Goatmoose

I’ve never been much for exercise.  Unless, of course, you mean exercising my gamerscore.  Fortunately, with Kinect, I now have a product that will allow me to exercise my body and my gamerscore at the same time.  Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is one of the most advanced fitness videogames ever designed, and arguably the best title so far when it comes to utilizing the Kinect sensor in the most accurate way.

From customized personal training to fitness games, dance workouts and demonstrations, Your Shape does everything it can to tailor a routine to your personal needs and get you on track to a healthier lifestyle.  The game features workout routines designed by Men’s and Women’s Health Magazines, and if you’re a fairly sedentary person like myself who is in terrible need of a workout, it’s certain to be kicking your ass from day one.

Let’s take a quick look at the game and its potential for delivering real fitness results…

The main feature of Your Shape is its personal training.  This is a feature that tailors a workout regimen specifically to you, based on its analysis of your body, a fitness test and a questionnaire about your goals.  This was the first thing I did when booting up the game for the first time, as it seemed prudent to let the game know as much about me as possible before getting started on anything.

Your Shape personal training works by having you mirror a trainer as he/she performs movements.  The Kinect sensor works impeccably well with this title, capturing your movements with fluid, precision perfection.  As you mirror your trainer, they will say things like “arms higher!” or “knees lower!”  Obey them, and it will know, congratulating you for following orders.  The point of personal training is to keep in rhythm with the trainer – if you go too fast or too slow, or follow the movements incorrectly, it will lower your score.  The pace of the trainer is the pace you should move to achieve maximum results.

On-screen at all times are calorie counters that monitor your daily calories burned, as well as all-time calories.  You can set goals for calorie burning on the game’s related website which will communicate with your console when you play.  You can also compare/compete with your friends or family using this tool.

The fitness test that gets all this started is a series of squats, lunges and aerobic exercises.  The Kinect will do a scan of your body for shape and posture, put you through the tests, then ask about your goals – i.e. weight loss, body definition, more energy, etc.  The personal trainer will then customize a routine based on all the data it has.  Get into them, and you’ll be sweating quickly.  And sore for days.  I invested in a foam roller this afternoon to work my extremely tight, sore calf muscles that are suddenly screaming with soreness after having not been used in my life to date and found themselves suddenly assaulted by Your Shape.

When personal training is becoming routine, there are also gym games and other exercises to keep you on your toes.  A boxing game where you punch out blocks that appear in front of you is fun and works your arms and agility.  A balancing game that requires you to hold weight over your head, stand on one leg and collect cubes that fall from the sky challenges your legs and dexterity.  A Simon-like color-tapping game keeps your legs moving and nimble, and a hula hoop game works on your gyration skills.  The hula hoop one is by far the most embarrassing should someone watch you do it.

In addition to all that, you can also exercise through zen training and cardio kickboxing.

Another good thing about Your Shape is that the developers seem to be releasing a steady stream of DLC.  While some people don’t want to constantly pour money into a game, when it comes to workouts, it’s nice to have new materials to keep things fresh and entertaining.  Nobody wants to do the exact same routines day after day.  There are already a number of DLC available for Your Shape, ranging from a 2011 New Year Workout to a Bollywood dance program.

Ultimately I have been very impressed by the ingenuity of the game and its excellent use of the Kinect Sensor.  My house doesn’t have the room for any type of gym equipment – even a weight bench is something I don’t have room for.  This game gives me a great opportunity to work out at home.  While nobody is going to shed 200 lbs. or become a bodybuilder with it, Your Shape is an easy way to get that 20-30 minutes of cardio everyone in the medical world suggests you should have, and offers plenty of means to shed some calories and better define your body.