New Year, New You – The Best Switch Workout Games for 2022
How did you wake up on January 1? With an aching, hungover head or new, hopeful energy? Nothing says “New Year” like resolutions to eat less crap, get ripped, and generally become a better you. Add in that shiny new Switch that Santa brought, and you have a partner in fitness and workouts.
A lot of people think the Switch is just for Zelda, Mario Kart, Metroid, and Animal Crossing. Those are all great games, but the Switch is no slouch when it comes to fitness apps. Dancing, boxing, cardio–there’s something for everyone.
Still the Champ: Ring Fit Adventure
Released in 2019, Ring Fit Adventure‘s goal is to make you forget you’re exercising. Framing its cardio-based exercises in an RPG format, Ring Fit Adventure uses the RingCon to also challenge your muscles with some resistance and strength training. The RingCon is a quality peripheral, and Ring Fit Adventure does a good job of balancing RPG elements and fitness goals. There’s a lot of evidence that Ring Fit Adventure really works as part of a fitness program, and it’s genuinely fun.
Punch Your Way to Fitness: Knockout Home Fitness and Nintendo Fitness Boxing 2
When it comes to great boxing workouts, you can’t beat VR. Knockout Home Fitness is a great alternative. Although its graphics are on the basic side, Knockout Home Fitness isn’t just about arms, but a full-body workout and lots of cardio. Another pro is that training sessions are on the short side. That’s great news for out-of-shape gamers who can’t face the prospect of long workouts. On the downside, Knockout Home Fitness probably won’t help you develop great form. It’s level of instruction is pretty bare bones.
Alternatively, look at Nintendo Fitness Boxing (both the original and its sequel) which is a little more hardcore. You’ll also find longer workouts, a wider range of trainers, and more intensity. Like Knockout Home Fitness, Fitness Boxing looks pretty primitive (compared to most current gen games).
Getting in Shape on the Dance Floor
Dancing is a great way to burn calories and have fun. The Switch has at least two great apps to help you get your dance moves on and get fit. The first is Zumba: Burn It Up, which has great choreography, live-action instructors, and workout routines from 15-60 minutes. Zumba: Burn It Up actually looks like a current game and has options for all levels of fitness.
If you want a little more variety than Zumba-style music and dance, check out Just Dance 2022. It’s well known for being feature-rich and welcoming to new dancers. It has colorful, psychedelic visuals and great, licensed music. The downside is that a lot of the music is only available via a subscription to Just Dance Unlimited.
Pretzel Logic: Yoga Master
Along with mindfulness and meditation, yoga practice has become mainstream. While there’s probably no substitute for a live instructor, learning and practicing yoga is available on the Switch thanks to Yoga Master. Although not much of a game per se, Yoga Master has a lot of options for designing your workout, background scene, and music. Yoga has a ton of proven benefits to mental and physical health. Yoga Master definitely balances with strength and cardio-focused workouts.
Accidentally Fit
For the more sedentary among us, any game that includes movement is a step in the right direction. There are a lot of Switch games that aren’t specifically fitness products, but sneak some calorie-burning in anyway.
Mario Tennis Aces allows you to play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, or any of the other iconic characters from the Mario universe. There are some cool boss battles and a story mode helps tie everything together. And hey, you’re moving your arms in a tennis-like way. Score!
ARMS is sort of a boxing game, but really, it’s a fighting game where you have ridiculously large boxing gloves attached to spring-loaded arm extensions for all sorts of crazy fights. Colorful, fast, and a decent upper body workout disguised as a cartoon brawler.
Jump Rope Challenge is barely a game. It’s just a simple, rope-jumping cartoon bunny that counts reps with you. But it’s free.
Getting fit isn’t a mysterious process. Just eat nutritious foods in moderation and burn some calories, right? It’s simple but it’s not easy, and games can help us break through our resistance to exercise. Let us know what Switch workout games work for you!
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