HyperStrike - Online Personal Fitness

HyperStrike is a website offering customized workouts based on your fitness level, goals, available equipment and schedule. For $9.95 a month or $99.95 a year, you receive a full schedule of cardio and strength training workouts, access to a full database of exercises as well as fitness articles covering a variety of topics. You also have the ability to blog about your workouts and connect with other HyperStrike users. Overall, this is a great site offering ease of use and simple, effective workouts for all exercisers from beginners to elite athletes.

To begin, you choose the type of program you want - HyperStrike Lean, Fitness or Performance. The differences between these programs are the type of workouts and how they're scheduled- for the Lean program, you get 2 strength workouts and 4 cardio workouts. For the Fitness Program you get 3 strength and 2 cardio workouts and for the Performance Program, you get 4 strength and 2 cardio workouts although you can always add or delete workouts to your heart's content.

One interesting aspect is that each program includes six different phases, lasting for 15 workouts, that focus on different areas. For example, in the Lean Program, the strength phases are divided into Lift Off, Stretch & Sculpt, Strengthen, Define & Tone, Build Stamina and Refresh & Renew. Each phase involves different exercises as well as different sets, reps and intensity levels.

After choosing a program, you fill out a standard medical history followed by your available equipment, schedule, fitness level and workout history. Within minutes a workout schedule is created for you and listed on a calendar along with a chart of your exercises detailing sets, reps and necessary equipment. To view the exercise you can click on the thumbnail picture and be taken to a video demo of the move along with a complete description. The video demos are probably the best part of the site, showing a virtual exerciser (sans skin) moving slowly through the movement. The muscles worked are highlighted during each move so you can see exactly which muscles you're working.

The workouts include cardio and strength training, always scheduled on different days, and include a warm up, the workout and a flexibility segment. The cardio section is one of the weak areas of HyperStrike, only including running and the elliptical trainer for cardio exercises, although they plan on adding more over time. Currently, there's no way to enter your own workout if you choose a different activity, but there are other cardio moves included for people who have no equipment (such as hops, lateral jumps, etc.).

The strength training workouts include a variety of exercises and are organized in a pattern focusing on tougher, compound moves at the beginning of the workout and moving to lower intensity moves towards the end. You can also access the Exercise Lab at any time to view a database of all the exercises available. There's a huge variety of moves involving everything from machines and free weights to bands, balls and even foam rollers. The database also contains a number of high energy functional moves like lunges with rotations, plyometric jumps and lateral shuffles which are great for athletes or people who want something a little different. The flexibility exercises include standard stretches along with some great, relaxing stretches on the ball.

Each time you view an exercise you'll see:

• A 3-D animated demo
• The number of reps and sets
• A full description of the exercise
• Tips on form
• Equipment needed
• Muscles worked
• Purposes of the exercise

This is especially nice for beginners or people unfamiliar with strength training exercises.

Though the workouts are created for you, you do have some control over them. Some of the things you can do include:

• Swapping out exercises. To choose a differen move, you simply click on the 'swap' button and you'll get a list of similar exercises
• Moving or deleting a workout.
• Logging your workouts. To log a workout, you click the 'Report Results' button where you have the option to log the workout as-is or change any reps or sets.
• Changing the type of workout. If you'd rather have a different workout, you can change from cardio to strength training or vice versa at any time.
• Printing your workout. You can print with pictures and descriptions or just a list of the exercises with reps and sets.
• Sending the workout to your mobile device. This works with Windows Media devices and there are full instructions on the site for how to download your workouts.

HyperStrike is an excellent choice for anyone interested in online workouts and want a site that's straightforward and easy to use. It's also good for any level of fitness, from beginner to advanced as well as for a variety of goals. Some of the highlights:

• The video demonstrations and descriptions are excellent
• You have some control over the workout with the ability to swap exercises, change your weekly schedule or even change programs
• The workouts are interesting and are customized according to the equipment you have available
• The site is very easy to use and you'll receive your workout schedule in minutes
• The price is very reasonable

The only real drawbacks are, first, the lack of cardio exercises available in the database and, second, the inability to add in your own exercises if they aren't in the database or the workout. It would be nice to have some blank boxes or even a notes section where you could record any other exercises you included in your workout. It would also be nice to be able to schedule cardio and strength workouts on the same day if you're short on time or have a schedule change, but you can always do the workouts together and log them separately.

These minor inconveniences don't take much away from the HyperStrike experience. This is a great choice if you want simple and effective online workouts.