Kinetic – Week 6

I learned two things this week. First, it can be helpful to look a week ahead and be certain of your schedule. I thought I had a Mon/Tues routine as usual and discovered that it was a Mon routine and then Tues/Wed routine. As a result I missed Monday’s routine. Secondly, I set about to do Tues/Wed routine Tuesday night and again encountered a lighting problem which affected my score. However, hubby discovered that it is possible to tell the eye toy camera that you are in a low light situation. Under options, you will find a eye toy options button. Here you can set it to a dim room or a bright room. We set it for a dim room and it has a made a world of difference. Whether daytime or night, I should now be able to complete all workouts. My overall score for the week was a C. A bit lower than last week, however, there was a great learning curve. Because of this I proclaim this week a success!

Kinetic – Week 5

Week 5 was immensely successful! I discovered that what I believed was a glitch in my disk was in fact a lighting problem. I usually do my workouts during the day, however, occasionally it is necessary to do it later in the evening. Unfortunately, at present, we do not have enough light in the living room. During the day, I lift the blinds and let in as much natural light as possible. Now that we know the problem, we can figure out how to fix it. As I mentioned earlier, I am now doing four workouts a week. Up until now all of my routines have been on the easy level. Some of them now are on a medium level. Also, I am doing one extra routine in most workout sessions. Another change has been the addition of two extra exercises in the abdominal toning routine. In spite of all of this, I ended the week with a score of B. This is an improvement from last week’s score of C. I was most excited to discover that I can now do lunges! When this began five weeks ago I was unable to complete one lunge. Going down was easy, coming up was impossible. No longer! I am now quite able to do the required number of lunges. Kinetic is still a winner in my book!

Kinetic – Week 4

I completed week 4 and was pleased with my results. I was unable to complete the midweek routine due to a glitch in the game or perhaps just my disc. However, I did well enough on the other two workouts to end up with a C for the week. I also set a new personal best on two of the games I played. I was quite excited and had to call hubby immediately. I have offically begun Month 2/Week 5 and have discovered that my games have ungraded from an easy level to a medium level. Also I now have 4 workout sessions a week instead of only 3. This should prove interesting! More news on Week 5 later. In spite of a glitch here and there with my disc I still give the game a thumbs up!

Kinetic – Week 3

My new workout routine is going splendidly. I showed great improvement this week. My first workout resulted in a score of B – Professional. I improved in a combat game I had played before and mastered a Mind and Body Zone game that had completely eluded me the first time I played. I am also seeing improvement in the Toning Zone. I am able to do some activities that I was unable to do when I started this program. I am also still losing about a pound a week. At present I have lost 5 lbs. I feel better and happier and am looking forward to week 4.

Kinetic – Week 1 – The Do Over

After my “little” error I have started the program again and completed Week 1. I missed one workout lastweek. I had two early mornings (5 AM) with the boys and then we attended a Renaissance Faire on Saturday. In all the hustle and bustle I simply ran out of hours in the day. I am not worried about missing. I knew when I started that because of my schedule with the boys I might miss a workout every now and again. Because of the missed workout I scored a week average of D – amateur. I did, however, do better on the individual workouts than I did the first time around. I am still losing about a pound a week which is wonderful! I am also still feeling better and more energized and still looking forward to the workouts! Kinetic is still a winner in my book!

Kinetic – Week 2

Week 2 has run into a bit of a snag. Due to user error I will be starting the program over again. I bumped something and caused the game to skip my warmup. I didn’t see a back button so I went forward without doing the workout. I thought I could get things back to the beginning. I ended up having to save even though I didn’t do the workout. The game wouldn’t let me back to the workout. There are three routines to do a week. After doing a routine, it tells you that the next day is a day of rest. I couldn’t undo the save so I was stuck, frustrated, and angry. In anger I deleted my profile. Once I had calmed down I realized that I really love the game and that the mistake was my fault. So, rather than give up I am going to start over on Monday. I did learn something, however. First acting impulsively in anger usually doesn’t help. Although I did feel a bit better in the moment. Hopefully someday I will truly get my temper under control 100% of the time. Secondly, if there isn’t a back button use the reset option on the PS2. I have a feeling I would have had a very different outcome had I thought of that in the moment. On an up note, I weighed and discovered that I had lost a pound last week on the game. This has me rather excited. Although somewhat annoyed, I do look forward to starting the game again.

Kinetic – Week 1

Week one of my new exercise routine courtesy of Kinetic and the Playstation 2 has come to an end. So far it’s a big hit! I have enjoyed the routines even the harder ones. I am actually excited about exercising. I look forward to finding out what kind of routine/game I’ll be playing each time and I can feel that the routines are working. I am sore and yet I feel more energetic and vibrant. If you read my first post on Kinetic, then you know that the game gives a grade at the end of each routine. I am proud to say that my overall score for the week was a c (skillful). My grades for each of the routines were a D, C, and B. Not bad for someone out of shape who isn’t so fond of exercise. Oddly enough I have found that I really enjoy the combat zone, which I was a little afraid of at the outset. Cardio is also fun. Toning and Mind/Body are much harder than I anticipated, although meeting the challenge and improving have their reward. I encourage anyone wanting to exercise, but shy of gym and motativationally challenged to try Kinetic.

Playstation Workout

Back at Christmas, hubby and I purchased a Playstation 2. Our Christmas gift to each other. One of the “games” I purchased was called Kinetic. It works with the eye toy and is basically an interactive workout. I thought it might make the idea of exercise more fun. Today I finally got around to putting it in and trying it out. One can either choose a personal trainer or choose to customize one’s own workout. I chose the personal trainer mode of play. I set up a profile and answered some questions about my current level of physical activity, weight, height, and age, etc. The game then chooses a level and puts together a workout just for me. There are four zones or areas of activities within the game. The cardio zone exercises “are inspired by high energy choregraphed aerobic sequences, modern dance, and contemporary movement.” The combat zone exerciese “are inspired by moves and stances from various self defense disciplines.” The mind and body zone exercises “are inspired by holistic workouts that aid your breathing, concentraion, and flexibility.” Finally the toning zone exercises “are designed to strengthen and tone specific muscle groups. Today’s workouts included the combat and toning zones. I was a bit worried about the combat zone. I was afraid it might prove too difficult. Although it was challenging I had a lot of fun! I’m looking forward to the combat zone tomorrow. I also did some ab exercises which proved more difficult than the combat. This was due to the fact that I am out of shape. I look forward to it becoming easier in the future. The game has a warm up at the beginning and a stretch at the end of your workout. It has a calorie counter and all kinds of charts and graphs to help you see your progress. It also gives you a grade of A+ (master), A (expert), B (professional), C (skillful), D (amateur), or E (beginner). I fully expected to get a grade of E (beginner) and was pleasantly surprised to get a D(amateur). I liked having the personal trainer as well. While I was exercising she was coaching and encouraging me. It was nice to hear things like “way to go,” “keep it up,” “you’re doing great.” I felt like I was on the right track and wanted to keep going. Below, you will find a screen shot of one of the ab exercises. The game gives you two views of your trainer and one of yourself. This helps to make sure you are doing the exercise correctly. All in all it was fun and pretty cool! I plan to continue with workouts and willl check in periodically to let you know how its going and if it’s at all successful. Later, as I do workouts in other zones, I’ll let you know how they play and whether or not I like them. See you soon! Wish me luck!