Dance Dance Revolution Weight Loss Tips - DDR

Get in shape and lose weight with Dance Dance Revolution - DDR

Spending too much time on the couch watching television, surfing the web, or playing video games? Dance Dance Revolution can entertain you while helping you get fit and lose a few pounds. You can have fun playing a video game, getting in shape, and losing weight at the same time! This zone helps you learn how to play DDR and provides tips on how to get the most of at-home workouts. Even adults can learn how to go from the game's beginning stage, to its light stage, and on to its standard stage. So load the cd and get in the game!

Dance Dance Revolution settings

Once your Playstation game is hooked up to your television, or computer if using this option, insert the dance mat jack to a Playstation game controller slot. Put the Dance Dance Revolution disk in the Playstation console and  start the game. At this point, insert a memory card if you plan to use one.

Once the console configures the game from the disk, options of play appear on your television screen (monitor). When playing these workout games, you will be using the dance pad as the game controller. Therefore, using your foot, press the dancepad down arrow to the option on your television that says "Workout Mode".

Saving your game to a Playstation memory card, or to any generic card that is compatible with Playstation, allows you to preserve your settings so that you do not need to input them everytime you exercise. Saving settings in workout mode is not that vital, however, as you progress in the game, you will likely need the card. When choosing to save your settings, insert the memory card prior to starting your game play.

In the workout mode, you have options to decide which game features you want to use for your personal exercise program. My recommendation to beginning players is to choose features as follows:

Weight - Entering your weight helps the program give an accurate calorie count.

Calories Burned - This feature counts the calories as you go and displays them on the screen at the end of each song.

Goal - Choosing goal allows you to decide in advance how many calories you want to burn during each session.

Workout Step - Turn this feature off when starting out because it can cause confusion for beginners. In furtherance, turning the feature on takes away movements because these steps actually present as pauses.

Date - The current date should come up automagically and there is usually no reason to change it, however, should you think of a reason, go on and change it if you want.

Once all features are set, scroll down and press "OK?".

Once your options are set and you hit the "OK" button, you will be taken to the song wheel where you select the songs you want to workout to. You will notice in the middle left-hand side of the screen, the letters "Beg" behind a green background. This is telling you that you are about to dance in the beginning mode. Players who have used the system before might want to dance at a higher level. In this case, hit the down arrow on the mat as if you were clicking a keyboard. This will take you to "Light" mode. An additional click will take you to "Standard" and one more click will take you to "Heavy".

Once you have chosen a play level, use your foot to click the left mat arrow. Clicking the arrow turns the wheel clockwise. As the wheel turns, you will be able to read song titles, and listen to song snipets. Select a song by pressing the "X" on the mat.

NOTE: You can also turn the wheel using the right mat arrow. Using the right arrow turns the wheel counter clockwise so you can go backward if you miss the song you want.

Once you press the "X" to get going, the screen will change telling you that you have entered the 1st stage of play. You will see arrows going from the bottom to the top of the screen. You will also see dance mats similar to yours. A person will be dancing on one of the mats. He will be showing you what you are supposed to be doing with your feet.

Move your feet to the speed and rhythm of the arrows just like the character is doing. If an arrow points upward, step on the upward mat arrow. If an arrow points down, step on the downward mat arrow. Follow suit for left and right facing arrows.

Tricky arrows - Sometimes arrows appear in pairs. When this happens two arrows scroll the screen directly across from one another. One arrow may point left and the other point right, for example. When this happens, you must jump on the arrows using your left foot and your right foot at the same time. When arrows point one upward and one downward, turn your body and step on each arrow at the same time.

In light mode, arrows become trickier, for example, one arrow may point upward while another points left. Arrows will also come closer together as well as scroll on different parts of the beat.

After each song ends, you will be taken to a "Workout Results" screen where you can view your progress. This screen shows how many calories you burn for each song, and how many calories you burn in total for an entire session. The screen also shows how to relate moves you make to swimming, jogging, and jumping rope.

The top left of the workout results screen shows you your goal and how many more calories you need to burn in order to reach your goal.

Press X after examining the progress screen and choose your next song. If you want you can choose the same song again. Choosing the same song repeatedly is good in that it helps you memorize your foot movements in relation to the music.

Once you reach your session goal, the system will play a nice "DING!" so to speak and the words "Goal Attained" will appear at the top off your screen. This lets you know you can stop playing or keep going if you like. Either way, you have reached your goal and should feel good about your workout!