Wii Fit: Nice light workouts, focused on balance control
Written: Jun 17 '08 (Updated Jun 29 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: Nice variety of activities, gets harder the more you play
Cons: Expensive, requires floor space, not a strenuous workout, not enough activities
The Bottom Line: Provides a good range of light exercises and games, mostly focusing on balance. Good supplement to Wii Sports (although boxing stinks in both games).
I'm not a serious video game player. I can sort of sympathize with how they feel violated by the Wii. I think i felt the same way in high school when celebrities started knitting. And more recently, when I saw an article about steampunk on the front page of the NY Times Arts section. It can be unpleasant to see a specific activity that you're interested in go mainstream. So, gamers, I'm sorry that I'm intruding in your world, and I apologize ahead of time for writing this review with the credentials I have.
I have never owned a video game, let alone a video game console. Other than the occasional fling with online puzzles, I have never played online games. I'm also not particularly well-off. Yet I bought a Wii, and a Wii Fit, and I love them both and think they were worth the money.
Pricing and Availability
I pre-ordered the Wii Fit from Amazon, which means I paid $89.99, and received it on May 23, 2008. Fabulous way to shop! Of course, Amazon is now out of Wii Fits (don't encourage the Wii flippers by buying one for more than retail, please).
If you're looking to buy a Wii Fit, from my experience purchasing the Wii I'd recommend using a site like wiialerts.com or wiitracker.com. The first site will actually send you e-mails or text you when Wii's become available online. This works especially well if you're around a computer all day and can make a purchase quickly. I know a couple of people who had success with this method.
I'd also recommend asking at your local stores like Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. And don't forget retailers like Target and Sears -- they have them too. We actually bought our Wii from Fred Meyer. I just asked the guy in the electronics section how to best get a Wii. He told me they'd be getting a shipment in, and that I should show up at 6:30 AM to get in line. It worked perfectly: 9 people showed up that morning, and there were 11 Wii's available, so everyone got one.
The Wii -- General
We live in Oregon, so any sports that require dry ground are out of the question for at least half the year. This was what really got us interested in the Wii: the ability to play indoors. For me it was the tennis and boxing, for my husband the baseball -- we each had a particular interest. So we decided we could splurge.
We were both terrifically sore after the first day trying the Wii. It really felt like I had just played a lot of tennis. Over time, my tennis muscles developed as they never had before over the winter. I was worried that once the novelty wore off the Wii would gather dust, but we've been consistent in using it. It was especially nice during busy times like finals, when I couldn't necessarily make time for a major fitness activity but needed a quick workout.
The Wii Fit -- General
I know I was just describing the benefits of the Wii, but they also turned out to apply to the Wii Fit. And it was our experience with the Wii that convinced us to try the Wii Fit. I should also mention that my husband actually lost some weight with the Wii, and has lost more with the Wii Fit.
Although there's initial sticker shock for both the console and the balance board, you have to compare that with what you would otherwise spend joining a gym, taking yoga classes, etc. For me, spending this much on a game was a huge luxury, so it didn't happen without some spousal convincing. Having bought it, though, it is nice to have this handy diversion available in the house. The variety of activities available will keep us occupied for quite a while.
Starting Up
I probably don't need to tell you that the Wii Fit is a wireless, white balance board with an accompanying CD of fitness activities. It looks like an elevated bathmat, and, while it goes nicely with the Wii console, is not going to do a lot for your decor.
We put ours on hardwood floor, in front of our TV, which we had to elevate on some shelves to get it nearer to eye level. This is a rather important point that we hadn't thought of before: most TV's are set at eye level of a person who is sitting down, but if you're playing Wii, you want the screen to be higher. This wouldn't be such an annoyance for someone who had either a really big TV, or a dedicated, shall we say, "Wii-V." (sorry)
The balance board is absurdly easy to set up (as was the Wii, for that matter). I think my grandmother could do it.
The graphics are generally lame. They remind me of playing Super Mario Brothers in grade school. (Actually, during the running exercise, one of the people in the park is Mario.) But I didn't buy it for the graphics. They do what they have to, which is provide a visual representation of what you're doing on the balance board.
The Body Test
The first thing you do with Wii Fit is take a body test. You can use your Mii, of course. You stand on the balance board and it weighs you. We've compared our Wii weights with those from our digital scale, and found agreement within about one pound. One amusing thing (okay, I find it amusing) is how the Wii treats my husband. He's a big guy, and after his weight was measured his Mii puffed up like a balloon. Although he's kind of irked, I think it helps motivate him!
In addition to your weight and Body Mass Index, the Wii assigns you a "Wii Fit age," based on how well you perform in two short balance tests. The Wii Fit age is totally arbitrary and stupid, and not an accurate measure of anything. I base this on the fact that mine is routinely lousy. :) Really, it's almost entirely a test of your balance.
Wii Fit uses your BMI and Fit age to track your progress. Ideally, every day you would take a fit test, and the results would show you getting healthier. I think over time you could certainly see your Wii Fit age decrease, as you get better with the balance board, and improve your balance. But the Wii Fit has much less weight loss potential than Wii Sports. I get really into the sports, and move around a lot. But the Fit exercise are different.
Exercises
You only start out with a few exercise options. As you perform them, you rack up "fit credits" that unlock more advanced activities. There are four categories of exercises:
Yoga
The NY Times had several people try out the Wii Fit. One was a yoga instructor who wasn't terribly impressed. She believes there's more to yoga than just physical poses, and doesn't think the Wii does justice to it. I'm no yoga expert, but I understand this point of view. Some yoga can feel like you're just standing around, unless you have a good instructor telling you what to focus on.
The Times also got the opinion of an exercise physiologist, who was very impressed with the Wii. But she shared the concern of the yoga instructor, which was that some of the alignments were off. I noticed this in the Warrior, which has you move your knee forward past your toe. Even I know that you're not supposed to do that! But overall, the yoga was satisfactory, and some of the poses were surprisingly challenging.
Aerobics
Here's where you find activities like step, jogging and hula hoop. These may be my favorite parts of Fit, possibly because I'm much better at moving than balancing. :) There are a few problems with these games though. First, they're way too easy. I'm not in particularly great shape, but they don't challenge me. Second, you generally only go for 3-minute intervals (6 minutes for some of the advanced settings). I'm hoping that as I unlock more activities these will get harder.
One big drawback to Fit is also my problem with Sports: boxing with the nunchuck. I thought this would be my favorite thing, and would be a good way to get me back into karate. Unlike the other sports, though, boxing is not responsive to real-world movements. I've read other people's hints about how to get good scores in boxing, and they're basically descriptions of the unnatural ways you need to punch. Fit has an exercise called "rhythm boxing," which has all the drawbacks of Sports boxing. I find the only benefit to boxing is my heart rate goes up immediately because I get all angry at the controller.
Strength training
Push-ups, lunges, etc. These are kind of awkward to perform with the balance board, especially so in a smallish room like ours. I honestly have done very few of these because I don't like being down on the hardwood floor, and don't really have enough room. I wish we had a better place for the Wii! I feel like if I spent more time on these I could expect some good results.
Balance Games
These are things like the ski slalom and tightrope walk that really take advantage of the balance board. There are a few other games where you move as if you're tilting the balance board around.
I'm lousy at these. During my initial balance test, the Wii said something like, "You appear to have trouble with this. Do you often trip when you walk?" Like it was implying I might need to wear a helmet when I go outside! I'm hoping that practice will improve my core strength and balance, and I'll get better at these games.
Overall
We've really enjoyed the Wii Fit -- even tracking our weight! The tracking feature and the range of fun activities make this a good motivational exercise tool. Because the exercises are pretty slow-paced, this won't burn calories like Wii Sports can. But it appears to offer a balanced, light exercise regimen that can help anyone's overall physical fitness.
Update: 6/28/08
Having used Wii Fit for a month now, I've become a bit disenchanted. I think I've unlocked and tried every exercise and am getting a bit bored. Also, I'm really tired of having to wait for the animated balance board and my trainer to finish talking. Every time I take a body test I have to stand there and click through comments about how important it is to have good posture. If you want to know what the female trainer sounds like, just call your voicemail and listen to the woman on Valium who gives you instructions on how to leave a message. It's exactly like that, except with the Wii she's telling you how to do yoga. Not exactly a good start for some physical activity. Plus, most of the exercises are in 2 or 3 minute durations, so there's very little continuous activity.
For some reason I keep coming back to the rhythm boxing, thinking I'll enjoy it, and then invariably getting frustrated that my punches don't register. (If you don't know already, the key to doing well with Wii boxing is not to punch, but rather to flick the remote and nunchuck with your wrists, as if you're in a squealing girly fight.) I've gotten better at the balance exercises, and at the fitness tests where you have to control your center of balance. The problem is, I think this is due less to real fitness gains and more to learning how to give the Wii what it wants.
This is still a fun toy, and I do use it often. But I'm taking my rating down to three stars because it really isn't worth $90. Also, I finally got around to writing a separate (okay, mostly separate -- it repeats a little of this review) review of the Wii console, which outlines the similar disenchantment I've experienced with it.
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