I am not going to lie, I got my Xbox One so I could sit on the couch and play video games. When I heard that it was coming with an App called Xbox Fitness that was free with Xbox Live Gold, I just thought it would be an added benefit that I would never use, but since I have decided to get in better shape, I gave it a try. It has kicked my butt, but in the best possible way.
The App is basically a mixture of workout videos and those ever popular dancing video games, but with the new tech in the Kinect 2.0 it can truly see how well you are doing by monitoring your heart rate, and by seeing if the desired area of your body is heating up or not. The first time you use the App you enter your age, weight, and height, that way it can tell how many calories you are burning, and then you select the workout video you want to do.
Once in the workout video the Kinect will watch and see if you are properly mimicking the trainer on screen, and if you are doing the moves with the proper vigor. If you are, it gives you points and achievements; If you are not, it tells you to work harder, and you earn nothing. It also displays how far through the video you are, and how much longer the current exercise will last. Getting more points is a surprisingly good motivational tool, and even more so when they start to compare your scores with averages for people in your age and fitness levels. I always want to get my score above average.
The biggest downside to this App is that most of the workout videos are in the same genre of exercise, and if you want something else, you will have to pay to add it to your library. If you just want general aerobic circuit training workouts though, the free videos should have you covered.
Xbox Fitness is a good idea, and one that adds value to the purchase of an Xbox One. Provided that you use it of course, but it is a little something extra to make the Xbox Live Gold subscription look like a better deal. If you have an Xbox One and Live Gold, and you want something to help you get or stay in shape, Xbox Fitness is worth downloading and checking out.