When it comes to Wii fitness games, I have them all. Wii fit, Wii fit plus, my fitness coach. You name it, I've tried it. And before I get a load of messages saying "Wii wont get you fit" blah blah, this is how I want to actually try and maintain a healthy fitness level. And in actual fact, I did lose weight from using Wii Fit but I literally went on it every single day.
However, I have always been interested in Zumba classes, although never actually having attended one, I have no idea what to expect. I saw a couple of years ago that a game was released for the Wii and after watching video after video on youtube of people "reviewing" it, I decided to go and see if my local CEX had it in stock. To my surprise, they had one with the belt included which I instantly picked up. And for only £10, it was hardly breaking the bank and they still buy it back for a decent amount if I didn't like it. After walking round town for a while, I made my way home.
I didn't know what to expect when I hooked the Wii up to the tv and put the game in. For starters, the music reminds me of Nando's...literally. I don't know why either! After creating a game profile, learning how to use the interface etc, I was ready to start learning the moves. Now it doesn't actually tell you this (from what I can remember, but if it does hey ho!) but the belt has to have the Wii remote on your right hip. I quite liked the look of the game at this stage as it's pretty similar to Just Dance, i.e you have a trainer to follow who indicates whether you're doing the steps right or not by turning red or green. Along the bottom of the screen, it has a progression bar (not what it's called but it's what I'll refer to it as!) which, as you perform more perfect moves, fills up and you can move onto the next level. I quite like this as some of the steps can initially be quite tricky so it allows you to go over them a couple of times.
After learning the steps, I decided to create a workout calendar. For now, I've stuck to the pre-made workout schedule as I didn't really have time to faff about planning when I wanted to "work out". And before I knew it, I was beginning my first workout class. 20 minutes of a wii fitness game. That was my initial thought, but I was totally wrong. Good god the sweat was soon pouring off me. I can see why people go to Zumba classes, if I'm sweating this much by just using the Wii then I dread to think what it'd be like in an actual class! I naturally have quite good rhythm so I found it quite easy to keep in time with the music, but again, if you're struggling the instructor will soon tell you and won't progress to the next level without filling more of the progression bar. But the difference in all the other fitness games for me, with this, is that you actually have to move. It takes you through a couple of routines selected for your level, which you can keep track of by the timer in the bottom left hand corner. For me, I like knowing how much time I have left to see how much I can push myself, but you do have the option to hide it. What I particularly like is that you get a little break inbetween routines, or you can pause the game yourself. Coming to the end of the workout, the last routine was a cool down. I quite liked this idea after jigging about for 15 or so odd minutes, and it actually did help as I wasn't sore or achey the following day.
My personal thoughts on this game is that I could actually see it working. I'm not one for a health fitness craze but this is something I have genuinely enjoyed, I feel myself wanting to go on the workout mode more and more. That, and I've found it insanely addictive. I actually felt as if I've had a proper workout after this, as I said before, you actually have to move otherwise you won't go to the next level. I'm going to continue using this game for a couple of months (alongside my normal fitness regime) to see if I notice any difference, but I can genuinely say I felt so much better the day after using this. I never thought I'd say that about a Wii game.
Even if Wii fitness games aren't your thing, go ahead, give it a go. You might even surprise yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope you will too if you try it out.
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