Golds Gym for Wii

Drew got a pretty fancy workout game for his birthday.  I got in on Amazon for 11.99 a while back... I thought he'd like it, but oddly enough I played it first...

Intensity: Totally up to you, could be a fairly low intensity, but could be more.  This is a great video for someone who's starting out, or has lower body issues as you don't have to do much with your lower body if you don't want to.

Total Calories burned according to cardio trainer (my phone app) 550 -- the TV said less but since I was doing more jumping than they showed, plus between workouts when the wii is "thinking" I try and do some plyometics type moves to keep my heart rate up.  I know, I'm silly.

Weights * You do work the muscles in your arms with the punching, but I wouldn't call it a weight lifting video.  I didn't use weights at all, and they are not indicated.

Cardio *** Good cardio if you're willing to put some of yourself into it and ramp up the intensity (see more below).

Sweaty *** -- Fairly sweaty, if you jump around a lot

Annoyance * -- I thought the game was pretty well on as far as controls.  Every once and while it would grade a punch wrong, but not enough to drive me insane.

So, the set-up takes a while.  I did it for 45 minutes the first time and I would think that I only got about 35 minutes of actual working out.

Also, I did a real "boxer shuffle" the whole time... aka, I was jumping between feet, not just shifting weight.  That really gets your heart rate higher, but it's not something that' required.

I thought it was a pretty decent workout, I think my cardio trainer said it was about a 500 calorie workout which is probably about right.  Most of it is boxing, although I think when you get a little more advanced (and further into the game) it involves some ducking and squatting that could really increase the calorie burn.

Anyway, if you see it on sale, grab it (if you have a wii) I think it's a worthwhile one and I do enjoy having the "game" aspect in my workouts.