Nike+ Kinect training review
The Christmas slump is upon me. Normally I’m an avid road biker in the spring and summer. I’m not completely hardcore like my husband, but I get out there at least 3 times a week and ride for almost 2 hours. It’s good for the soul.
But winter? Now that’s another story. Even on ‘nice’ winter days, I hide inside. I’ll enjoy the warm sunshine from the comfort of my couch whilst keeping one hand on my computer and another firmly in the bag of cookies. It’s sad.
This year, I hope to change all that. Armed with my trusty XBox 360, Kinect, smartphone, and Nike Fuel Band, I’m looking to get fit and have fun with Nike+ Kinect.
I’ll be updating my progress and posting my Nike+ Kinect training review as I go. Can technology really help you get fit without the benefit of a nutritionist, trainer, and the gym? We’ll see. And if you have any tips of your own, feel free to comment.
Week One – Day One:
This trainer guy? Yeah, he’s kind of a jerk.
I mean, here I am, all flabby from winter, and he’s make me doing squats, lunges, and actually asking me to bring my knees up high when I’m running. It’s painful, so I guess he’s doing a good job. Maybe being a jerk in this instance is a good thing.
When you first start out, the trainer puts you through a series of drills to get a good handle on what you can and can’t do. I found out I am not so bad at the high knee jogging in place and absolutely brutal at dodging a wall of glass and push ups. After that initial 20 minutes, you can choose whether or not to start your Day one workout or wait until tomorrow. I opted to wait until tomorrow.
My tokus hurts. More on Wednesday.
Week One – Day Two:
I’ve decided my regular days are going to be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with an optional Saturday mixed in. The trainer showed me the layout of the week and today was cardio.
Now I’ve ran for 10K and I’ve biked for 50K, but this cardio is definitely different. It’s all made up of drills, some being more brutally painful than others. I’m not such a fan of the mountain climber, although you can really feel the burn with that one.
Today we stretched after, so maybe I won’t look like I need help crossing the street by the end of today.
With warmup, work out, and cool down, the total time was 27 minutes. I could have added an optional set of extra drills for an additional 6 minutes, but I declined. My cartoon trainer did look slightly disappointed in me.
Week One – Day Three:
I gave that evil taskmaster what he wanted this week by adding an extra 12 minutes to my workout routine. My reasoning was that it was slightly more simple given that we weren’t doing cardio but instead were strength training. Unfortunately, he wanted me to use my own weight as leverage. Ouchies.
As you progress, you’re taken through drills at a faster pace. Gone are the tutorials and the long rest periods. This guy expects you to get things done. He introduced something nasty called the ‘Dead Bug’ which was totally brutal, and kept making me do ‘Burpees’ which were just nasty. I also had to jump through broken glass, which wasn’t broken until I failed to jump through the different openings.
Week One is over. How did I do? I lost one pound, but I’m pretty happy with that considering I totally cheated and ate spaghetti and meat balls at White Spot.
So far, I’m pretty impressed. Onto Week 2.
Week Two
I’ve been working on week two for an extra week it seems, but I’m on Day 3 now.
The game really kicks it up a notch when you hit Week 2. Week 2 Day 2 Strength training just about did me in. There were very limited breaks and my legs were burning up. When he asked me if I wanted to add another set of the same exercises, I practically started jumping up and down to get the Kinect to say NO! To his credit, the trainer looked a little disappointed.
I’m starting to see the smallest results. Because I’ve been doing this and I don’t want my efforts to be in vain, I started to modify what I eat and add a little extra cardio here and there. I’ve lost 3 pounds so far, which I have to say is progress.
So far, Nike+ Kinect is working. Onto week 3!
Week Three
Things can happen when your personal trainer is a video game. Things like, oh shall we say, you misplace him in the cracks of your couch (thanks kids) and you can’t find him for a week. So technically, I’m a week behind here, but it took about that long just to locate the disc again.
In the meantime, I’ve been running 3 times a week with another wonderful piece of technology – The Couch to 10K app. I’m on Week 3 there too, and as things start to get harder, I’m surprising myself by getting stronger.
So when I popped in that disc yesterday, I was ready for whatever my virtual trainer was going to throw at me. Suffice to say, after suffering through 35 minutes of pain, I probably should have left him stuffed in the couch.
Burpees, mountain climbers, and jump squats – They kinda hurt, but they are oh so effective. Until I tried this ‘game’ I had no idea you could get that good of a workout in front of your TV. My heart was just pounding.
As of yesterday, I am down 4 pounds and I know I’ve lost a bunch of inches. I can tell my stomach is getting flatter. This is a pretty big kick for me, because I literally have never tried to lose weight before. Sure, I lost weight after I had my kids due to breastfeeding and because I was too tired to eat, but I’ve never tried to lose weight with diet and exercise.
Two more days until Week 3 is over.
End of Week Four
I missed a couple of updates here, so I’ll just skip to the two things you’re probably really interested in and then talk about my overall opinion of Nike+ Kinect Training.
Does it work? Yes.
Did I lose weight? Definitely.
I have always had trouble losing weight. I’ve never actually tried a diet and exercise plan, but relied on that tried and true method of starvation to get what I needed from weight loss. At my age now though, I realized that wasn’t going to work anymore. At least for long term.
I’ve done the running thing 3 times a week for as much as 10KM per run last spring, but it quickly got boring. And because I wasn’t dieting at the same time, I didn’t lose weight.
So after 4 weeks of doing this, I have found that Nike+ Kinect Training has added a desperately needed cross fit dimension to working out, which in turn accelerated everything else I did. Here’s the proof:
- I’m running 3 to 4 times a week now in addition to 3 times a week with my trainer dude, and it’s easy to run 6 to 7KM within only a few weeks of getting out in my runners. This has never happened when I was just starting out running again. Usually at this point I’m dragging my butt up hills and barely doing 3K.
- My pants are BAGGY.
- I’ve lost 10 pounds.
- My legs have lost those brutal fat pockets that appear on your thighs when you’re overweight.
- I have completely stopped napping during the day, despite what horrendous weather the Pacific Northwest has thrown at me.
- I’m in a better mood on a more consistent basis.
And I really do feel I achieved most of this due to Nike+Kinect Training, because it added an element that my body (and brain) really responded to.
I’m on Week 7 now. The ‘game’ is getting harder, with more reps and longer durations. I shocked myself the other day by doing 12 pushups without actually using my knees to steady myself.
So what are you waiting for? If you want to get up off the couch like I did, check out Nike+ Kinect Training and get going.
Dear Ms. Wutke,
I completely agree with you about cycling in winter. I dabbled in local amateur races long ago (before three kids including a set of twins). I still try to ride whenever I can. Which isn’t much considering my last sentence. But I cannot handle the cold. Ok, that’s fine. But I need my sanity! Cycling is such a great time to decompress and have “me” time. Not to mention sort through problems without, “Mom! He’s not sharing!” You are the only mom I’ve met online who cycles. How refreshing! Hope to hear you say more about this. Your husband too.
Thanks!
Gina Gardner
Tampa, FL
Hi Gina!
It’s nice to meet another mom cyclist! I love road riding more than anything, and it really doesn’t feel like exercise does it? I don’t know of any other exercise where you can feel like you’re flying and still burn over 1000 calories so easily.
My husband rides races, and we’re hoping this is the year I’ll try my first mini-Fondo. I’ll definitely be writing about it more as it thaws out here and I can get out on my bike. 🙂