19 days with UFC Personal Trainer

Martin writes about his first 19 days with UFC Personal Trainer.

Tuesday July 19

Stood on some scales this morning, and I've lost 3kg (almost 7lb) in 11 days. I'd like to make it a full stone by the end of the 30-day routine.

I'm not going to measure my weight again until I've finished, though, as I could already feel myself becoming bizarrely obsessive compulsive over the scales. I do not want to be That Guy.

Thursday July 21

Exercises are coming along nicely. I can now complete most of the abdominal stuff, which is an achievement in itself - two weeks ago I could barely finish half the set.

After a workout I load up one of the 'Hit the Mitts' activities, which is basically punching the air in specific ways. This really shows up the flaws in the Kinect sensor - it's very, very easy to cheat the game. I also have to do it because the game has an uncanny knack of not saving my workout progress, and I've read on the internet doing a few activities forces the game to save.

Cheating isn't really in the spirit of the proceedings, mind, but part of my profession means I'm always looking for ways to break software.

Saturday July 23

The canned animations start to get a bit old after a while, I think. It would also be great if the game mixed up its warm ups and cooldowns a bit, because doing the same routines every day starts to get a little bit boring.

Lots of people have been telling me I've lost weight this week, which is certainly encouraging.

Sunday July 24

When this 30-day program is over I'm going to go to an all-you-can-eat restaurant and seriously pig out. Once won't hurt, right?

Tuesday July 26

Felt absolutely knackered this morning, and my energy levels seemed suspiciously low. I found myself finding it harder to do the routine, which was a relatively simple one: two circuits of v-ups, leg lifts, and bicycle crunches followed by two sets of push-ups, front raises, Arnold presses, and rear tricep extensions.

I didn't really have much motivation to exercise, but I managed to thrash through the exercises. I think my grace period with UFC Trainer - that initial excitement of trying everything out - is starting to wear off, but I also think I'm going to keep using it after finishing the 30-day program.

I'm clearly seeing results, and while I imagine there's a fitness level where it makes a lot more sense just to go to a gym, that's certainly a bit out of my reach at the moment. I'll stick with the game for now - and I reckon I'll easily be able to have lost a stone by the time gamescom rolls around in August.