Just Dance

If you're anything like me, over the years you've joined gyms and paid for unused memberships, have expensive gym equipment acting as a clothing rack, or are waiting for the cold weather to pass, so you can go outside and exercise, but then suddenly realize it's too hot to go out.

My youngest daughter Hannah has been begging me for weeks to buy her a new Wii game, Just Dance. Just Dance is a Wii music & rhythm game where you dance to the image on the screen. It features soundtracks spanning the 80's, 90's, Disco, Rock and more, tons of party modes and a simple pick-up-and-play control.

We've all heard that we can achieve weight loss and healthy hearts with only 30-minutes a day of aerobic exercise three times a week, right? However, for those of you, like me who can't stay 10-minutes on a treadmill without getting bored, you may benefit from Just Dance. The 30-minutes goes by so fast! It gets your heart rate up, and you can feel the calories burning, just as if you were on that dreaded treadmill.

In addition to the wide range of songs, you also learn dance moves! You'll learn the dance moves to, "Who Let the Dogs Out," "Womanizer," and personal fav "Cotton Eye Joe." That one is a killer, but really, really fun. By using the Wii remote, the controller detects whether you're dancing correctly or not and gives you a grade of "Great", "Okay" and "X". I got a lot of Xs. Guess I need more practice.

Admittedly, Just Dance is like many fitness and dance games on the market. It's an exercise game that’s not called an exercise game. But, I've gotta tell you ~ I was getting a total workout and my triceps were killing me. Hey, I even learned a few dance moves for the next wedding I am invited to. The best part was that I got to spend some fun time with my kids. Well, my girls anyway. Casey gets enough exercise and thinks he already knows how to dance.