Well, I am a little late to the blog this morning because I have sore shoulders and elbows. I owe this soreness to the time I spent at the Wii Sports Resort over the weekend. We purchased Wii for our son this Christmas and it tripped my video game circuit which, while hardwired into every little boy, often switches off after about age 16 (right around the same time the driver’s license/girls circuit switches on). Particularly, I found it viscerally gratifying to beat my video opponent mercilessly in Wii Boxing. After about 12 fights of three rounds each, I collapsed with heavy arms and a good sweat worked up, back onto the couch. Today, I am suuuuper sore. But is it really exercise? Follow over the jump for a report that answers the question.
LA-based fitness professional Jill Brown has a post up over at the Huffington Post today about some of the testing she did on the Wii Fit. Wii Fit is the game and attachments Nintendo markets as actual, physical fitness-boosting games. Keep in mind, the boxing game I played is not for Wii Fit and is not really a “fitness” game per se. Yet, I still cannot decide who endured the worse beating. Me or my video sparring partner.
Anyway, Jill Brown reports that the fitness value of Wii Fit is not commensurate with the real life fitness activities the game is designed to mimic. However, I feel like the amount of work my muscles did was significant (based on the relative level of soreness I now endure).
Read Jill Browns article, “To Wii or Not to Wii” at Huffpo and then share your Wii experiences in the comments.
Well, I am a little late to the blog this morning because I have sore shoulders and elbows. I owe this soreness to the time I spent at the Wii Sports Resort over the weekend. We purchased Wii for our son this Christmas and it tripped my video game circuit which, while hardwired into every little boy, often switches off after about age 16 (right around the same time the driver’s license/girls circuit switches on). Particularly, I found it viscerally gratifying to beat my video opponent mercilessly in Wii Boxing. After about 12 fights of three rounds each, I collapsed with heavy arms and a good sweat worked up, back onto the couch. Today, I am suuuuper sore. But is it really exercise? Follow over the jump for a report that answers the question.
LA-based fitness professional Jill Brown has a post up over at the Huffington Post today about some of the testing she did on the Wii Fit. Wii Fit is the game and attachments Nintendo markets as actual, physical fitness-boosting games. Keep in mind, the boxing game I played is not for Wii Fit and is not really a “fitness” game per se. Yet, I still cannot decide who endured the worse beating. Me or my video sparring partner.
Anyway, Jill Brown reports that the fitness value of Wii Fit is not commensurate with the real life fitness activities the game is designed to mimic. However, I feel like the amount of work my muscles did was significant (based on the relative level of soreness I now endure).
Read Jill Browns article, “To Wii or Not to Wii” at Huffpo and then share your Wii experiences in the comments. 2 Responses to “Wii Fit. For Real?”
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I think my favorite is the bowling, as it really feels pretty real in regards to controlling the ball.
I have also used the Wii Balance Board, which I am sure is not the right name, and played a few games like skiing and skating. Those were pretty strenuous on the legs and I did feel tired afterwards, as I did with the boxing.
I think where the Wii really shines is for rehabilitation. As you pointed out, even though Wii boxing isn’t the same as real boxing, it still requires a decent amount of effort. This makes it a nice and fun way to preform some aerobic and light exercises for those who are recovering from an injury or other medical condition.
I also love the bowling one, but it’s so fake! I’ve only gone bowling once before in my life before playing the wii game…I kept getting almost perfect scores on the video game, and when I went to a real bowling alley after that I was shocked to learn that I actually SUCK at the real thing lol.
So yes, the game is addicting…but a) it is nothing like the techniques you need for the real thing and b) it won’t help you get fit!