is starting to get hard.

So, if you don't have the $100 extra for Wii Fit, $17 for My Fitness Coach will get you just as good a workout, and you won't need any extra equipment either. If you can't afford a personal trainer and a gym membership, well, this is probably the next best thing.