Workout Du Jour: EA Sports Active

Drew got EA Sports Active 2 for Christmas, and I am fairly happy he did.  It's a pretty fun workout.  It's nice that they took the fun parts of the wii and made them REALLY hard.

Total video time:

It varies, but the LONGEST you can do is 30 minutes, you could always add more stuff but I think this is meant for smaller bursts of workouts, which is great for most people.

Intensity: Again, it depends, you can input how hard you want to workout, which is great for those days you're not feeling up to a high intensity workout, but still want to get up and move.
Total Calories burned according to cardio trainer (my phone app) 350, but on the TV it said like 180, I think.  I think their calories are low.  It was a pretty decent 40 minute workout.  180 seems pretty low for that.
Weights *** You only use resistance bands, which just aren't my favorite -- the program comes with them, but you're welcome to use your own.  I think one of these days I may just use regular weights.
Cardio **** Good cardio bursts, and I like the "game" of them -- where you're competing to get points and burning calories.  That's what the wii does best!
Sweaty **** -- Pretty sweaty, but you do have recovery between each set which makes you not QUITE as sweaty...
Annoyance *** --It has some quirks, read below.

So, the concept of the game is that you have a trainer who takes you through exercises specifically for you.

I chose to do 25-30 minutes, which translates to about 40 minutes of working out.

There is a controller that goes below your elbow, and another one that goes on your thigh.

The one on your arm also senses your heart rate.

BUT, we've had issues with the controllers.  A couple of times already, and it's only been since Christmas.  So far battery changing has helped, but I doubt that's our real problem.   The heartrate monitor isn't always right.  I thought I was going to blow out a lung but it still read me as a low heartrate.  Maybe it was half-ing it.  Anyway....

There's a bunch of different exercises it has you do -- both cardio and weights.  It's a pretty good workout, with the main drawback being that you have to rest between each exercise.  I didn't actually rest, I did some knee-ups or step touches, but still... you're still waiting. 

Other then those two issues, I really like it.  It's still kind of expensive, but if you find it on sale I'd recommend picking it up, both Drew and I really enjoy it!