Score: Two dumbbells
Average Joe: Though I'm a proud couch potato, I must give points for an interactive session that not only gauges what I've done, but takes into account what I'm doing throughout the day (such as what I've been eating and drinking). For the most part, the activities avoid ridiculousness, and the music is highly customizable (and not bad). You don't realize how important little motivating factors like that are until you try a bunch of these games side-by-side. Though the resistance bands are a nice touch, they are best for beginners. Once you start working out regularly, you might want to buy some of your own to increase the challenge. If you like, you can hand-pick the exercises you want to try on any given day. But I'm gonna leave that to the pros (fitness guru Bob Greene is one of the motivators behind this game) and give the 30-day Challenge built into EA Sports Active a proper test-run.
The Pro: "Obviously there's more of an interactive experience when you're with a real personal trainer that can see what you're doing and help adjust the exercise or form. But EA does get points for trying," says Hornsby. "I really like the incorporation of extra equipment to focus the upper body exercises and factoring them into the workout," he adds. The measured workouts did a good job of incorporating difficult-to-translate exercises. However, the bent rowing exercise, as translated to Active, left Hornsby a little concerned. "They had to modify the form a little in order for it to work when you're looking at a TV. As a result, the proper form and animation looked a little off."
Still, this program was in another league from the first two: "The form in the tutorial videos prior to each activity looked good. And it was clear to see what they wanted. What would've been helpful: Being able to see the workout from different angles so that you'd know if you were performing all the activities correctly. Why not just have a video window with the proper form that you follow"
WHITEPAPER
