Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

There was so much at the XaviX booth that I wasn’t able to try it all out, but I DID get to play with XaviX Baseball. The game comes with the Baseball game cartridge, a short bat, and an electronic ball to pitch. It’s available for $49.99 at the XaviX Webstore. The cool thing about this game is that it can be two-player, where one person can bat while the other pitches. The uncool thing about it is that it’s not aerobic at all. I barely made it into the light intensity range, so this game is just for fun and barely at that.

When I saw this game, I had fantasies about being able to play this and “practice” during the winter for softball, but after playing with it for a little bit, my hopes were dashed. The bat is a little small and doesn’t feel like a real baseball bat. Considering my clumsiness, that can be a good thing, but it does nothing to develop my muscles for the softball season.

Additionally, the physics of this game are off. When I tried to swing for a ball at the time when the ball would be over the plate in the “real” world, I struck out each time. I had to swing far earlier to hit the ball in the XaviX world. It only took me about five or six times to understand the new physics, but if I thought that playing with this game might help me a better player in the real world. I was sadly mistaken.

Still, it was fun to play. I could play it against a friend or play it alone. I could pitch or bat. After playing softball for a season, I KNOW that I didn’t hit that ball hard enough to get it out of the park, but that didn’t stop it from feeling really good when it congratulated me on my home run. If you’re looking for a workout, this isn’t your game. If you’re looking to increase your baseball or softball skills, this also isn’t your game. If you just want to have fun playing imaginary baseball, then this is the game for you.

Click here to visit the XaviX Website:

• XaviX Website

The next XaviX game I tried was the Jackie Chan Studio Fitness PowerBoxing. Unlike the other game, this one didn’t look like it was made specifically for Jackie Chan. The boxing looks like a normal boxing game and doesn’t involve any kicking, only punching. I found it to be quite fun, but it wasn’t very aerobic. My heart rate was only in the medium intensity range. I didn’t have to punch as hard as I did for the BodyForce controller. I think the intensity could be increased a little by adding wrist weights, but this game is basically a game that’s active instead of a workout.

The game comes with the XaviX game cartridge (including the boxing glove sensor) and two boxing gloves. It is available for $59.99 at the XaviX Webstore. The gloves are light weight. I noticed that XaviX also sells a different set of gloves with wrist weights attached in a “Power Up” set. You could do the same with a normal set of wrist weights.

The cool thing about these gloves is that they don’t fully enclose your hands, so they are less likely to get sweaty. If you enjoy the boxing game, full gloves would get hot and uncomfortable pretty quickly, but I didn’t have any trouble with these things.

As I mentioned before, the graphics on the XaviX machine are fairly simplistic, so don’t expect to play it on your HDTV and not notice the pixelation. No matter how primitive the graphics were, however, it still felt good to send that guy down for the count!

Click here to visit the XaviX Website:

• XaviX Website

After my visit to the raw food bar in Salt Lake City, I decided to research a little more about raw foods and what constitutes “raw.” The first book that the library sent my way was The Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods by Jeremy A. Safron. It certainly isn’t the most scientific of the books that the library could have sent me.

The explanation for eating raw foods is based on enzymes. This book states that live enzymes are essential to digestion.

“When a food is exposed to temperatures greater than 116° F (108° F to be safe), most of its enzymes are killed. Enzyme-depleted food can be very hard to digest and gives very little energy to the body.”

This is the premise of the raw food movement. Cooked food is bad. Raw food is best. Dehydrated food is ok as long as it doesn’t get above 108° F. I don’t believe a word of it. It is the responsibility of the idea to prove itself, but this book doesn’t cite any medical or nutritional studies that back up the idea of “live enzymes.” There is no scientific proof of anything and I’m supposed to just believe it because this book said so.

In addition to the lack of proof, the idea slips between nutrition and religion far too easily for me to take seriously. Any food “made with anger” is considered unhealthy, and is on the list of “Biodestructive Foods.” Any food “made with love” or “hand picked” is healing, and is on the list of “Bio-Regenerative Foods.”

Based on the lack of supporting evidence, this book assumes that you are already convinced that eating raw food is the way to go. Over half of the book is devoted to recipes, most of which utilize blenders, dehydrators and a lot of allowing things to sit in bowls of water. The pictures look appetizing, but many of the recipes seem to be trying to recreate old favorites (like fruit pie) without cooking.

The Raw Food Movement is lacking enough proof for me to take it seriously. The food at Living Cuisine was delicious and I enjoyed the atmosphere. I eat most of my fruits and vegetables in the raw form, yet I can’t accept the philosophy of raw food. The reason I eat raw food is that it tastes better. Unless I learn how to be a better cook, raw fruits and veggies taste better than the overcooked and soggy versions of themselves. It has nothing to do with “living enzymes” and everything to do with taste as far as I’m concerned.

Once you purchase a XaviX Console, you need to buy games for it. The first game I tried out was Jackie Chan Studio Fitness: J-Mat. This one really seemed to have the potential for high intensity exercise. It was a lot of fun. I was able to get my heart rate high enough for it to be high intensity exercise. The J-Mat consists of a wired mat that connects to the Xavix console, handweights and a game cartridge. The J-Mat is wide, white and has four spots to step. The cost is $89.99 at the XaviX Webstore.

The cool things about the J-Mat:

• You can set the intensity: The exercise program has enough intensity for it to be a high intensity workout, but can be reduced for beginners. I checked my heart rate monitor in the middle of things and it was well above the 128 bpm I need to get me into the high intensity range.

• Hand weights: The game comes with hand weights to work your arms. I tried to do the hand movements to follow along with what Jackie was doing, but that was really hard for me. I’m sure I would be able to do it with some practice, but for now, that was more coordination than I have.

• The Jackie Chan Action Game is fun: You run down the street, dodge things in your way and jump over barriers. Ninjas come at you and you need to step on them to get them to disappear. It’s not very realistic because the Jackie doesn’t run faster when you jump faster on the mat, but it got my heart rate higher than when I was playing in the Fitness Mode. I really wanted to beat up those ninjas.

• It can be played by different people: You can log in yourself, input your weight, sex and other important information. It will track your exercise and calorie expenditure separately from anyone else who logs in. The Xavix that they had on display had profiles for over five people, so your entire family can track their progress and high scores.

The limitations of the J-Mat:

• No stretching to prevent soreness: Just like DDR, the primary exercise is stepping, which works your calf muscles intensely, but the cool down doesn’t stretch that muscle, it just has you stepping a little slower to cool down. Unless you stretch your calf muscles on your own, you’ll end up really sore.

• You have to play barefoot: To prevent the mat from breaking, you really should play it without shoes, but that can be hard on your feet.

• Wide stance: The shape of the J-Mat has you stretching your legs out to reach the two furthest pads. I’m pretty short, so reaching that far was a little difficult for me. I think it would be just as hard for kids to reach. Without a wide stance, some of the moves are a little difficult.

• The J-Mat is white and will get grimy after a while: These mats were all still very clean after two days of continuous play, but if they are anything like my DDR dance pads, they will get grimy very quickly.

On the whole, the J-Mat seemed like a lot of fun. I was able to get my heart range high enough for it to be a workout and I enjoyed playing the game. There was enough variation that it would take a while to get bored of the game. I especially liked fighting the ninjas.

• XaviX Website

I didn’t take XaviX seriously when I heard of them over a year ago. I just nodded to myself and thought, “Bowling… um, I don’t think that’s very high intensity.” I noticed that Jackie Chan was sponsoring something for them and I worried about Jackie’s career. While I was ignoring them, they have been working up a sweat.

XaviX works similar to PlayStation or Xbox. You buy the console and then you have to buy the games to work with the console. The disadvantage of that is there is another console to hook up to your television. This machine will have to compete for jack space with your VCR, DVD player, and any other game console you have. It might have been better for the consumer if they had created games for the existing consoles.

The cool thing about XaviX, though, is that it’s small. It doesn’t need a lot of space next to your television. It’s about the footprint of a Nintendo Gamecube, but as thin as a notebook computer. Another great thing about it is the price. The console is $79.99, which is substantially less expensive than the other gaming consoles around. It can be purchased at the XaviX Webstore.

Of course, after looking at Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 trailers all day, the graphics on the XaviX look very primitive. If I was into ultra-realism, however, I wouldn’t play Powerboxing. I’d probably sign up for real boxing. XaviX isn’t about realism. It’s about moving your body and having some fun while you do it.

The games available for Xavix are provided by XaviX only and are limited in number. They are working on new games for the console all the time, but right now, it is very limited. The games that they DO have, however, are very unique. This is not a typical gaming environment. All the games are very active. Not all of them would be considered cardio-vascular, but every single one of them will have you using your body. These games cannot be found anywhere else.

Disadvantages:

• Separate console
• Must compete with jack space
• Only limited number of games available
• Primitive graphics

Advantages:

• Small unit
• Inexpensive price
• Unique games that work your body

I really enjoyed playing with the XaviX games and I have reviews of them coming tomorrow.

• XaviX Website

I am attending CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. I will be reporting on the health and fitness gadgets I come across during the show.

I’ve talked about GameRunner before on Starling Fitness:

• Starling Fitness » Exercise Gaming

Back then, the picture looked like a drawing and I couldn’t find any information that it actually existed. My evaluation of it back then was that it looked like a cheap treadmill hooked up to a controller. It gave me fantasies of hacking a thrift store reject and a Xbox controller.

My evaluation of the strength of the treadmill is about the same as it was before, but more importantly, this controller didn’t seem like it would get my heart rate up unless I played a racing game. They were demonstrating it with a first person shooter game. They only needed to walk on the treadmill when the character needed to walk. First person shooter games consist of a lot of hiding and shooting. I watched the employees of GameRunner play for quite a while and not once did they even break into a run. This might be better than sitting on the couch and playing, but just barely.

GameRunner gets my positive approval, though. It’s over a year since my Exercise Gaming entry and so many of the companies are out of business. GameRunner is still around and they had a strong showing at this show. I hope they are successful and are able to create a product with a treadmill that looks a little more sturdy.

My biggest concern with this product is that it’s for PC only. I do all my gaming on console games, so I have no use for this product. It would be nice if there was an adapter that would let it work on Xbox and PlayStation. That might be their next iteration of this product, which might make this controller useful. Can you imagine playing Project Gotham 3 with that thing?

Click Here for the GameRunner Website:

• GameRunner Website

I am attending CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. I will be reporting on the health and fitness gadgets I come across during the show.

ArcadeMX wins my award for favorite product that I can’t buy yet.

The product is called BodyForce and it is another controller for game consoles. They are planning on releasing units that work with PlayStation 2, Xbox and the PC (using USB). This controller made me want to bribe the guy at the booth to sell me one.

The controller is a five-piece set: the game pad, two hand controls and two feet controls. They were very easy to put on my wrists and ankles with the velcro attachments.

I have never liked fighting games, but playing with this controller suddenly turned me into a kickboxing fool. The table holding the Xbox and PlayStation 2 was so close that I almost kicked it. I accidentally kicked the game box off the top of the table, sending it flying, much to my embarrassment. Fortunately, no gaming consoles were harmed in the testing of this controller.

While I was kicking and punching, I suddenly realized that there are probably about twenty games that I could purchase that would work with this controller. We were playing Tekken, but there is Street Fighter, DOA and those Namco collections. I imagined all the different games I could play with this controller and even tried to visualize how I could play Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire with this thing.

When I was playing, I had to throw the punches really hard to make them register. The same was true with the kicks. I was so excited that I forgot to check my heart rate monitor while I was playing, but I didn’t really play long enough to see if it would give me a good workout. Considering how hard I had to kick, though, I’m sure it would have gotten me up in the high intensity range very quickly.

ArcadeMX had a small booth in the International section of CES. The presenter was adorable. He was trying to explain the exercise benefits of this controller,

“It’s for health.”

Yeah, he’s right. This game controller could easily be a great workout. The only problem is that it’s not available yet. They had several boxes of the product at the booth, but he was unwilling to sell me one. I asked if they were available online and he said that they do have a website, but it’s not available yet. He wasn’t even able to give me a date when it would be available. I gave him my business card and told him I was VERY interested as soon as they were available for purchase.

Click Here for the ArcadeMX Website:

• Welcome to ArcadeMX

I am attending CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. I will be reporting on the health and fitness gadgets I come across during the show.

I talked about Kilowatt almost a year ago when I covered the Exergaming Phenomenon:

• Starling Fitness » Exercise Gaming

Back then, I wasn’t interested in the huge machine because I imagined it to be colossal. I wasn’t wrong. In my 900 square-foot house, this controller would take up some valuable square footage. The footprint of the machine is at least 4′ X 3′ (or 12 square feet). It’s not like a DDR pad that can be quickly tucked under the couch when the neighbors ring the doorbell. It’s a big thing that would need to be moved out of the way if we wanted to watch a movie on the Xbox. Mike and I enjoyed it, but at that size and cost (prices range from $799 to $1599), it is out of our range.

This controller, however, is much more friendly for the home environment. It is called the Exer-Station and it works with Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It is a controller that you sit on. It is shown here resting on a stool. You could just as easily sit on the couch or the floor. Just like the KiloWatt, it has a variable isometric resistance that works your upper body. They had these controllers connected to Xbox and PlayStation consoles, showing a wide variety of games that you could play with the Exer-Station.

Here is a picture of me playing with it.

I actually worked up a sweat playing with this controller. It wasn’t as intense as the KiloWatt, but it did get me sweating in the chilly show hall. I was playing a racing game and it was difficult to keep the car moving. I kept trying to turn the unit to get it to go left and right, but you have to push on it sideways to get it to work. It wasn’t a cardio-vascular workout. I checked my heart rate monitor while I was playing and it was still in the “light” exercise range. It didn’t even get up to the “moderate” range like I usually do when I’m doing weight training. It DID get me sweating, though.

Here is a closeup of the actual controller.

Because it works with so many different console systems, I found the controls hard to understand when I was sitting in front of people playing. Now that I can look at the picture, however, it’s almost exactly like an Xbox controller. The buttons are labeled for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox controls. The buttons on the top, control the resistance. If it’s too hard, you can lower the resistance. When you get stronger, you can make the workout harder. Maybe if the resistance had been set higher, I might have gotten my heart rate into the moderate range like a normal weight training workout.

At only $199, the price for the Exer-Station seems much more reasonable. This is the first product from PowerGrid Fitness that I would be willing to shell out the bucks for. Their website says that Exer-Station will be shipping in February 2006 and can be purchased at Best Buy.

Click Here to see the PowerGrid Fitness Website:

• POWERGRID FITNESS

I am attending CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. I will be reporting on the health and fitness gadgets I come across during the show.

Konami’s booth at CES was so NOT what I was expecting. I expected a big booth with multiple machines playing the large range of Konami’s DDR games on Xboxes, PlayStations and the PC. I expected a lot of noise and people playing. Instead, it was a small booth with two employees of Konami playing. They were doing a spectacular job of it, though.

I have heard lots of people say things like, “I’m too heavy to play that game,” or “I’d be too embarrassed to play that game.” After watching these two guys play DDR on Heavy and both of them get great grades, you have to admit that all of those excuses just evaporate. Of course, the idea that playing DDR alone will get you thin also evaporates. Weight loss requires rigorous exercise (like DDR) AND a healthy eating regime. Unless you have both pieces of the puzzle, you won’t lose weight. You can do this, you just have to give it a two-fisted punch.

They were demonstrating DDR Extreme 2 for the Sony PlayStation 2. After playing with DDR UltraMix 3 for the Xbox, Extreme 2 seemed really simplistic. The graphic interface is so much cleaner with DDR-UM3. They let me play and the pads and game reacted exactly the same as they would on my Xbox. Play was the same, it was only the graphics that were different. They gave music CDs of the songs on DDR-X2 to the passerbys and tried to urge the middle-aged men to play along, but I was the only one I saw playing. That was kind of disappointing because I expected a loud and exciting crowd.

Of course, after I played my song, I turned around and saw a crowd of people gathered to watch. It seems that all of these executive types secretly wish to jump in and play, but are only willing to enjoy it vicariously. If you find you are doing that with anything, please, let yourself jump in and play. Don’t worry about embarrassing yourself. Just jump in and do it, whether it’s playing DDR, learning to ski, or trying anything else that your heart is calling to you. Don’t be one of those people on the sidelines saying, “I wish I could do that.” Just jump in and try it!

Click Here for Konami’s DDR Website:

• Music In Every Direction :: Konami

I hear people say it at Weight Watchers, “This dieting is just too expensive.” There is an attitude in the world that eating healthy food is more expensive than eating whatever is handy. I’m not buying it.

The truth of the matter is, we SAVED money when I started eating healthy. Fresh veggies are a little more expensive in the winter, but not nearly as expensive as the frozen dinners that I was buying. You don’t need to shell out the bucks for Lean Cuisine in order to eat less calories, you just need to be willing to plan ahead.

Pre-packaged fresh vegetables (like the kind you find in a vegetable tray) are more expensive than the uncut variety. If you’re willing to wash and prepare your own food, you can save a lot of money. The prices for fruit and vegetables are highly dependent on the season. If you buy what is in season, you can usually save money and still enjoy fresh produce. Sure, you might be a little sick of clementines this time of year, but they disappear after January, so enjoy them now.

Rice is CHEAP if you buy it in bulk. It keeps for a long time and it is a healthy carbohydrate to supplement your diet. Brown rice and wild rice varieties tend to have more fiber, so watch for sales on them and stock up when they their price falls down to the white rice prices.

The most inexpensive meat I have found is the frozen chicken breasts that you can buy in a huge bag. One of those bags will feed us for a month. That’s ten bucks of meat for an entire month for two people. Dried beans are another source of protein that are very inexpensive and will store for a long time if you buy them in bulk.

It seems to me that you can feed a family on very little money and keep it healthy as long as you’re willing to put in the work of planning and preparing everything. Sure, ramen noodles are cheaper than Lean Cuisine, but fresh veggies with rice and beans beats them both.