Can't figure this out. Total workout newb | Forums

[Gustlock1974]

Ok..so I got this exercise game and I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm supposed to do. I'm a total newbie to working out as well. My understanding was that this was supposed to guide me through a workout routine every week. I get to the part where I can create an objective. For me it way a couch potato looking for mass and tone. So I did this and it says it's marked routines I should do with a blue flag.

My question is how do I know which one to do and where can I see how many minutes I've exercised. I have no idea if I'm working out the right way or not and I'm getting fairly frustrated. I read in someones review that it had him do an initial 30 minute exercise to see where he was at but the game never had me do that, so again, I'm not sure if I've done something wrong. I also saw after do just one 11 minute exercise there was a green star on that days date in the calendar. Again....not sure how to track my progress. Really wish there was more support for this title as it took me quite a while just to find the friggen forums.

Please help. Yes...I've spent an hour searching thread after thread and honestly I'm just tired of searching and am needing some helpful answers. Thanks very kindly!

[AuntieParticle]

I would say that the objectives are a sort of loose guidance. The game doesn't have a lot of handholding other than the blue flags that point out the exercises that that best coincide with your chosen objective. As you do the blue flagged workouts, classes and activities the timeline under My Objective will fill. Once you've completed the total amount of time for your objective on blue flagged exercises the objective will be finished. And you can start another if you like.

Be sure to look for the blue flagged exercises within each flagged main catagory. Not every one will be flagged. For example if ABS main category is flagged when you go into that category look for more blue flags.

I think the review you read may have been talking about the fitness test that was in the original YSFE. There is no such test in YSFE 2012. It has been replaced by the objectives.

The green mark on the calendar is a "Stamp". One "Stamp" will appear each day you do any exercise. The length of time does not matter. It merely says you used the game that day.

[Gustlock1974]

Thanks very much for the reply. It's all starting to make a little more sense....I guess I was just hoping for a little more in game guidance as to what I'm supposed to be doing each day to achieve the goals I'm after. Seems like they could have easily implemented a way to track progress on a much more linear basis. As far as the objectives go...if I wanted to build mass I could just do the yoga exercises over and over again for 30 minutes a day. Pretty sure this is not going to help me build mass. I'm really not trying to dog on the game...I'm really excited to see if they implement a more guided workout in the next version as I'll bet there are lot of us couch potatoes out there that would appreciate it. I wonder if there is another resource online that would lay out a weekly customized workout routine based off what I was trying to accomplish?

[GreatBigBrain]

This game has amazing potential, but this lack of actually telling you what to do for exercise is just plain stupid. How can you expect people who don't really know about exercise (and probably not motivated at this point) to choose the right mix of exercises. Just stupid.

Make a 4 week program designed to ease people into exercising and get them confident and hooked. Give them a goal. Make a 9 week program to actually start making a difference in their lives. Make each program have variable intensity.

The purpose of this program is to give people a virtual PERSONAL TRAINER! It would be like me paying for a personal trainer at the gym, and him telling me "here is a list of pretty much every exercise, come back in an hour and do whatever you like... just sign my card that I at least talked to you... No.. No... I am not allowed to tell you what exercises to do, just focus on this area of the gym (points vaguely) and do whatever you think is best".

Sorry for ranting on my first post, but this is just... stupid. What kills me is the potential of this program. It has all the right parts, just randomly thrown into a box.
-brian

[AuntieParticle]

Hi GreatBig Brain,
I have no doubt there there is an audience for the game you describe, how large an audience that it I have no idea. But as a major game company, I'm pretty certain the Ubisoft wants to hit as large an audience as possible. So they have to make some Mamma Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear decisions in creating their fitness game. No commercial fitness game is going to "just right" for everyone. If one was it would be huge (program/file size) and VERY expensive. So companies like Ubisoft tend to take the middle road. They offer some elements for those who need some hand holding to get them started, lots of variety to keep people interested and the ablility to dive in and pick what you want for those who don't want or need a lot of guidance or constraints.

They have added on a 4 week weight loss DLC program and another 4 week DCL program aimed at maintaining the weight loss - together they make an 8 week program. Perhaps there will be other targeted DLC programs in the future.

I like YSFE 2012 the way it is designed. It has some bugs that need attention but over all it offers what I'm looking for in a fitness program. To me the point of the "personal trainer" is to have someone (in this case a virtual representation of someone) show how the various exercises/dance moves etc. are done. I don't need to be told which ones I should be doing, I can figure that out on my own. As a comsumer I don't want to pay a lot more for a game or program (both in terms of size and money) that is crammed full of a lot of stuff I don't want or need.

[GreatBigBrain]

Hello NanoParticle,

I am glad you find value in the program. I do enjoy the program as well, but as a motivational tool, it fails in my eyes. I am not in bad shape, my wife exercises nearly every day on her own. We both agree that we are tired of trying to figure out what to do on our own. We need some help and advice to push ourselves to be better. Given the choice to do as little as possible, or what is best for our own fitness, we usually choose to do little. I would say that most people would do the same. Almost half of Americans exercise less than three times a week. About one third of Americans are obese. Obviously not everyone is as motivated as you to research what exercises to do, when to do them, how many to do, how long to do them, what ones go together (should I do arms and back together?, should I do leg work the day after aerobic work?).

I have seen quite a few (well, at least 3) posts on this forum stating, to the effect, "what do I do next?" when starting up the program. I myself spent the entire first morning of my "new resolution to exercise more" just trying to figure out what I was supposed to do in the program. I got so frustrated (and ran out of time before I had to go to work) that I shut it off. People, from what I see, want to be guided. You said that Ubi had to hit the largest target of consumers. I say that most people using the software are nowhere near as motivated as you are, and will stop using the game because it is more difficult to figure out what to do than it is to do it. I say they missed their target audience (why target people who already know how to exercise and are motivated?)

A quote from the Certified Personal Trainer website states "(personal trainers)... design safe and effective exercise programs, provide the guidance to help clients achieve their personal health/fitness goals...". How am I supposed to know what is safe and effective exercise programs?

The DLC that has shown up is a start, I agree. But when you boil it down, all I am really asking for is for Ubi to take all those "blue checkmark" exercises, put them into a logical order, and place them on the calendar. I open the program, click a single ****on ("Start exercising!") and it just grabs all the exercises off the calendar and strings them together. That is not an unusual or overly burdensome programming feature. I don't want to have to menu around between exercises, search the internet to determine what exercise I should do next.

Since you are a self-motivated exerciser I would have to say that you are the exception, not the norm. I only rant here in the hopes of letting Ubi know that they missed out on a major feature (and looking at the program, I think they were going that direction, but some management guy made the call to release without it). I hope that they either offer an update to 2012, or for the next release (2013?) offer something better. I will continue to use the game to get an occasional workout but this lack of guidance is really just disappointing.

Thanks for listening,
Brian

[ghotisticks74]

I have to agree that I would be more motivated by smaller, more focused goals to start with. If they are not available, give me the ability to set them myself. I don't like that it doesn't allow me to change the number of minutes worked out per day, only the number of days per week. Or that I can't make goals focused on cals per day instead of minutes per day - things like that. Or maybe a goal of X cardio and X strenght training. It tracks my push ups (I HATE pushups!) so maybe a goal of X pushups per week. There is just so much potential and it really falls short.

[bluejaywpg]

As of today (Victoria Day 2012), the Your Shape website says in the Game Features section, among other things, "Your Shape tailors your workout to you, so you can get fit your way!"

This line implies me that I should expect Your Shape to essentially create a workout & therefore guide me through the completion of it.

The complaints above are quite legitimate. When you buy a title like this & rip off the cellophane, you don't want to be learning & figuring out how to use it 30 minutes later - you want to be actually playing the title now, or as soon as possible! And while I was able to try individual exercises quickly, I was frustrated when trying to figure out how to set up & start a workout.

Above, NanoParticle says, "As a comsumer I don't want to pay a lot more for a game or program (both in terms of size and money) that is crammed full of a lot of stuff I don't want or need." But that should not mean leaving out something which is a very basic feature of any workout (gym-based or video game-based), which in my opinion is what this topic is about.

I am quite disappointed & nearly ready to go back to a different title that I used previously & which did a very good job with guided workouts, even though I have not yet done a full workout with Your Shape.

[Radler2006]

I am disappointed too. I feel like this title is too much of a free play sandbox. The analogy of a personal trainer vaguely waving at a gym full of equipment and saying, "Go do some of that stuff for a while" is exactly the feeling I get. I thought this title strung together appropriate exercises into a cohesive workout. Wrong.

[Franco De Paw]

I have been using YourShape FE, YourShape FE 2012 and UFC Personal Trainer. I agree at first glance in YS:FE 2012 there was no instruction on what to do and why. I have been exercising using these games since Nov 2010 (before that I was a couch potatoe). After playing UFC PT (which I like as well) I do understand the reasoning for the way YS:FE 2012 is layed out. Sure there should be some "programs" layed out for us noobs on the website or even in the game. Note: Someone is actually putting programs out on the Yourshape FE 2012 facebook page which are some good routines. Playing a game where the sets and reps are the same everytime you do them gets old fast. Sure the trainers vary up the exercises for their styles but they still become the same old thing. I find myself using YS:FE 2012 more because I can pick and choose the areas that I want to work for any particular day. In the other game you get into a program and that is what you are going to do. From Warm Up to Cool (which are both forced) to the program you are stuck from start to finish, you can skip things but whats the point...no real personalization.