In Depth Review of My Fitness Coach

My Fitness Coach by Ubisoft is their entry in the wii's fitness line. Fitness Coach differs greatly from the other fitness games in a couple of key ways. We'll cover those as well as how to use this title to the fullest. To get a better handle on your results you will need some extra gear. Most importantly a good scale, cloth tape measure, and an heart rate monitor.

One of the biggest key ways fitness coach differs is that it doesn't track your movements on screen. It doesn't make use of the balance board or the wii remote to a great degree. So it is more like an exercise video but with some huge advantages over any exercise video. Some people feel this is weakness for this title but I disagree, I feel it's a strength in many ways. They could have made use of the wii board or wiimote but the game would have become overly difficult to follow.

You start off by creating a new profile. Maya (you're personal coach in game) guides you through weighing and measuring your body followed by a short physical fitness test. You should read your weight in the morning after you use the bathroom as water weight can be quite substantial. After compiling all this information maya will recommend a goal for you based on your results. If you're overweight your goal will most likely be weight loss. If you're closer to a healthy weight she will focus on your weakest test result whether it be lower body, core, upper body, cardio or flexibility. You can always change your goal later if you want.

Now to the workouts. When you start you will be given the choice of focus for this session. Your options include yoga, flexibility, cardio, core, and upper and lower body. You then choose a duration and what equipment you have. This is the huge difference between fitness coach and anything else out there. If you have a stair step, some hand weights, and an exercise ball , you get a completely customized exercise routine every time you workout. Maya creates a routine for you based on your equipment, your goal and what your daily focus is. For example My goal is core strength so when I do a cardio routine she does about 70% of the routine on your feet running as hard as you can, and then slows down for some ab exercises usually followed by a cool down.

At the beginning of the routine maya asks how you feel today, don't select nothing can stop me unless you are a real glutton for punishment. She adjusts your workout based on your responses to that and other questions as you go along. As you progress maya will ask you how you feel about this workout routine and she will adjust future workouts based on your responses. If you find that you need more of a challenge or it's too tough hit the + button and you can increase or decrease the level of difficulty. To see a sample workout check out my video here

As you progress throughout the week Maya will suggest different exercises to avoid hitting the same muscles over and over. A word of warning, at first just about everything she does will kill your legs. After several months of Maya my legs are completely ripped almost to the point of looking body builder-ish. The top side of me needs help and I have switched my goals from lower body to core as a result.

As you train with maya she will add new exercises to your routine and gradually increase your level of difficulty. She will periodically re-evaluate your progress and as things change she will suggest new goals. To view your goal or progress, load your profile and click on progress or goal. You can see your progress from each physical challenge you do. If you click on goal you can see and change your goal. After several days worth of exercise Maya will award you a bronze medal, this unlocks new scenery and music. There are silver, gold, and platinum medals beyond that as well.

Fitness coach also allows for a partner to join in the exercise.
If you choose group workout from the main menu you have the option of working out with a partner. The workout selections and routine are the same as solo, but it's a great way to save time if you are both exercising for the same amount of time.

Overall the strengths of fit coach are as follows.

Completely customized and unique workout every time.

Best way of tracking your physical fitness. Instead of tracking bmi or just weight fit coach tracks physical strength, measurements and weight.

Huge collection of exercises I've been at it for months and I'm still seeing new things pop up.
Interesting music tracks. (This is one of fit coaches few weaknesses after months of Maya you long for some other music)

Consistency while providing variety. Maya will work each side of your body exactly the same. Too often workout dvd's will over do one side or the other.

Here are some things I wish would have been in fit coach or should be in fit coach 2.

Realistic calorie burning numbers. Come on Maya I spend 45 minutes working out and I burn 100 calories?
A free style running or jogging experience. I use wii fit for jogging indoors and I think it would be awesome to have more landscapes to run through.

Better use of the wiimote and balance board. Ubisoft could have done something with the balance board.
More verbal direction, Maya is bad about doing a yoga or stretching pose and not telling you she switched legs.
All in all Ubisoft has a gem of a game that will take you a long ways to getting more physically fit.