EA Sports Active

[Scott_Arm]

Anybody else use this? I'd finally started to get bored of Wii Fit. It's been quite a while with that one. The menus just started to bother me. I'm eager to see Wii Fit Plus because of the streamlined workout.

Anyway, Active seems pretty cool. I need to shorten up the resistance band till I get it to a spot where I feel like it's actually doing something. At full length it feels like nothing. Overall though, I'm actually pretty impressed. Of course, I've only used it one day, so that could change.

I picked a high intensity workout for day 1 of the 30 day challenge. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Most of it was fairly simple, and I'm not a big fan of "running on the spot" type exercises, but the side lunges and squats were killing me. Stupid inline skating exercise, which isn't really anything like skating was the worst one. You have to do a squat and hold it to go fast, and you have to jump when your character is about to go off a ramp.

The package gives you a routine, which changes daily from what I can tell, and there is very little time wasted between exercises. My house is warm, but I was sweating pretty good. I'd always do some form of cardio outside of Wii Fit and Active, but I think Active is a pretty good tool for anyone but the hardcore gym types. If you're a person that's looking for 25 minutes of varied activity to try and get in better shape, I think Active is worth a look.

I haven't tried it with the Wii balance board yet, because my balance board batteries are drained.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Active doesn't give a lot of feedback. I wouldn't say it is a lot different than exercising with a workout video. If you can handle P90x, I'd stick with that.

I do like Active. It tells you to take rest days, which you can override if you want. I did need my rest day yesterday, because it had me do about 15 minutes worth of lunges, over 100 lunges, so my legs were pretty damned tired.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I've done the first four workouts on the 30 day challenge. I haven't even come close to seeing all of the exercises yet. So far, there is a heavy bias towards lunge and squat based exercises. It's a good workout, for sure, if you pick high intensity. Some problems I've had are weird feedback from the remote, and the nunchuck cord being too short. Pretty good package I think.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Hmmm, sounds interesting. I may have to give this a try after all. Although those squat based exercises sound like killers.

Makes me wonder what could be possible for something like this if the system could track your entire body.

Regards,
SB

 

[Scott_Arm]

I'm half way through the 30 day challenge. Some of the exercises are kind of crappy. There are a couple sports games that just seem to be there to try and make things a little more fun, which is ok.

I recommend removing the "Dance" exercises from your routines, because they suck. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the product. My legs are definitely a lot stronger. After my routine yesterday it said I hit the half way and I'd be getting new, more intense, exercises. I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and a 60 second squat hold after doing lunges, squats, jumps etc? This thing can be a little sadistic on high intensity. It is definitely more challenging than I thought it would be.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Keep us updated on how the 30 day challenge proceeds, this is definitely on my radar with the reports your giving, but still on the fence about whether to buy it or not.

Regards,
SB

 

[Scott_Arm]

I think I've used it enough that my opinion won't change from here on.

If you're the type of person, like me, that hates going to the gym but likes to stay physically fit/active, then this is a fun way to workout at home. It depends what you want though. This isn't going to buff you up. You're going to get strong legs, core fitness, some back and shoulder strength, but not much of an arm or bulking workout. It suits what I want very well, but I do supplement with some mat work that I've done on my own for a while.

You can get 35 minutes of exercise in your living room that is fairly intense and entertaining. You're provided with new routines each day for 30 days. I'm not sure if it repeats after that. I'm still encountering new exercises 15 days in, so I imagine there are enough different to spice things up over the 30 day challenge.

If you're a gym rat, there's probably no reason to have something like this, unless you're just looking for something to use on days where you can't make it to the gym. If you're pretty strong already the supplied resistance band will seem weak. It already seems weak to me, and I have never worked on bulking my arm strength. I've always been more of a core strength focus.

I really do highly recommend this package.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

So, in the time you've spent with it so far it hasn't repeated exercises much? So everything still feels new and fresh each day you do it during the challenge?

That would be nice for someone like me with a short attention span.

Regards,
SB

 

[Scott_Arm]

There are definitely repeated exercises that you'll see at least once every two workouts. Then there are ones that you'll see once every five workouts, and some less. Each time the order of the exercises is different, so it doesn't feel exactly like the same routine over and over. I think it mixes it up pretty well and the new package that's coming should be even better.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

There are definitely repeated exercises that you'll see at least once every two workouts. Then there are ones that you'll see once every five workouts, and some less. Each time the order of the exercises is different, so it doesn't feel exactly like the same routine over and over. I think it mixes it up pretty well and the new package that's coming should be even better.

Sounds great, I think I'll probably pick this up when I get a chance.

Regards,
SB

 

[Scott_Arm]

I completely destroyed the included resistance band. I had to shorten it up to get enough resistance out of it for me, and I ended up ripping it to pieces.

For $20 I got a set of bands (Thera-Band) that seem much higher quality and provide a good deal more resistance. I recommend it. The included band seems somewhat like a band for out-of-shape soccer moms, which I guess is the target demographic. Being a herculean young man, my powerful biceps were too much for the simple band included.

 

[sham63]

I completely destroyed the included resistance band. I had to shorten it up to get enough resistance out of it for me, and I ended up ripping it to pieces.

For $20 I got a set of bands (Thera-Band) that seem much higher quality and provide a good deal more resistance. I recommend it. The included band seems somewhat like a band for out-of-shape soccer moms, which I guess is the target demographic. Being a herculean young man, my powerful biceps were too much for the simple band included.

I also think the included band is cheap. I purchased Active two weeks ago and the band lasted only one week. Even us not so herculean mid forties guys are too much for it. :smile: I went to Walmart and purchased some Golds Gym resistance bands. There are three bands, and the handles detach easily to change bands as needed.

The first week my legs were hurting. I run a lot, but that does not prepare you for all the lunges and squats done in Active.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Yeah, this thing is really heavy on lunges and squats. My legs are definitely getting a lot stronger because of it. Having a better quality resistance band with real tension in it is making the upper body exercises a lot more rewarding. I'm using an intermediate band, and my shoulders were feeling very tired yesterday at the end of my third set of shoulder presses.

For anyone that picks it up, I'd say you're best to get a new resistance band right away. Check out some of the exercises so you can figure out how long a band you need. For my height, 5'10", I could get away with a 5' band, but a 6' band would be nice.

 

[Mobius1aic]

Yeah, this thing is really heavy on lunges and squats. My legs are definitely getting a lot stronger because of it. Having a better quality resistance band with real tension in it is making the upper body exercises a lot more rewarding. I'm using an intermediate band, and my shoulders were feeling very tired yesterday at the end of my third set of shoulder presses.

For anyone that picks it up, I'd say you're best to get a new resistance band right away. Check out some of the exercises so you can figure out how long a band you need. For my height, 5'10", I could get away with a 5' band, but a 6' band would be nice.

I'm sure the game was aimed in particular at women, who tend to put alot of focus on their glutes, quads, hamstrings, etc so I'm not surprised at all by the inclusion of many leg exercises.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I'm sure the game was aimed in particular at women, who tend to put alot of focus on their glutes, quads, hamstrings, etc so I'm not surprised at all by the inclusion of many leg exercises.

Agreed. I believe the updated software that comes out this fall is supposed to include mat work, like crunches and other abdominal exercise as well as pushups etc. I think they are maybe responding to their male customers. So far I've just tacked on a number of other exercises that I normally do for core strength.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Picked up the new disc. It's much better than the original. The odd time it doesn't register a movement correctly, but it's not much of an issue. The fact that I'm doing the exercise is what matters. I like the knew boxing exercises. They're much faster than the original disc and add in ducking and dodging in a much more convincing manner than Wii Fit.

Edit: It is now a six week program and you can pick which days of the week you want to exercise. You pick 4 days of the week to work out. So I picked Sun, Mon, Wed and Thurs, for instance. If you get this game you'll get a reasonable workout. Buying a better resistance band was a big improvement. The only thing I don't like is you have to buy Active to get the leg strap and the resistance band and then you buy the More Workouts disc. Once you have the More Workouts disc, you'll never touch the original one again.

 

[sham63]

Picked up the new disc. It's much better than the original. The odd time it doesn't register a movement correctly, but it's not much of an issue. The fact that I'm doing the exercise is what matters. I like the knew boxing exercises. They're much faster than the original disc and add in ducking and dodging in a much more convincing manner than Wii Fit.

Edit: It is now a six week program and you can pick which days of the week you want to exercise. You pick 4 days of the week to work out. So I picked Sun, Mon, Wed and Thurs, for instance. If you get this game you'll get a reasonable workout. Buying a better resistance band was a big improvement. The only thing I don't like is you have to buy Active to get the leg strap and the resistance band and then you buy the More Workouts disc. Once you have the More Workouts disc, you'll never touch the original one again.

I have also purchased "More Workouts." I am in the 4th week of the 6 week challenge. This game has the one thing that I thought was lacking in "Personal Trainer", ab workouts. It gives me a pretty good workout, but I also still do the first one once or twice a week.

Jim

 

[Scott_Arm]

I've never really looked to see if you can alter the routines on the 6 week challenge. I know you can remove workouts, but can you add them? There are a few exercises I don't like, and would prefer to drop them for something else.

So far it's pretty good. The mat work is definitely a nice addition. I'm also a big fan of the sparring and combo workouts. Throwing punches is really damned tiring, if you try to throw sharp punches every single time.

 

[RobertR1]

Shadow boxing is more tiring than hitting mitts/heavy bag. You can't unload your force with impact so you have to bring it all back. Very exhausting. Probably why I see most people wasting time during shadow boxing at the gym.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Shadow boxing is more tiring than hitting mitts/heavy bag. You can't unload your force with impact so you have to bring it all back. Very exhausting. Probably why I see most people wasting time during shadow boxing at the gym.

I need to get some good vids on how to throw punches properly.