GoTrybe

I've had fitness on my mind over the past few months. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it's finally spring, which means warm weather (yay!), more time spent outside, and, well let's face it, shorts and swimsuits. (The latter may make you happy or unhappy ;) ) Another reason that actually relates to my first one, is that this is the time of year where I have to face the results of my winter eating and exercise habits, good or bad. My final reason is that I seem to have been reviewing quite a few resources on this subject.

Now, here I am to tell you about one of these resources that my family has had the privilege of trying out.

GoTrybe is an online fitness program created for kids in kindergarten and up that also includes daily nutrition, wellness, and general motivational information through the use of video clips, quizzes, and more. When your child signs up, they will be assigned to a class, which is grouped according to age. We were in the zoodoos, which includes kids k-2nd grade. Now comes the fun part- creating an avatar to represent your child. They'll have a blast customizing it any way they want, including crazy hairstyles and accessories, even pets. My girls love this part, and actually change their avatar's complete look at least twice a week :) Now this is fun, but of course the main idea is the actual fitness aspect of the program, so let's talk about the way it works.

One of the best ways to get and keep kids interested in exercise and all around fitness is to make it fun. GoTrybe does a very nice job here. Each level has a variety of mini exercise routines to choose from, divided into warm up's, cardio, strength, and flexibility, with a length of roughly 5 minutes each. All you need to do is choose which ones you want to do, and get going! If you have 30-45 minutes, go for it. If you only have 15 minutes, that's okay too. I really like that part of the program, because each clip is short, you may customize it to accomodate any schedule. So we did more on the days that we had more time, and then did only 20 minutes on others. Next question, what are the activities like?

Okay, I mentioned that we were in the zoodoos group, so there are several different instructors that teach the classes, depending on which section that's being taught- warm up, cardio, flexilbility, etc.. Each exercise clip features the teacher, along with one or more children (that always seems to help keep the appeal with kids it would seem, at least it does with my own). The class begins, and the "Trybal Athlete" as they are called, leads us. The workouts are fun and kid friendly. I should mention that before you begin, you get to choose each workout by clicking on a small image of the clip and "dragging it to the appropriate section (warm up, cardio, etc.). When you have finished your selections, click on 'begin the workout', and start exercising!
Each workout features fun dance moves, relay races, 'tag' types of games that feature animals and sea creatures, colors and shapes. I have to say, they really get your heart pumping! The first few times that my daughters worked out, they slept really well that night!

So, it's a fun way to work out, but GoTrybe doesn't end it there. I briefly talked earlier about several components that make up this entire program, and I want to touch on them again for a second. Under the daily activity heading are the titles fitness, motivation, nutrition, and wellness. For each section that is completed each day, your little health nut receives points. The motivation, nutrition, and wellness sections include a true/false quiz, video clip, and other health information. They are short (a minute or two), and change daily, so these may only be completed once a day. Do as much of the actual exercise as you and your family like though, because the more you do, the more points will accumulate! What do you do with all of those points? Well, they may be spent fixing up your avatar with fun clothes, accessories, pets. I was a little surprised how much that motivated my kids to complete each section, but wow, does it ever! The points also serve as a way to rank your progress against other "trybers", and earn you badges as well.

What does our family think of GoTrybe? I have to be honest, I have been pleasantly surprised at the level of enthusiasm that the girls have shown for this program. They LOVE it! They request it daily. The avatar has them truly motivated. The fun games and dance moves delight them, and these are kids that will sit on the couch and just WATCH me exercise under normal circumstances. So, I would say that as far as our family is concerned, GoTrybe is a resource worth checking out.

A few details to mention...

This program also has a social network side of it involved. You may invite other "Trybers" to be your "friend", and send messages and shout outs. We did not use these parts of the program. Our kids are on the younger side, and the other features were enough to encourage them to keep going, and this is purely optional, so you can decide if you want to access that part of GoTrybe.

Now the pricing...

Give GoTrybe a try for a few weeks for free using the GETFIT promotional code on their site. If you find that this program is a good fit for your family, you may purchase a year's subscription for $19.95.

There you have it. You have nothing to lose (except some extra weight perhaps ;) )by taking advantage of the free trial period, so why not head over to their site and sign up today?

**I received free access to the GoTrybe fitness program in exchange for my honest review of it, with no additional compensation.

GoTrybe

http://www.gotrybe.com/

Ages: K and up

Price: free trial period, purchase a year's subscription for $19.95

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