0450

GAME OF THE WEEK:Nike + Kinect Training ****

Are you ready to get athlete fit? Nike is hoping you are. Nike+ Kinect Training isn’t really a game; instead it’s a pitching itself a serious workout tool. Developed by trainers at Nike’s Elite Academy, the software tailor makes a programme that plays to your strengths and works on some of your weaknesses to help you achieve your fitness goals.

It uses the Kinect motions sensor to track your movement and make sure you are following each exercise correctly. One of the main complaints about Kinect is that its accuracy can sometimes be less than perfect. Of course, much of the exercises are done on the floor – sit ups, press ups – and accuracy for these exercises is key.

The Nike programme has been tweaked and refined so it picks up movements properly. Nike means business with this. If your form doesnt match that of the onscreen trainer, it wont register and the programme will correct you until you do it properly. In other words, it’s not quite as easy to cheat as it has been in previous fitness games. It also means that it’s easier to work your way through the menus, either with movement or voice commands.

Setting it up is easy. A few quick exercises will give the Nike trainers an idea of how you move and what needs to be worked on. A test taken at regular intervals will gauge your progress over the course of several weeks, and you can benchmark yourself against the wider Nike+ community.

From there, you can set a workout schedule that suits how often you want to exercise, and top it off with some quick five-minute sessions when you have extra time.

The whole system feeds into the Nike fuel measurement method, which measures how active you are every day.

If solo workouts don’t really do it for you, you can link up with a friend over the internet and work out together live – or compete against each other.

And its tough. When you do a few workouts with Kinect Training, you really feel it. Which is, after all, the ultimate aim of the game.