Hello my lovelies,
After a long hiatus when life caught up to me (and it is still catching up with me), I bring you all a new post -- a review of the Superhero Workout! It's a brand spanking new (out this afternoon in the US) app from the UK company Six to Start, who brought us such lovely games such as
Zombies, Run! (see
previous post) and
The Walk (review coming soon!).
Summary:
Superhero Workout is an innovative iPhone/iPad/iPod fitness game/app (fitgapp?) that works by tracking your movements with the iP camera. It costs $4.99 in the iTunes store.
When you first start the game, you'll see a couple of introductory screens such as the ones seen above. Once you scroll through them you are taken to the main screen:
There are three modes available: Story, Pre-made Workouts, and Battle (Endless) Workout. The Story mode plays story clips while you work out and are tailored to each move, which will be familiar to the players of Zombies, Run! In the story, you're the pilot of a suit called Aegis-One, and you're on a mission to save the galaxy and humanity with your killer planks and squats. I mean, missiles and mental fortitude, of course. Fans of ZR! and The Walk will also recognize some familiar voices from those preview Six to Start games.
The pre-made workouts are designed for when you don't have enough time for a story mode, or want to target certain areas of the body. There is no story or talking during these workouts.
I didn't try the endless workout, but it's basically a "build your own" in case you have a certain type of workout you already do, or just want to have some fun/don't want to do burpees.
Workouts generally last anywhere from 7 minutes to about half an hour. Each move is around 30 seconds or 10-12 reps, depending on the move. I'm guessing that moves that are harder to track with the camera are done by time (as many as you can). All exercises are bodyweight only, so no weights are required -- at most it requires things you can find around the house, like a chair or a wall ;)
Review:
First of all, I would actually
not recommend this app to absolute beginners. Since this is the very first day and nearly the first hour of release, I'm sure more features will be added later that may bring this closer to a "newbie" app. To get to the Why:
-1. The workouts are INTENSE. You're given about 10 seconds of rest between each move, and the moves can range from an easy shadowbox session to pushups to burpees. I'm in slightly below average physical shape and I could barely get through the first story episode (and only with a lot of cheating...)
1. There are no pointers to how you should be doing these exercises, neither in the tutorial nor in the pre-made workouts. Since a lot of these moves require perfect form, it's crucial that beginners know how to do them correctly so that they don't hurt themselves.
2. A lot of the moves are not suited for beginners, especially those who are overweight, have joint problems, or are physically challenged. The app does not have a mode to modify these exercises, such as knee push-ups instead of regular push-ups or "cheater" burpees (only a squat jump, or plank instead of push up) instead of regular burpees.
3. Some of the wireframes are a little deceiving, especially for the uppercuts. Sometimes the wireframe will only show one arm doing the motion instead of both.
Motion tracking:
The motion tracking in this game is actually not that bad. It's no Kinect, for sure, but for a $5 app you could do much worse. It will accidentally count nearly any sort of motion instead of the full move, but then, someone just waving their arm in front of the camera is only cheating themselves. I wouldn't 100% count on the motion tracking for an accurate rep count, but it can act as a good meter for how well you're doing.
Tips:
1. You'll notice that the game never directly asks you for your weight. This can be done on the Settings screen, to adjust for calories.
2. Beginners who want to use this app anyway should look up how to do some of the moves on YouTube. It's essential for them to learn perfect form before starting bodyweight/strength programs, and not doing moves correctly can cause injury.
3. The app requires about 2 meters of space from you to the screen, and then the moves require about a yoga mat's length of space. Some routines require a chair/box and a wall. I would suggest finding a surface about coffee table height and just leaving the device there, as it can be really annoying having to move the iPad around.
4. The app does require for your device to be mostly upright, so an iPad would work better than an iPhone, unless if you have one of those cute iPhone stands lying around.
What I'm hoping to see in future iterations:
1. A built-in music player for the pre-made workout and endless workout sessions. I personally don't really care about music when I do bodyweight routines, but I know a lot of people would appreciate it.
2. A moves list that teaches you how to do each move. Almost every other fitness app worth using has this, so I'm sure it's in the works.
3. Graphics that look a little more interactive during story mode couldn't hurt.
4. An "easy" mode/modified move mode for people who are just starting out.
In essence:
It's a fun, gamified way to get more exercise into your day, if you've fallen out of the habit or want to get into the habit. Right now, it's pretty bare-bones, but knowing Six to Start they'll find a way to improve it above and beyond other fitness apps out there. The voice acting is excellent, the modes are great, and it's a really intense workout. Couple of tweaks needed for newbies, but other than that, it's an amazing start.
Superhero Workout is available for Apple users to download now on the
iTunes store, and is coming soon for Android.
Superhero Workout homepage
Six to Start homepage
Have something to share? Questions about the app? Feel free to comment on this post!
