I've been looking at this all wrong. Screw Yourself!Fitness! Forget Ring Fit Adventure! The last time I have used an exercise software presented as video games was, I don't know, mid 2021? My weight during this never-ending pandemic has been yoyoing up and down with a progressively ballooning belly and I can't seem to stay committed to any exercise routines from specific exercise games. I remember writing that the trick is to find a program that can make you think that you are playing a game when you are actually working your body and Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch is a good representation of that ideal. I was certainly on the right track, but I accidentally fell down into the bush on the side and couldn't get myself up. You see, if one is looking to find video games that could trick you into exercising, well, those games should not be games that present themselves as exercise programs to begin with!
Here's the plan: I am going to start utilizing games like Just Dance and virtual reality rhythm titles to get myself moving. I also need to treat these as "play sessions" instead of "workout slots" to further separate the two types of mentality. Though exercise games do work, I am having a hard time with them lately and recent progress seemed to be slower, probably due to the fact that I am getting older, and my body chemistry is just not the same anymore compared to how things were 5 to 10 years ago. It helps that I actually love the idea behind Just Dance and I pretty much have almost all of the yearly entries. I think the key with JD is to pick a song and stay on that song per session to learn the dance. This will lead to a better focus on physical movements due to the repetition on performing the same thing over and over again. In the past, I would jump on JD and go through 5 different songs which ended up yielding nothing but frustration because well, to try and mimic dances you are not that familiar with only lead to flailing around without any concentrated efforts.
I have already experienced how intense VR rhythm games can get and it's easy to get lost in them because of the deep immersion they bring. A game like Audioshield actually comes with workout options that would add squats on top of the required beat bashing using your arms while something like Synth Riders comes with a variety of bodily motions at a constant pace. They are not exercise routines. They are just fun times that ended up wearing you out. I have heard that Beat Saber is pretty good at making you feel the beat while shedding pounds as a side effect but due to that game's popularity, I am still keeping an eye out for the opportunity to snatch it up when it's given the proper discount. Just adding any other VR titles into the mix to keep things exciting wouldn't be a bad idea either since they all involve some degree of physicality.
Growing up, I never had any issues with weight. I was bony thin all the way into my mid 20s. That was when things started to change. Yourself!Fitness was there for me at that time though to keep me in shape. We only live once, and I want to do my best to maximize the length of time in which I exist in this world. If this new method doesn't work out, I am ready and willing to get back to familiar territory. You know that somewhere in the digital world, that evil trainer extraordinaire Maya is smiling as she waits patiently for my return.
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