Saturday, December 29

Top 5 Gym Survival Tips

Avoid Problems with January Gym Membership


January and February are typically the times of year that commercial gyms pick up the most number of new members. The post-holiday gym rush also represents the highest drop out rate.


For people who regularly visit a gym the next two months is a struggle. The gym is crowded, the machines you want to work on are all being used, and you long for April - when you have the gym all to yourself again. Take these five tips with you to make sure you do not end up wasting money or become demotivated.


Tip 1: Never pay a full years membership in advance. Many special offers or attractive deals are tempting you to commit to a monthly fee for a whole year. Most new members do not last past 90 days, and you may be one of them. If you are going to quit the gym, make sure your pocket book can quit too.


Tip 2: Choose a gym that is located closest to your most regularly travelled location. A gym near home is appealing, but when your are so close to home it is all to easy to just "skip the gym tonight". A better option is a gym closer to your place of work, so you can pop out at lunchtime, maybe hit the weights before work if the traffic has been kind.


Tip 3: Do not be put off by the crowds of people and the apparent poor ratio of physical instructors to members. In April the gym will be much quieter, the staff will have more time for you, and fitness machines will be more available. Even after the first couple of weeks you should notice the gym is quieter, so hang on in there!


Tip 4: Make sure you enlist the services of a personal trainer. Good quality gyms will provide excellent fitness instructors to help with the use of the equipment, but if you are looking for better fitness or weight loss you will need a personal trainer to put together a program for you. They will help you sustaining motivation to keep going before you start to see the weight dropping off.


Tip 5: Check the equipment and facilities the gym has to offer, look for sauna, squash courts or maybe a swimming pool. These extras help motivation as fitness equipment can be very boring, and now highly anti-social, as everyone plugs into iPods. Ultimate gyms, such as two in my home town, will have Gamercize Pod fitness machines similar to the picture. A quick game of the latest Playstation or Xbox title never gets old, and is an excellent way to socialise and get fit.




Friday, December 21

Wii Players Need to Exercise

Wii Leads Sales but not Fitness

It comes as no surprise to us at Gamercize of the news today that the Wii is not the fitness breakthrough it has been portrayed as. To be fair, it is not the Wii but Wii-Fit that is intended to generate fitness benefits.

The widely reported story, here from the BBC, shows kids burning an extra 60 calories over playing the Xbox 360. That is about on a par with what we have found for an 170 lb adult. (Fitness experts know calories burnt depends on weight)


If you need more convincing, check out the VideoJug film that compares Wii, EyeToy, DDR and Gamercize. We do love the Wii, but for those seeking to use technology for fitness, there are better options. If you like dance games, Konami's DDR is a great choice and Eyetoy is also fun, but if you want to play all your games then the best choice is the only choice - Gamercize.







Friday, December 14

Exercise for Free


Play Outside or Go Running to Keep Fit


All kids should play outdoors and all adults should going running for five mile runs at lunchtimes to keep fit for free. I've heard this a few times in discussions within the context of fitness technology such as Gamercize.
Obesity has been rising steadily over the last twenty years across the world. All that time kids just needed to play outside and adults needed to go jogging to prevent the rise? There lies the fundamental flaw; twenty years of world wide experience shows that while the option is available, outdoor exercise is not working. Trying to force people outside is wrong, blaming parents is short-sighted and ignoring the changes and pressures of 21st century lifestyles is plain ignorant.
Outdoor exercise does work just fine for keeping kids and adults fit and healthy, but for many individuals there is not enough time, security, motivation or the experience is just downright unpleasant. Entertainment is now easily accessible through sedentary technology, video games consoles, computers and the Internet, all without the need to head outside and be active. Add fitness to this entertainment and you have the principles behind Gamercize; the 21st century way towards reclaiming the enjoyment of being active.
Those that still maintain everyone, regardless of personal circumstances, should be forced outside to exercise can happily have that opinion. As soon as the time machine is invented to take them back to the 1950s their opinion will once again be valid. I think I'll just stick with accepting the progress in technology, and take to the great outdoors when it suits me and when the weather good.