EA Sports Active Review

If you are like many people who set out on a quest to improve their fitness level, you start with good intentions but soon get bored and quit. Fortunately, EA Sports Active can help overcome that problem. Packed with innovative exercises and sports challenges, this is one fitness program that keeps you wanting more. Even if you are a confirmed couch potato, you'll find this game provides enough incentive and interest to get you on your feet and heading towards a healthier lifestyle.

When many people go to the gym, they soon find that repetition of the same routine makes them lose interest quickly. Not to mention that it is often a pain to get yourself motivated enough to leave your comfy home and trek all the way there. With EA Sports Active, you don't even have to get out of your pajamas or deal with traffic to get to the track or the gym.

You'll find a wide variation of exercises to participate in. Choose from dozens of heart-pumping activities, divided into categories that target specific areas such as cardio, lower and upper body, and sports. Even after you've been faithfully working out for several days, you'll still have new options to pursue. You can go for a run, box with targets or bags, do bicep curls, squats or lunges, play tennis, shoot some hoops or whack a baseball. It won't be easy to get bored when you're constantly participating in new activities to hit all your target areas.

There's a focus on aerobic activities that involve speed and flexibility instead of strength. Your very first workout will have you dripping in sweat right away. The exercises aren't too difficult, but in 20 minutes you'll run, stretch, lift and kick. Not too much for a professional athlete, but definitely a good work out for the average Joe. With the corroboration of fitness experts like Oprah Winfrey's aerobics guru Bob Greene, Ea Sports Active delivers a great combination of heart pumping, sweat drenching activities that you actually learn to look forward to.

Like most Wii games Wii Sports Active utilizes the combination of the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, but the game comes packaged with a couple of other EA Sports Active accessories to enhance your workout. One of these is a controller leg strap. You attach this band to your upper thigh, then slip the Nunchuk controller into it. The Nunchuk's motion sensing capabilities makes it possible to monitor your leg movements during activities like kickboxing, jogging, squats, cardio boxing and others.

Another accessory included is a resistance band that increases intensity during strength training exercises like lifts, shoulder presses and bicep curls.

Although not included, the Wii Balance Board is a welcome addition to many of the exercises as well, adding functionality. You can find more Wii Fit accessories that will make your workout more enjoyable including yoga mats, weights, and steps.

Set up your profile and choose a personal trainer to guide you along the way. Then enter in your personal baseline information such as weight, height, age, fitness goals, gender, etc. Your personal trainer will steer your towards your chosen fitness goals and you'll receive feedback as you workout. You get to choose your intensity level, customize your circuit to your interest and fitness level and set your own goals.

This feature is one of the most exciting features of the EA Sports Active package. The 30-Day Challenge mode builds a custom 20-minute workout for you each day. When you begin your 30-day challenge, you'll decide whether you want your drills to be easy, medium or hard. Your circuits will be planned to gradually increase the number of calories you burn in each session.

EA Sports Active also helps you think about your daily nutrition and what you are consuming. It acts you questions like "Did you go to a restaurant today?" or "How much water did you drink today?"Your progress and your daily activity and food consumption, if you wish to enter it, is recorded in a journal.

When you make it to the end of the 30-day challenge, odds are you will look fitter and feel better about yourself. Doubtless, you will have an improved fitness level of which you can be proud. Thanks to the endless variety provided by EA Sports Active, you will be motivated and look forward to your daily workouts and really be able to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself. Three cheers for a video game like EA Sports Active that makes getting fit not only fun, but actually achievable, even for those of us gamers who can usually be found safe and sound on the couch.