Fitness Month Review and Challenge – Week 4

It’s so hard to believe that we are already into the fourth week of Fitness Month over at Dance Central. That means that this is the final challenge for the month of January. I know that I am truly hoping that they continue with these challenges as it has really helped me to get up off the couch and moving. I hope that it has helped others of my fellow video gamers do so as well. Exercise is one of those habits that I don’t mind starting and keeping.

I once read that it takes 21 days of doing something to make it a habit; if that is a case then I have truly made dance and Dance Central a habit now as I have been doing it for over 21 days straight. In fact, just the other day when I was working out it said that I had been working out for over six hours and had burned over 1,500 calories. I know that I have been turning on my Xbox and firing up this game on a daily basis but the fact that I have been doing it in Fitness Mode for that long just blew my mind. I wanted to take a little bit of time to remind you all how to do this:

When you start up the game, at the beginning go to options. There are a few different setting selections that you are able to choose from. One of them is Fitness Mode. Make sure that it is filled in. Then back out of it and you are all set.

By doing this, the game will now track how long you are playing the game for fitness and how many calories you are burning while you are playing the game. There are a few different ways that I am able to do this. I can decide to make my own play list if I would like, much the way that I have been doing during Fitness Month at Dance Central, or I can actually do some of the set fitness routines. Either one of theses are a great way to get a workout.

I have found that I really do enjoy setting up my own play list when I have had one of those days at work. I can choose the songs that make me feel good or allow me to get out the aggressive feelings that I am having. I can also choose how many times that I am wanting to dance any given song. This is amazing when you have a friend doing it with you who is across the country. Marcia Webb (@jaxboxchick) and I have been challenging each other each week through these challenges to do the songs better and harder. However, I have taken it one step up and have started challenging other communities as well. Steve Machucha (@shanghaisix) and Evelyn Varga (@xalaga) from Front Towards Gamers have jumped on my challenge band wagon. Even Trina (@gamingangel) from Gaming Angels has taken the challenge.

This week’s challenge is very near and dear to The Married Gamers’ heart as it came from both Lefty’s and my brain. Annette Gonzalez (@amgo), community manager over at Harmonix, came to me and asked if we would be willing to put together the Fitness Challenge for Fitness Friday. To say the least we were very humbled by the idea. After thinking about it, Lefty and I decided that we wanted to take everyone on a walk down memory lane. We want to share some songs that we grew up with. We were both born in the 70’s and therefore are children of the 80’s and enjoyed music of the such. So we are going to help you get your dance groove on while you are Kickin’ It Old School. So here is this week’s challenge, as per Dance Central’s website:

Last week were assigned the “Get Ripped With Riptide” Challenge. This week we’re issuing a challenge created by our friends at The Married Gamers, who have not only been following along with our challenges week after week, but have also encouraged others to join the fitness fun and have provided awesome fitness advice to get the most out of Dance Central fitness sessions!

KICKIN’ IT OLD SCHOOL

Here’s the challenge description as provided by Kelly Brown, editor and host at The Married Gamers:

The Married Gamers is an adult community with a passion for video games so we wanted to celebrate Dance Central Fitness Month by kickin’ it old school with some songs that we grew up with.

The Married Gamers have provided 23 old school Dance Central tracks to choose from of which you need to select 10. These tracks span the entire Dance Central franchise:

Baby Got Back (Mix Mix) (DC2)
Brick House (DC)
Bust A Move (DC)
Control (DLC)
Funkytown (DC)
Gonna Make You Sweat (DLC)
Hot Stuff (DC2)
Informer (DLC)
Jungle Boogie (DC)
My Prerogative (DC2)
Poison (DC)
Pump Up the Jam (DC)
Push It (DC)
Rump Shaker (DC)
Straight Up (DLC)
Super Freak (DLC)
The Breaks (DC2)
The Humpty Dance (DC2)
This Is How We Do It (DC2)
Venus (DC2)
Whoomp (There It Is) (DLC)
Wild Thing (DLC)
Word Up! (DLC)

Create a playlist in Dance Central 2 with your 10 old school songs of choice and complete the playlist three times by February 3 on any difficulty (try playing on Medium or Hard for an additional challenge). Since the song choices above span the DC franchise, try importing your songs from the original Dance Central disc to your Dance Central 2 Music Library! That way you can take advantage of the sequel’s new features and add them to your playlist! For instructions on how to import your songs click here.

If you have someone at home who can do them co-op with you, have them jump in with you and push you along. If not, find someone within an online community or via Twitter. It is a great way to push each other along to get to those fitness goals that you are wanting to reach.

Challenge Summary:
1. Choose 10 old school songs from the list above and create a playlist in Dance Central 2 with your tracks of choice. Click here to learn how to create fitness playlists in Dance Central 2
2. Complete the playlist on any difficulty three times (try playing on Medium or Hard to really get your heart pumping)
3. Complete the challenge by Friday, February 3

And that is this week’s challenge. It is going to be tons of fun and I know that I am going to have an enjoyable time doing it and I hope that you will as well. I hope that Dance Central will continue to post these Fitness Friday Challenges since they have been very successful for getting, not only myself but other up and moving. If not, it might be something that I will have to start doing. As always post your scores so others can try to beat them. This way we can bring the burn (and smack talk) while we all get our workout down. Keep on dancing!