Finally one that actually works

Yesterday I have finished the 30-day challenge on the Active Trainer for Wii console. It consists of 20 workout session of around 25 minutes which have to be completed in 30 days. Not too bad, if I might say so myself.

This home trainer was recommended to me by a friend and I do believe it’s the best way to exercise at home before or after work during the winter time. I’m not hired by EA to do marketing or sales for them, I’m just describing my own experience here.

The game needs a Wii Remote and a Nunchuck but two additional accessories are included in the box set. The leg strap is used to track the leg movements when doing squats, lunges, running and so on by attaching it on the right upper thigh with the Nunchuck slipped inside the small pocket. The resistance band is for strengthening specific muscle groups when doing exercises for the arms, like bicep curls, triceps kickbacks or shoulder raises.

Additionally some exercises are compatible with the Wii Balance Board. Unfortunately I still didn’t manage to sync mine yet, which I was planning to do weeks ago ( My Wii Balance Board won’t sync! ), so I didn’t use it on this challenge. There are nutrition, lifestyle, and other activity sections too but I haven’t used those either.

The user can pick easy, medium or hard training difficulty level and the music genre which is played in the background. The user interface is nice and relaxing, one can even hear birds singing in the background. The virtual personal trainer is constantly giving guidance, motivation and tips like a real professional.

Instead of doing the 30-day challenge, one can choose to do single workouts too. This game offers a wide variety of upper body, lower body or full body workouts and the user can pick the duration.

This game, if I can call it that way, is addictive. The workouts are configured automatically and well shuffled, therefore one will not do the same exercises all the time and it never gets boring. It also supports two player mode so it’s possible to do the exercises together with a friend.

I’ve made this challenge on the medium level and discovered muscles that I never knew I had before. It often made me tired and gave me terrible muscle aches, what I can’t really say about other workout games. I have already used the Wii Fit but it doesn’t even come close to this.

One downside is that the resistance band is not as resistant as I expected it to be. Mine got slightly torn so I’ll have to replace it soon. But I have already purchased the next version of this game called EA Sports Active: More Workouts and I’m going to start using it soon.