Dorky Workouts- In the Comfort of my Home!

With all this (intermittent) free time on my hands this semester, I got to thinking I should get more fit. This didn't come out of no-where, Matt has dropped some 20 lbs riding his bike, and the day he bought a heart monitor was the day I realized "recreational exercise" had been toppled by "athletic training." I ought to at LEAST be able to keep up with the recreational parts. But nothing really sticks. I can ride the trainer, but it is so loud I don't ride very hard or else I can't hear the TV. I've got some excersize videos to do at home, but that seems stagnant. The weather has been to crappy to run, and I am not a natural gazelle anyway. So I've been frustrated and bored and unfit, and Matt has been designing interval trainings...

But while I was at work one evening, he walked up to the game store and found a copy of EA Sportsactive. This is a last generation of game that uses sensors you stick on yourself (ie- this is not Kinect) while you perform a variety of activities in your home. And at first I thought it would be kinda lame, but there is a lot of variability built into the game, and then a lot of system to get hooked on. For example, it keeps track of your weekly goals, and awards you trophies for every 100 calories you burn. There isn't special equipment, it's all stuff you could in theory do without the game, but have you ever tried to hold a squat for a minute in your own living room? 20 secs in, and you are thinking- Nevermind, we've got chairs here. There is a video trainer who says encouraging things, and gives you pointers on good form. And it lets you do imaginary boxing, fake soccer drills, and even fake mountain biking (which is really squats and jumping). The sit-ups, though, those are real. Hopefully the bajillion combinations and mid-term goal setting will help me stick with it through the next high stress chapter of my life.

107 days until the defense. I have 30 days left until I need to start writing. Eek.