Apocalypse scenarios are always fun to follow. The genre inspires us to rush to the cinemas to watch the latest film, the bookshop to buy the latest book, or the gaming store to play the latest game. But if I were to walk out of my office right now and find myself faced with impending doom, I’d probably hide away in a bunker somewhere and hope for the best. Enter Imaginactive, a fitness tech startup, and their Apocalypse Survival Training (AST) app that not only lets you train for said scenario, but also whips you into shape. With AST, you can enjoy the weather and get a great workout at the same time! Because sometimes, hiding just won’t cut it.
Honestly though, I get it, the gym can be daunting and you just don’t feel like going. But with the weather taking a turn for the cooler, there’s no excuse to not enjoy the great outdoors. With Imaginactive, the Apocalypse Survival Training app, you can enjoy the weather and get a great workout at the same time! Even though the storyline you follow is set in London, you can do it anywhere! All you need is an open mind, an imagination, and an appreciation for a good story. Did I mention that it was entirely crowdfunded through Kickstarter? I was lucky to get a hold of founder, Adele Kirby, mid-mayhem to ask her a few questions.
What is Imaginactive Fitness and what inspired the making of the app?
Imaginactive Fitness is my startup company, which will be fusing fitness, storytelling and geekery to make exercise epic! We’re talking known and beloved elements of popular culture storytelling (films, TV, books, comics) and using them to make something often less beloved – exercise – more accessible and enjoyable. It all came about thanks to years of my friends asking me to use my professional fitness background in conjunction with my writing and love of all thing geek, to make exercise more fun and ‘meaningful.’
Why this storyline and not, say, zombies or any other doomsday scenario?
Zombies have been done and done and done again, and done really well by Six To Start in their (highly recommended) running game ‘‘Zombies Run’’. While we have a number of future scenarios on the cards, we decided to start with an alien invasion because kaiju-style aliens are such an outstandingly versatile enemy.
They can chase you – prompting running – but they can also be moving above you and be destroying the environment around you, prompting ducking, weaving, jumping, side-stepping etc., so the running elements of the programme become more about agility than straight jogging/running interval training.
They can look like anything, sound like anything – and that’s particularly important for us as we’re an aural series – and have any kind of powers/abilities, so there’s so much you can do with them. They can be stupid or intelligent, instinctive or malevolent, there are no traditions to respect or re-make as you would have with vampires, zombies or more established enemies.
Many people are also familiar with films like King Kong, Transformers and Pacific Rim and understand the idea of being this small, fragile creature under the feet of monsters, where your physical abilities are the difference between life and death.
What do you want the people of Kuwait to know about this app?
AST will be much more economical and fun than a gym membership, especially if you don’t really know how to run your own training program. You can work out on your own, or with friends, and 2 out of every 3 episodes can be done from the comfort of your own home (the running episodes do need to be done outdoors). The exercises are mostly timed rather than rep based so you can work out at your own level – it’s suitable for a wide fitness range. And as the story is a sci-fi drama set in London, it’s also great mental escapism!
No, zombies aren’t involved, but monsters, aliens, and general unknown wrath can be just as threatening to mankind! The app won’t be released until the third quarter of 2015, but if you want to keep track of their progress visit www.imaginactive-fitness.com. It’s up to you, dear reader, to save the world, and yourself, so RUN!
