Thank you to Ubisoft for providing me with a copy of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 and sponsoring this fitness diary series. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.
The game lines up your warrior pose for correct form. Photo: Ubisoft
While others around me and in the twitterverse are bemoaning their tight jeans and weight gains, I'm pretty cool with the fact that I didn't gain any holiday weight. I would have liked to report some miraculous December weight loss but that didn't happen.
But!
I'm definitely fitter than when I began the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 challenge five weeks ago. And I have a whole new appreciation for "exergames."
Let me count the ways:
- This one works because it really tracks your movements well -- it realizes that you don't have eyes in the back of your head or on your backside. Seriously, that's a huge plus. I've spent many times cursing the robotic avatars on other games because I couldn't see what was going on or the game couldn't see me.
- The variety in Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 is fantastic. You can simply take a yoga class, play fitness games with the kids or go all out and schedule a full workout with warmups, cardio, strength training and a cooldown.
- Dancers have a wide variety to choose from -- African, Bollywood, hip-hop and Latin can satisfy your global whims.
- Your junior athletes can even train for football or soccer with the sports prep programs.
Really, the only downside is that you should think about putting wheels on your coffeetable to make the living room more Kinect friendly.
My recipe for success with Your Shape? Add it into your fitness repertoire -- variety is the key to sticking to any exercise plan. Since the weather is getting colder up North, Your Shape is perfect to workout at home without heading outdoors. But down here in Florida, the weather is finally cooler, so I'll be relying on Your Shape for the sweltering, stormy summer months.
But my favorite combo workout is to start with a little Run the World, add in some Body Focus workouts (upper body and abs one day, lower body the next), and end with a yoga practice or Zen Zone for a calming cooldown.
Want to win your own copy?
It's the end of my five-week series, and I'm going to choose a random comment from the five weeks of posts. That person will win a copy of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012, so comment away! Deadline for commenting is Friday, Jan. 6 at 9 p.m. ET.
