Two Years of Ring Fit Adventure

A fitness routine I actually stuck with

It’s been over two years since I preodered and received Ring Fit Adventure, a Nintendo Switch fitness game. As an adult, I’ve always struggled with getting into a consistent fitness routine. But Ring Fit changed all that. I’ve managed to get into better shape using this game, and more importantly, stick with it.

If you haven’t heard of it, Ring Fit Adventure (RFA) is a fitness RPG (role playing game). The main way to play is a standard save the world mission where you explore worlds by running in place and battle monsters by doing exercises like squats. You can also make custom sets of your favorite exercises, mini-games, and jogging courses if you tire of the story mode.

Meeting my goals

What I love about RFA is it doesn’t prescribe a particular fitness goal. People use RFA for a variety of reasons ranging from just getting more fit to losing weight. My own goals were to improve my stamina and posture.

My stamina has always been an issue for me. I’m what you might describe as “sickly” with a host of chronic health issues. When I started RFA I was doing some Pilates and Barre, but my stamina was still pretty poor. At first I really couldn’t do more than 10 minutes of RFA (real time, not the time in the game). Two years later, depending on where my health is, I can usually do an hour. I have met the goal my doctor wanted me to meet, which is that I can do 30 minutes sustained cardio.

My posture has definitely improved. I always tried devices that would try to “fix” your posture like I had the Lumo Lift and then got the Upright Go when that broke. But they never really worked. I suspect it was just because my core wasn’t strong enough. RFA has strengthened my core for sure, and also I think given me more flexibility in areas that were tight from being on the computer too much.

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs. Periods where I couldn’t do RFA. I’ve had to turn the difficulty down quite a lot. But I appreciate that the game doesn’t really bug you about that. During the pandemic my pilates studio closed down and the Switch has been my sole fitness since then. Weirdly I’m more in shape, probably because exercising with my Switch is fairly rewarding and instead of…