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Great and innovative program

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: February 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is not really a game but a customized workout program. I liked it because it gave me the motivation that I need to get some exercise in everyday. It customized the workouts according to your fitness level, and as you go along you can increase or decrease the difficulty of the workouts. You can chart your progress and chose what type of workout you'd prefer: Yoga, calorie-burning, lower or upper body workouts. It's great and it's like having a personal trainer/aerobics instructor in your home at your convenience. You can adjust your workout times and integrate some of your home equipment, though you don't need any equipment to use the program. I really enjoyed the program and thought it was innovative. Instead of using a DVD program to do the same workout over and over again, you can change it up.

Worth Your Money and Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: September 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was anxious to try this product, especially after seeing its review in "O" Magazine. I read all of the reviews and was even more encouraged. As I received the product, I told others about it and they anxiously awaited my review of Maya. Of course she did not disappoint. Everyday that I have a scheduled appointment with her, I know that I must show up or she will reprimand me for being a no-show. Overall I am pleased with this game. I feel like one of the rich and famous who have a personal trainer in their home. Its worth the time and money.

Fantastic! But not a game. . .

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: October 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is great, but don't be fooled into thinking its a game. This is a workout video for your Playstation. You spend about 20 minutes inputting your fitness level and weight along with how often you want to workout. Each time you complete a workout, you're one step closer to re-evaluating your fitness levels. I've been using for about 2 weeks now; and can't tell if I'll get annoyed with it - but so far, so good.

There are areas to change the music type and volume level, change the workout space for the virtual trainer and change the difficulty level for the workout. It should automatically adjust to your levels, as it will occasionally ask how you are feeling and if you can keep up with the workout or if its too easy.

This is by far one of the best workout videos I own. The only thing I don't like is you won't get credit for working out with another method. (For example you set the game to have you work out 5 days a week, but you walked or did another video for 3 days; it will think you just skipped 3 days.)

You WILL NEED hand weights!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

In addition to the other great, informative reviews that others have written (all things I agree to), I'd like to add a tip: buy hand weights if you don't have them already. The upper-body workout is worthless without them. While the game is fabulous and I enjoy every minute, the makers seem to indicate it's not necessary to own certain exercise equipment.....but unfortunately it is.

The food is great too!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: September 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I read the Amazon reviews and decided to buy this for my PS2. It's really great.

I am now toned after doing Yoga in the meditation garden and my first workout. I agree with other reviews below that say this is a terrific product.

I really like the recipes - we have had more interesting lunches thanks to Maya. They are well thought out and nutritious. I am not sure why she needs to butter the broccoli - so I do modify the recipes a little if necessary!

I would like to have more of a warm up and cool down for the fitness assessment - doing 2 minutes of jumping jacks if you are not fit with no warm up could kill you! Apart from that the virtual trainer Maya is very helpful.

Surprisingly good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good cardio workout. I've tried Tae-bo as well as others, and this is far better due to the variations each day which other disks cannot offer. You really never do the same routine twice which keeps you guessing and stops the boredom. I like how the bottom of the screen tells you how long you have to go before the next exercise also, so you're never doing jumping jacks and thinking when will this end. There are thousands of recipes if you're interested in that, but I just wanted a good cardio routine and I am very satisfied.

Love it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game shortly before Thanksgiving after being disappointed with the Kinetic: Eye Toy game for PS2. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. You remember your exercise DVDs and they become quite boring, but this game actually motivated me to exercise every day because each routine was different. Maya doesn't exactly scold you when you miss a day that you're scheduled to exercise, but she doesn't let it just slide either... I love that it is customizable to your weight and fitness goals. It even tells you how many calories you've burned after the workout. I have the stepper, weights, and the stability ball...all of which have really maximized my experience with this game, but I've had days when I've used none of them and the floor exercises are just as enjoyable!

I highly recommend this to anyone bored with exercising at home....you really need to buy this!

Workout works, but has quirks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Yourself! Fitness is a very impressive achievement, but it does have some, shall we say, quirks that you will need to learn to work with. I'll list out the problems that I've had, and hopefully some workarounds that might help you get the most out of this package.

1. Maya doesn't keep in sync with the music.

Maya does okay, but she does tend to have a difficult time staying with the music; my suggestion would be to keep track of which exercises you are doing, and use the animation as a reference for the proper form, but don't try to stay in sync with her movements or they may throw you off.

2. Maya doesn't always give you enough time to catch up.

When switching exercises, she will usually give a verbal explanation of the exercise she wants you to do. The problem is, by the time the explanation is complete, you're half-way through the allotted time, and you haven't really done any reps yet. Therefore, you tend to not have enough time to do the actual reps before you're on to the next exercise. The trick is to learn the exercises well enough so that you can ignore her explanations and go straight to the reps. You can pause the game and get a tutorial on any of the exercises; if you find yourself falling behind, I highly recommend doing this so that you get enough out of your workout. Otherwise, you should just accept that you'll be a little confused during your first few times through, but eventually you'll catch on.

3. Maya doesn't really adjust the difficulty, even though she says she will.

By the end of the warmup exercises, my heartrate tends to be around 170, which is way too high. After that segment, Maya pauses and asks me how I did. I always tell her I couldn't keep up. She says that she will adjust the difficulty of similar segments in the future, but she never does; if anything, those segments have been getting MORE challenging lately. Therefore, if you do have heart-rate problems like I do, then you might find that you have to rein in your enthusiasm during the warmups and kick a little lower, raise your arms a little less, etc. I always feel like I'm cheating when I have to do that, but that's what I have to do in order to keep up.

4. Some exercises are not challenging enough.

You may find that some of the exercises are not going to work for you if you have a decent amount of upper-body strength. My suggestion would be to learn which exercises they are (like "Lift Sequence" which is a set of biceps curls without weights), and make sure you have some dumbbells or heavier hand-weights nearby to enhance these exercises; for example, some of the curls and lateral raises really require more resistance to be effective. I've also found that the "Swim" stretches are not particularly useful for me, so I would suggest substituting "Supermans" for those if the "Swim" is too easy. It will take a little work to figure out which exercises are going to be beneficial to you, and which are a waste of time, so be prepared to make adjustments on the fly. Also, since you don't have anyone observing you to ensure that you are keeping proper form, you have to be very self-aware as to which muscles you are attempting to work out; if a particular stretch is too easy, it's quite possible that you're not doing it right, and you might want to go through the tutorial and make some adjustments.

5. Some exercises might be physically impossible for you to do.

When you first start out, Maya tests your physical fitness, including your flexibility. I can barely stretch my hands to my knees from a sitting position; regardless, during one of my workouts, Maya wanted me to do a yoga position called the Half Moon. I guarantee - if you can't touch your toes, you can't do this either. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about that because you can't skip an exercise; you have to wait it out, or do an alternate exercise on your own until she's ready to move on. There are other remedies - you can buy special foam blocks that help bridge the distance between your hands and the floor, but the program doesn't tell you that; it just assumes that you can do the move, and unfortunately the tutorial doesn't give you a suitable alternative.

Yourself! Fitness

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First off, I'll start out by saying I'm not in shape-unless you consider "round" a shape...I was amazed at how this game works as a fitness instructor-and when I was done with my workout, I felt pretty whooped. But, I can tell you it was very fun, and I felt good after the workout. You can set your own workout schedule and routine, even check out thousands of menu selections, recipes, and set them for any given day! It's all right here folks! I set a target goal of 50 lbs. to lose-You cant go wrong with this game folks!! This game keeps it fun, and that's very important-I started out on October 3, 2006-I'll be back here a month from now to share my results!

The best workout I have had

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I have several workout DVD's including The Firm and Kendell Hogan workout DVD's and by far this workout program has challenged me to a level I have not experienced. Maya challenges you everyday by incorporating new moves each time you workout depending on your responses during the workout and will increase the intensity each workout. She keeps you motivated while working out like saying things like "Get those knees up", "Move Move", or "That's it your doing it" just to name a few. If you tell her,when she asks how that part of the workout was for you, no sweat she will keep a mental note and increas the insensity on your next workout. She asks things like "How did you sleep last night" when you start you next workout. She tell you "See you tomorrow for your next workout". It definitely keeps me motivated, I look forward to hearing what she has to say each day. You will definitely feel like you had a great workout each time. I highly recommend this workout program especially if you want to increase the intensity of your workout. She keeps a record of everything you do and your responses you give her for your next workout. Each day you pick the type of workout you want to do like cardio, weight loss, or upper body strength; the duration of your workout and tell her what equipment you have. There are meal plans for you depending on the calorie diet you are on, and you can set up your workout schedule to what days you want to workout. This is the best workout program I have experienced and it is definitely worth the money. Maya will keep you motivated till the end and looking forward to the next workout.

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