Exercise-tastic!
Nov. 7th, 2015 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearSix to Start is the company that makes Zombies Run! and I have been very much enjoying my twice- or thrice-weekly missions since January. But I'm taking a break from the main campaign for a bit, to try out other things. They have three other exercise apps, and they had a special offer over Halloween weekend where you could buy them for 80p each - so I bought all three!
My plan is to do an episode from one or other of them every day - and I have been doing so since Monday.
The Walk is a bit like Zombies Run! but for walking. So far, the episodes have been 50 minutes each, which works for the longer version of my commute, but I think they get longer as they go on, though you don't have to do an episode in one go. The introduction to the story (mistaken identity after an EMP knocks out all the power in Inverness) was a bit clunky, but the second episode was good - and I'm very much enjoying the Zombies Run! in-jokes. It's not as involving as Zombies, but it's been good so far, and it's prompting me to do the walk from Moorgate to the office more often, which is the whole point. You can set the audio clips to play automatically, just put your phone in your pocket and let it run, but there are long periods of silence between the clips, which I find rather boring. So, I play music on Spotify in the background, which means I have to pay attention to when an audio clip is coming up so I can switch the music off in time. That's a bit annoying, which makes the app less good than Zombies, which integrates with the music and switches it off for you at the right points. However, you need to pay attention to the map on The Walk anyway, as there are objects to pick up that are generally quite entertaining, and also bonus audio clips that you have to click on to play. So, not as good as Zombies - but it serves a different purpose in my exercise regime and so I'm going to persevere with it for a while.
Superhero Workout is a series of aerobics workouts that you can do at home, with demo pictures on your phone to show you what to do, and an mission-based plot running over the top. You have a robotic suit and you use it to complete tasks in space and underwater. Yesterday, I got attacked by a giant squid while trying to rid the ocean floor of alien spores, which was quite exciting! It's very easy to cheat on the exercises and fool the phone camera into thinking you're doing more than you are - but even with a bit of cheating here and there the 25 minute workouts have been quite challenging so far!
And, this morning, I did the first session on Zombies Run! 5K Training. I feel like I've got into bad habits with the main campaign - running straight to the gym instead of doing the 3K or 5K loop, then listening to the rest of the mission during my gym workout - so not actually running that much at all. So, since I don't feel like I'm making progress with my running, I thought I'd try the 5K training to give me a bit more focus and guidance, as well as a specific goal. It's supposed to take 8 weeks, so we'll see how I get on. The story side of it wasn't as involving as in the main game - the instructions during the actual workout were just that and I only got a bit of chat and story at either end, but it was still fun - and much more focused on the actual exercise. On the downside, it was my least favourite weather for running - wet enough to require waterproof trousers as well as a mac, but not actually cold, so 20 minutes in I was as damp inside my clothes as out - yeuch! Still, I did the whole workout and it was enough of a challenge to feel like it was worthwhile - and hopefully over time it'll improve my running stamina.
My plan is to do an episode from one or other of them every day - and I have been doing so since Monday.
The Walk is a bit like Zombies Run! but for walking. So far, the episodes have been 50 minutes each, which works for the longer version of my commute, but I think they get longer as they go on, though you don't have to do an episode in one go. The introduction to the story (mistaken identity after an EMP knocks out all the power in Inverness) was a bit clunky, but the second episode was good - and I'm very much enjoying the Zombies Run! in-jokes. It's not as involving as Zombies, but it's been good so far, and it's prompting me to do the walk from Moorgate to the office more often, which is the whole point. You can set the audio clips to play automatically, just put your phone in your pocket and let it run, but there are long periods of silence between the clips, which I find rather boring. So, I play music on Spotify in the background, which means I have to pay attention to when an audio clip is coming up so I can switch the music off in time. That's a bit annoying, which makes the app less good than Zombies, which integrates with the music and switches it off for you at the right points. However, you need to pay attention to the map on The Walk anyway, as there are objects to pick up that are generally quite entertaining, and also bonus audio clips that you have to click on to play. So, not as good as Zombies - but it serves a different purpose in my exercise regime and so I'm going to persevere with it for a while.
Superhero Workout is a series of aerobics workouts that you can do at home, with demo pictures on your phone to show you what to do, and an mission-based plot running over the top. You have a robotic suit and you use it to complete tasks in space and underwater. Yesterday, I got attacked by a giant squid while trying to rid the ocean floor of alien spores, which was quite exciting! It's very easy to cheat on the exercises and fool the phone camera into thinking you're doing more than you are - but even with a bit of cheating here and there the 25 minute workouts have been quite challenging so far!
And, this morning, I did the first session on Zombies Run! 5K Training. I feel like I've got into bad habits with the main campaign - running straight to the gym instead of doing the 3K or 5K loop, then listening to the rest of the mission during my gym workout - so not actually running that much at all. So, since I don't feel like I'm making progress with my running, I thought I'd try the 5K training to give me a bit more focus and guidance, as well as a specific goal. It's supposed to take 8 weeks, so we'll see how I get on. The story side of it wasn't as involving as in the main game - the instructions during the actual workout were just that and I only got a bit of chat and story at either end, but it was still fun - and much more focused on the actual exercise. On the downside, it was my least favourite weather for running - wet enough to require waterproof trousers as well as a mac, but not actually cold, so 20 minutes in I was as damp inside my clothes as out - yeuch! Still, I did the whole workout and it was enough of a challenge to feel like it was worthwhile - and hopefully over time it'll improve my running stamina.
