How to get fit with PlayStation

Follow our six-step workout plan and let PlayStation 3 games like Move Fitness and DanceStar Party help you stay in shape.

Step 1: Get motivated

Whether it's that New Year's resolution made in haste or a balmy summer's evening putting you off going to the gym, those crucial first steps in a new fitness quest can often be the hardest. Thankfully, one game on PS3 has the answer: Get Fit with Mel B.

Scary Spice turns into the ultimate helping hand as she guides you through 199 individual exercises and 140 exclusive healthy recipes, all of which can be combined to provide the perfect tailor-made fitness programme. And thanks to PlayStation Move and the PlayStation Eye camera, you'll feel like you're training right alongside Mel as she offers you advice unique to your training style.

Step 2: Plan your routine

Push yourself to extremes you never thought possible with EA SPORTS Active 2, the physical workout on PS3 that provides you with the best support network around: your fellow fitness fans.

Over 70 specialised exercises – including squats, skipping and techniques from boxing and football – are backed up by advice from other users via PlayStation Network. As the only fitness game to include the Heart Rate Monitor peripheral, you'll have a remarkably accurate picture of your condition and the support of your friends to help improve it.  

Step 3: Feel the burn

Burn calories, tone up and sharpen your sense of rhythm thanks to the Latin dance routines of Zumba Fitness on PS3. Place the PlayStation Move motion controller in the special belt supplied with the game and dance in time to some of the most sizzling beats around.

Follow the on-screen dancer to fill your energy meter and ramp up the game's intensity. With the extreme Zumbathon mode, your own Workout Calendar and 30 Zumba routines encompassing everything from meringue to calypso, there's something here give your exercise plan a truly international twist.

Step 4: Pain is gain

UFC Personal Trainer provides the ultimate test to those serious about getting fit. Specialised techniques and routines developed by mixed martial arts training experts will help you build strength, maximise endurance and watch the calories fall away.

Get fighting fit using the methods favoured by real UFC fighters. Moves from wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai and more are designed to develop specific muscle groups, while an MMA trainer is on hand to give you the right advice for your goals. Then, to put your training to the test, the Hit the Mitts mode lets you take on UFC fighters or friends in explosive drills.

Step 5: Beat the stress

Prepare to tone those muscles and work towards a happier, healthier you in Move Fitness. It's packed with over 25 single exercises and a variety of energetic workouts to get you into shape.

Whether you want to perfect punching combos, shoot basketball hoops or play dodgeball, Move Fitness will help you get fit and beat stress in your very own virtual gym. Your own personal trainer will be on hand to make sure you hit every target with the pinpoint precision of PlayStation Move.  

Step 6: Relax and unwind

After a gruelling workout session, what better way is there to kick back than with a party? Better still, DanceStar Party will let you get into celebratory mood – without sacrificing all your hard work.

Pump up the volume at the end of your training routine and learn some of the hottest dance moves around using PlayStation Move and the PlayStation Eye camera. Then, you can check out your own fancy footwork in a series of dazzling video playbacks and let your hair down without losing focus.

Use these helpful fitness games as the spur to get off your couch and stay in shape with PlayStation.