The Daisy Fuentes Pilates on the Wii Console - What is It All About?
The Wii console has gotten lots of workout videos and fitness related products, but the Daisy Fuentes workout is the Wii's first Pilates workout video. It stars an avatar representing Daisy Fuentes illustrating basic Pilates moves, and guides you through the basic Pilates movements. In this article, I'll discuss the Daisy Fuentes Pilates Wii game, as well as answering some common questions around it.
But first, let's look at what Pilates is and its main principals and supposed benefits, and then let's see how the Daisy Fuentes Pilates on the Wii compares to that principals.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is an exercise method developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century to help rehabilitate his patients. It mainly focuses on the area that Pilates himself called the "Power House", but modern teachers and followers of Pilates have renamed this to your "Core". Your core muscles are important for a healthy spine and to keep the body balanced. According to Wikipedia, there where approximately 11 million people practicing Pilates in 2005.
What are the main principals of Pilates?
There are basically 6 main principals that are essential for proper Pilates practice. It is the aim of the instructor (whether real, or virtual like in the Daisy Fuentes workout system) to make sure that these main principals are taught and practiced well.
Let's look at the 6 main principals of Pilates:
1. Breathing
It is very important that the breathing during any exercise (especially Pilates) is correct, as incorrect breathing during exercise means that there is an problem in your practice. It is especially important when doing exercises using a system like the Daisy Fuentes Pilates system, because you won't have a real instructor reminding you to breath correctly.
2. Centering
This principal means that every movement you make during your Pilates practice should originate from your core area. This means that the muscles of your abs, lower back, hip flexors and glutes are worked and contracted the whole time to ensure proper movements.
3. Concentration
There should be an absolute concentration on the movements you make to make sure that your breathing is correct and that you do the exercises fluently, and that your core is correctly worked at all times.
4. Control
Muscle control is very important during Pilates to make sure that the exercises are conducted correctly.
5. Precision
The focus with Pilates is doing an exercise with a perfect and concise movement, before moving on the another exercise.
Flow and efficiency of movements
Once the basic moves can be done in precision, the exercises should flow one after another. This means that the movement should be precise and perfect.
What are the benefits of practicing Pilates?
The main benefits of practicing regular Pilates includes:
- Better blood circulation
- Increased energy
- Cleansing of the system
- Improvement of concentration
- Better muscle control
- Enhanced flexibility
- A stronger core (This means a leaner middle)
Now that we have looked at the basic principals of Pilates and its benefits, let look at the Daisy Fuentes workout that is available on the Wii console. We will look at who Daisy is (Daisy Fuentes biography), what her fitness game is all about, its benefits, and how it compares to the basic principals of Pilates.
Daisy Fuentes biography - Who is Daisy Fuentes(short version)
Daisy Fuentes is a media personality, American lifestyle brand and also a fashion icon. She launched her own fashion line in 2004. The Daisy Fuentes brand range includes: sportswear and other clothing, intimate clothing, accessories, fragrances and hair care. She is also busy working on her first book (a beauty book) that is said to be published in the Spring of 2010.
What is this Daisy Fuentes Workout on the Wii?
It is a Pilates video game that aims to teach the viewer the basics of Pilates. It works with the Wii remote, which main job in the Daisy Fuentes game is to track your movement and your precision of the specific exercise. It then gives you points according to how precise you did the specific exercise. It also gives you instant feedback on your movements from the on screen timing bar.
There are a number of different locations to choose from for the avatar to do the exercises in, and you can also change the Daisy Fuentes avatar's clothes.
All you need to use the Daisy Fuentes fitness video is the Wii remote. A balance board can also be used, but some people say that when you use a balance board, the game won't count your points.
What special features and benefits does the Daisy Fuentes Pilates game have?
- You get instant feedback on the precision of your moves
- There are extra diet and exercise tips in the videos
- There are 10 different basic exercises to practice
- You can select from 5 different preset routines once you know the basic moves
- There are 3 different difficultly levels - from beginner to challenging
- Your weekly progress is tracked and you can view your results to improve your future performance
What basic exercises does the Daisy Fuentes workout have and what body parts does it work?
The basic exercises include the following
Bicycle exercise
Works your abs (especially lower abs) and core.
Toe taps
Works your abs and tones your legs.
Pelvic bridge
Works your abs and buttocks
Side leg work
Works your legs and inner thighs
Mermaid
Works your abs and arms
Roll ups
Works your core area
Hundreds
Works your abs and core.
Double leg circle
Works your core and legs.
Saw
Works your core and abs
What do others say about the Daisy Fuentes Pilates for the Wii?
The good
Comment from mercurynews.com
"Daisy Fuentes Pilates also offers exercise and nutrition tips in the Daisy's Office feature. There's three Pilates tips and five nutrition tips"
The bad
Comment from ign.com
"Daisy Fuentes Pilates doesn't offer unlockable exercises, doesn't track your weight change and ultimately doesn't encourage you to continue using the program"
Comment from mercurynews.com
"Daisy Fuentes Pilates was a disappointment in almost every way"
Conclusion
If you compare the basic elements of Pilates with the basic elements of the Daisy Fuentes Pilates game, it does ads up.
The Daisy Fuentes workout's main principal is the concise timing and the precision of the movement (that's how you score points). It also aims to teach 10 basic Pilates moves. This reflects the main principals of Pilates (Concentration, Centering, Control, flow and precision of movements). This makes the Daisy Fuentes Pilates game a perfect partner for you regular Pilates workout, to aid in perfecting your own precision of Pilates movements and also perfect for beginners who want to learn the new moves.
Its main aim is to strengthen and tones your core and to add flexibility and health benefits, so remember to still do other regular exercises if you want to lose weight or if you want to improve your fitness. But whatever method of exercise you use, the important thing is to get some regular exercise in. Your life might just as well depend on it.
