10 Best Xbox Workout Games

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Penned by Kody Wirth

Kody is our expert Destiny 2 and shooter genre writer. He lives in Oregon.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

All cooped up at home, with nowhere to go? Try one of the best Xbox workout games. Given recent worldwide events, there’s a good chance you’ve been bingeing more movies, eating more delivery, and playing more games to keep yourself entertained lately.

But the one thing you may be missing is regular exercise. Sure, you can go on a quick run or use an app to try and stay in shape, but it doesn’t match going to the gym. And it’s certainly not as enjoyable as sitting down with your favorite game.

If you want to push yourself to stay active and just need a little incentive, why not combine your love of video games with your exercise routine? With the rise of VR and motion controls, there are plenty of options available to keep you entertained while breaking a sweat. And though the heyday of the Kinect has come and gone, there are still plenty of great titles available that took full advantage of the motion tracking technology. With many of these titles being a few years old (and with Xbox’s dedication to backward compatibility), you should have no problem finding some great exercise games without breaking the bank. 

Top 10 Best Xbox Workout Games

To help you get started with your new exercise routine, let’s dive into the 10 best Xbox exercise games. Just remember that you’ll need a Kinect for these to work correctly. 

10. Kung Fu for Kinect

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Virtual Air Guitar Company
• Release Date: May 2016

Taking a cue from old-school Kung-Fu movies, Kung Fu for Kinect throws you directly into the action. No, really ⁠— you’ll actually see yourself on screen! Punching and kicking baddies, performing super moves, and trying out new combos have never been so action-packed and immersive!

Kung Fu relishes in telling a campy story to push you through each level. The controls and motion tracking are impressively accurate, making the punching and kicking mechanics easy to replicate, but hard to master ⁠— which is good since it’s a relatively short game. 

Thankfully, the accuracy and power stats displayed at the end of each level will make you want to keep coming back for more to achieve perfection. It’s a fun and frantic movement-based game that really makes you build up a sweat, even if fitness isn’t the primary goal.

9. Fruit Ninja Kinect 2

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Hibernum Créations inc.
• Release Date: March 2015

You know what makes exercising at home that much better? Doing it with a friend. And what’s the best way to get in shape? Slicing fruit falling from the sky with your bare hands.

Combine them, and you’ve got Fruit Ninja Kinect 2! The sequel to the incredibly popular Fruit Ninja Kinect, is our pick for the one of the best Xbox exercise games. This game won’t just help you burn a few calories ⁠— it will make you think a bit too. You have to strategize on the fly to ensure you don’t let any fruit slip past your grasp while also avoiding those dangerous bombs that can end your session in an instant.

While you can play solo, it’s more fun to tap in up to 4 friends for competitive local action, or even challenge your friends online to maintain your high score. While not a traditional exercise title, Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 takes advantage of the Kinect’s camera for a simple, fun, and infinitely replayable title.

8. UFC Personal Trainer

• Platform: Xbox 360
• Developer: Heavy Iron Studios
• Release Date: June 2011

If you’re a fan of mixed martial arts and always wanted to pick up some moves, now is the perfect time to do so with UFC Personal Trainer. It literally could not be more accurate a name as the game acts as a personalized self-defense boot camp with a focus on MMA movements and techniques. 

You’re led through wrestling, kickboxing, and Muay Thai based exercises taught by actual UFC fighters and trainers (from 10 years ago). You can even match up against them, with the Kinect picking up your movements as you kick, knee, and jab your way to victory against some of the greats. 

And if jumping into mixed martial arts sounds a bit too challenging, don’t worry ⁠— there’s a training regimen for everyone. You can organize 30 and 60-day exercise plans, set a goal around weight loss, strength building, or technique improvements, and set the difficulty around your activity level. It’s truly a personalized UFC training experience for all fitness levels. 

7. The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout

• Platform: Xbox 360
• Developer: Blitz Games
• Release Date: November 2010

Video game tie-ins to popular television and movies are often a disappointment. Acting as cheap cash grabs around popular brands, they’re usually underdeveloped, filled with bugs, and barely playable. But that’s not the case with this fitness game, which genuinely echos the experience of The Biggest Loser TV show. In our opinion, it’s the best workout game for Xbox 360 Kinect.

The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout is all about personalizing your workout team and pushing you toward a goal. You can choose preset workouts from the show like Belly Buster or Boot Camp, or design your workouts specifically around your fitness needs. To assist you with this, the game takes full advantage of the Kinect sensor, giving real-time feedback and actually measuring your progress over time.

One unique feature not found in other games on this list is the additional array of recipes and diet programs. The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout truly acts as a personal trainer, working to help you overhaul your entire fitness routine and diet for potentially dramatic results. A perfect game for those that need a bit more guidance as they work regular exercise into their daily routine.

6. Nike+ Kinect Training

• Platform: Xbox 360
• Developer: Sumo Digital
• Release Date: October 2012

Nike is no stranger to interactive fitness applications. From running and fitness apps to training watches, the company is all about bringing fitness to everyone. That’s why their partnership with Xbox to produce an exclusive title for the Kinect was a natural fit. The Nike polish certainly made this an easy pick for our best Xbox fitness games roundup.

With Nike+ Kinect Training, the fitness giant took full advantage of the Kinect’s motion tracking capabilities, with spectacular results. Not only that, but the game finds an incredible balance between approachability and serious dedication. Case in point? The game starts off with an initial fitness test to benchmark your capabilities and provides a baseline to beat as you progress through workouts. 

It also sets up a unique training schedule around your capabilities and overall goals. Each workout consists of warmup, main, and cooldown activities to make sure you get the most out of each exercise and build healthy habits. Taking that idea even further, you can actively watch your form as the Kinect picks up your movements, making adjustments on the fly to reflect how the on-screen trainer executes each pose.

Perfect for athletes looking to perfect specific movements and casual gym-goers looking to break a sweat, Nike+ Kinect Training works with you and your needs. It’s a great jumping-on point for those looking to get serious about exercising and gives you an accurate idea of how all modern Nike+ apps operate.

5. Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012

• Platform: Xbox 360
• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: November 2012

Ubisoft fully embraced the concept of motion tracking, releasing multiple titles on the Kinect throughout its life cycle. While most of their games focused on entertainment and gimmicky controls, Your Shape Fitness Evolved was designed to be a personal trainer. Developed in conjunction with Men’s and Women’s Health magazine, Your Shape is like having all of your gyms workout classes rolled into one.

Featuring a diverse spread of course-like exercises, including a boot camp, dancing, and cardio boxing, it has something for everyone. And for those that don’t like sticking with a specific class when exercising, you can easily personalize your exercise routines based on your goals and current fitness level. You can even target particular muscle groups and design routines around maxing out your core, arms, legs, back, biceps, glutes, and more. 

Your Shape 2012 also features the active tracking and correction system found in Nike+ Kinect Training and the original Your Shape from a few years prior. As limited as the Kinects motion tracking technology was on the 360, this sequel found a way to track floor exercises more accurately without confusing your body with the floor. As far as last-gen fitness titles go, this is your best option in terms of accurate feedback and the number of available exercises within a single package.

4. Just Dance 2020

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: November 2019

Just Dance is one of those games that caught fire early in the lifecycle of movement-based gaming… then never went away.

While many of them are simple iterations of the previous title in the series (alongside an ever-expanding list of Billboard Top 100 hits), the 2020 edition does take some exciting steps forward.

The premise? You and up to four friends try to mimic on-screen dance moves as accurately as possible. The complexity of the dance moves entirely depends on your chosen difficulty, with more intricate and fast-paced movements present at higher levels. There’s even a kids mode that simplifies the gameplay and adds in a handful of kid-friendly songs for the young dance enthusiasts to enjoy.

While this may sound like every other Just Dance title to date, the truly exciting feature in this game is the free 12-month access to Just Dance Unlimited. This service adds an expansive library of consistently updated songs to extend the lifecycle of the game. 

Having so many songs means you don’t have to repeat the same 40 tunes and dance moves over and over again. Instead, you can make it a regular part of your workout routine without fear of High Hopes being the only song you hear every single time (a win for parents too).

3. Kinect Sports Rivals

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Rare
• Release Date: April 2014

When Microsoft bought Rare, we all thought it meant a renaissance of classic titles like Banjo-Kazooie and GoldenEye. Instead, we got a grab bag of experimental titles, with various levels of success. Kinect Sports Rivals happens to be one of the better ones and easily slipped into our best Xbox One exercise games roundup

Embracing the updated capabilities of the 2nd generation of Kinect, this title is all about placing you in the game to live out your extreme sports fantasies. It features a variety of activities, including soccer, tennis, bowling, rock climbing, archery, and jetski racing. 

Meant to be somewhat of a tech showcase, the real challenge of this game comes with making intricate and accurate movements. This means you’re balancing larger active movements with nuanced muscle transitions that turn this from a simple party game into a true exercise routine. And with the added online leaderboard system, you can challenge and compete with your friends, even when they’re offline.

2. Shape Up

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
• Release Date: November 2014

I mentioned how Ubisoft made a weirdly expansive amount of motion-based games in the mid-2010s, right? Well, this happens to be the most arcade-like of the bunch, and it’s all the better for it. Combining traditional workout mechanics with novel exercises, Shape Up is equal parts challenging and entertaining.

Instead of just boxing against an opponent, you’re punching out asteroids. Forget just dropping and pumping out 50 push-ups: do it slowly while balancing an elephant on your back. It really embraces the idea of gameifying exercise as a way to push you to play more and, in turn, exercise more. 

While it may be missing some of the conventional tracking features found in more serious workout titles, Shape Up leans into making exercise fun to encourage consistent play. It’s the perfect introduction to regular exercising for those who don’t find traditional workout routines all that appealing.

1. Zumba Fitness: World Party

• Platform: Xbox One
• Developer: Zoë Mode
• Release Date: November 2013

Zumba is a household name in the fitness industry. It takes classic dance styles and converts them into intense, rhythmic workout routines that challenge you to execute each move without letting up. Typically only available as incredibly expensive gym classes, the Zumba Fitness games are an excellent alternative for a comparable experience and is our #1 top pick for the best Xbox One workout game.

World Party works as a game for beginners and advanced dancers alike, allowing you to set the difficulty based on your fitness level. It includes 45 preset classes covering a variety of dance styles, including Bollywood, hip-hop, and Irish step. You can even set up personalized exercise routines that blend a variety of music and dance styles to mix and challenge your dance skills.

World Tour truly represents one of the best intersections of exercise routine and video game. It’s difficult enough to help you stay active and features enough in-game progression to keep you coming back for more. If you’re going to go with just one workout game, this is your best option on the Xbox. 

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