Last Updated on May 22, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
My quest to reach my goal weight is getting close to completion. And I have Xbox fitness games like Virtual Smash to thank. But why is this particular title my favorite fat burning Kinect game?
Actually, there’s a lot of reasons why I load up Virtual Smash from Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. Let me break down some of the more practical reasons why you should give it a try.
How Virtual Smash is a Great Fat Burning Kinect Game
Virtual Smash is a fitness game within “Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.” Mine is an Xbox 360 version, and it comes with everything from relaxing Tai Chi sessions to hardcore exercises.
And although I haven’t fully explored the different aspects of the game, I have done all of the “Gym Games” and the “Zen” sessions.
However, my favorite aspect of the Xbox fitness game is Virtual Smash.
This Gym Game is all about breaking blocks with your hands and feet. The more blocks you break in the fastest time possible, the more points you earn. And the quicker you break those blocks, the more points they’re worth.
Which means you need to keep yourself moving if you want a high score.
Gamifies Calorie Burn
Perhaps the most important aspect of any fat burning Kinect game is the prospect of keeping you engaged. When you gamify exercise, you’re more likely to continue the activity.
Think about it; how many people do you know have workout DVDs collecting dust?
For the most part, a lot of people will use DVDs or even gym memberships strongly for a month or two. But because they don’t find the activity “fun,” they tend to do those activities less and less.
Maintaining a good workout routine means finding something you enjoy. For some, it’s mixing up the workout to avoid getting bored. For myself, it’s all about trying to break my records in Virtual Smash.
And this leads to a high-rate of calorie burn while I play. In fact, I burn more calories playing Virtual Smash than most other games. As of writing this post, I have yet to come across a game that delivers this level of exercise.
This Fat Burning Kinect Game is Fast Paced
One of the problems with many Xbox fitness games is a slow pace of activity. While this can still burn calories, it often leads to a much lower-level workout.
Virtual Smash, on the other hand, is based around rapid movements. For every second you slow down, you earn fewer points. And if you keep the goal of trying to reach your highest point total, you’re constantly moving as fast as you can.
In reality, this is part of HIIT training. It’s all about putting in maximum effort for 60 seconds with a 10-second cooldown between rounds.
Personally, I put in between 15 and 18 rounds per session. This breaks down to around 30 minutes or so in total.
Multiple Difficulty Levels
For those who are less capable of playing hard at the beginning, Virtual Smash has varying degrees of difficulty.
- Easy
Start off with an easy flow of movement using only your hands to break blocks. - Medium
In this difficulty, the amount of time blocks begin to be worth fewer points is reduced, and you include leg movements. - Hard
In hard, time is greatly reduced for blocks being worth a certain number of points. You also include ducking a swinging block.
When I play this Xbox fitness game, I start with five rounds of easy, six rounds of medium and seven rounds of hard. I use the easier levels as a warm up before really diving into the hard level.
By the time I’m done, I’m a sweaty mess…which is one of the reasons why I love this fat burning Kinect game.
Easy to Amplify with Weighted Gloves
If you want to really increase the workout, add some weighted gloves to the mix.
Adding weights to cardio workouts is greatly beneficial when it comes to muscle toning and calorie burn. This is because your body compensates for the added weight while using more energy.
According to my Fitbit, I’ll increase the calorie burn per minute from 11 to 13 after adding an extra two pounds to each hand. That means I’ll burn an extra 60 calories in 30 minutes.
But the calorie burn is just one aspect of adding weighted gloves. I work up a sweat much faster and muscle density development is much greater.
Works Out Multiple Muscle Groups
Virtual Smash will work on most upper-body muscle groups. I know this because of how sore everything was after my first day of playing this fat burning Kinect game with weights.
The actual activities you perform while playing include:
- Punching with your right hand to break the blocks on the left, and vice-versa.
- Lifting your right leg to break blocks on the left, and vice-versa.
- Bending over to duck the swinging blocks on the hard difficulty. It’s good for doing squats if you want to add even more to the game.
So, twisting, punching, lifting legs and ducking…all of which focuses work on most upper-body muscle groups. In fact, even my obliques were sore after playing Virtual Smash with weighted gloves for the first time from the twisting motion.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved Saves Progress
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved saves your calorie burn progress. You can see goals at the top for each level in the game. It also connects to uPlay.com accounts, which I never really explored.
Unfortunately, Virtual Smash doesn’t really seem to save your high scores. Which is a shame. However, I write every round down so I can track it in a spreadsheet…because I’m a nerd like that.
Then again, I haven’t really gone through all of the settings…so it might. I’ll have to check that and then update this post.
At any point, I can see how many calories I’ve burned on specific days. Plus, it will save workout data should you get into more tradition cardio exercises.
Gamify Fitness with a Fat Burning Kinect Game
Out of the many Xbox fitness games I’ve played, Virtual Smash is the most engaging for me. Every session, I strive to break personal scores, which then leads to a higher calorie burn.
And that’s what fitness success is all about: finding activities that keep your mind engaged. For you, it might be running. Perhaps you love virtual tennis.
Find something that keeps you interested for longer than one or two months. Which is why I play several Xbox fitness games throughout any given week.[template id=”3591″]
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