ROADTEST: "I haven't been to a gym in over a year, so I tried this fitness game to exercise from home."

Hands up if you consider yourself as ‘exercise adverse’. 

That’s how I see myself. Sure, it might be a fancy way of saying I’m too lazy or too busy to factor physically moving into my daily routine.

But 'exercise adverse' more clearly sums up how I feel about going to the gym or doing a class of some kind, while also working full-time and parenting full-time too. 

It all seems a bit much. Getting changed into cute gym gear; going to places that may have too many mirrors; the smell of other people exercising (no thank you please), and the fact that when I do finally get to one of these places the only thing I’m supposed to concentrate on is the doing of the exercise. Ugh, no thanks.

What I am into right now is our Nintendo Switch. We bought it for our daughter last Christmas and while it’s supposed to be "hers", it has actually evolved in becoming "ours", and my husband and I have fallen back in love with the games of our childhood. 

Our fierce Mario Kart battles have led to some serious marital friction.

So when we were offered the chance to give Nintendo's Ring Fit Adventure a try I jumped at the opportunity because:

1. It’s going to be way better than the stinky gym (plus no commuting time needed), and; 

2. I can dip in and out of using whenever is most convenient around Tilly/work/all the things!

Image: Supplied.

Ring Fit Adventure comes with the game, the Ring-Con and leg strap in the box (so the Nintendo Switch console comes separately).

Image: Supplied.

Now, first thing to contend with is convincing the daughter that this is not for her.

Tilly with Ring Fit as if it's hers! Image: Supplied.

Setting it up was easy as: I need to click a controller into the Ring-Con, strap one to a leg and then get on with giving it some of your physical deets like how much you exercise on average (not much, but I didn’t have to fib to a personal trainer this time! I just told the game my truths). 

I set the run as a fast walk because I have dodgy knees, and then after a guided warm-up, I chose to start on an Adventure course.

Here’s where the fun starts. The idea is that you’re trying to take down Dragaux, a buff-as-heck dragon who looks every bit like the guy shredding for his next festival. He’s been training so hard he’s turned a little bit evil and has stolen a bunch of stuff including your ring’s powers. You then have to traverse worlds hunting Dragaux, taking out his minions along the way.

LOOK AT HIM. Must defeat. Image: Supplied.

I decided to see if I could do 30 mins a day of the course for three days in a row, and see how I go.

You start off running through the worlds, collecting coins and learning how to do the maneuvers you’ll need to start fighting the monsters you come across. You’re legit running on the spot as you pull on the Ring-Con to vacuum up your goodies, pressing it in to shoot at stuff.

Image: Supplied.

When you face-off with a monster you start with a basic set of skills to attack that will work out different parts of the body, like squats for your legs and an overhead press for shoulders. They have attack points so some fight the monsters faster than others.

After you defeat a monster you earn some more coins and then move on to another level.

After my first day, I had run (fast walked) nearly 4kms! That’s almost unheard of for me. I’d also pressed the Ring-Con more than 300 times, did 97 squats, 84 front presses and 73 overhead presses and the best part is, the 32 minutes had passed in a flash because I wasn't concentrating on exercising. I was concentrating on defeating Dragaux!

Post-workout (and sweaty). Image: Supplied.

On day 2, my muscles were legit sore, and I was starting to talk myself out of doing it in my head. 

But, then I thought about the challenge of the Adventure and there I was... setting up the game and getting the Ring-Con ready.

This time the Ring got some of her powers back so now I could colour code the exercises to suit the colour of the monsters I was coming up against, and able to fight them faster. I also earned new moves to add to my collection of monster fighting powers; some had a more yoga focus, bringing warrior pose into being an actual warrior. It was also leg training day, so I got more powers suited to leg workouts.

After day 2 I had run (fast walked) another 3kms and pressed the Ring-Con in a massive 796 TIMES. WOAH. I’d also done 245 knee lifts and I can tell you I barely remember doing any of the hard stuff because I was enjoying playing the game so hard.

Image: Supplied.

When I got to day 3, I was keen as mustard to boot the buff dragon to the locker room. I’m learning about the benefits of good nutrition too as my character buys smoothies to boost energy levels and gain back hearts I lose during monster battles. 

The game has a stack of side quests built-in too to keep you invested, searching for shining jewels as you smash robots with a swing of the ring, or steering a cart on a coin-collecting joyride by stretching to your right or left with the Ring-Con held high over your head.

No wonder kids love this stuff. I was hooked.

I earned a planking move in this world which I eagerly subbed into my monster-fighting repertoire.

After a few goes at it, I realised my rug on a tiled floor was not conducive to this type of movement, cue the carpet burn. It was easy enough to sub it back out again; I replaced it with a knee press that made me think of the old-school thigh master of the '90s 'As Seen on TV’ era.

As the game moves got harder I wondered if it would be easy to cheat it by simplifying my form or speed, but the game prods you to slow down or sit down lower otherwise your blows to your enemies aren’t delivered.

At the finish line on day 3, I was one step closer to taking out my gym bro Dragaux, and I’d gone over my allotted 30 minutes because I was so keen to take out every monster in the game. Me… exercising… for longer than the required time… 

It's honestly a miracle.

Okay, so maybe after three days I'm not the best of dragon-fighting fitness gurus, but I can honestly say I felt this workout in all the places from top to toes. I worked up a sweat (see actual fog in glasses as proof), increased my heart rate and thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly) enjoyed myself doing it, which for the 'exercise adverse' is something to behold.

The fog in question. Image: Supplied.

So, look out Dragaux. I'm coming for you one squat, knee lift, warrior pose and front press at a time.  

Juggling all the things and struggle to find the time to move? Check out Nintendo Switch's Ring Fit Adventure, the customisable game for full-body workout routines. It's perfect for players (and parents) of all fitness levels and schedules.

Feature Image: Supplied.