Want to go skiing or snowboarding in your living room? Want to get into shape while doing yoga, aerobics or games? Want to punch out your opponent without any actual injuries? How about using the balance board as the foot pedals on a drum set? Welcome to Wii-Fit.
The basic concept behind this genius product is that the player becomes a "human joystick." Imagine an old school joystick with a square base and a stick in the center that controlled movement. Now imagine that joystick base is the Wii Balance Board and the stick that controls movement - is YOU.
As a small boy in Japan, the inventor of the Wii-Fit thought it was fun to weigh himself and keep a graph of his results. One day, he weighed a Sumo wrestler and decided he needed two scales. He looked at that and had an epiphany. Not only is the Wii Balance Board a hi-tech bathroom scale (as he calls it) but the user actually becomes a human joystick because the board also monitors the user's shifts in weight. If you lean forward or to one side, the board knows it. If you do push ups (with your hands on the board) the board knows it. It's so sensitive, that it can monitor your running in place when you jog behind it. It even knows if you are unbalanced, put a foot down or don't do things the way they should be done. This thing is amazing!
Coming this Winter will be "Wii-Music." The Wii Balance Board will serve as the drum set's foot pedals! So instead of having to buy your kids a drum set for them to practice and make your lives a vibration and noise barrage, you'll be able to equip a child with the Wii-Mote in one hand, the nunchuk in the other hand - they become the drum sticks. Genius!
Now let's talk about the software side of Wii-Fit.
Along with the balance board, you get a DVD full of games. The first thing the software will ask of you is to assign your Mii character (an avatar caricature of yourself) to your name and then weigh yourself. It measures BMI (body mass index or weight versus fat) and actual weight. Then you are asked what your goal is. For most, it's to lose weight and then decide how long to lose that certain amount of weight. This goal can be altered at any time after you start your fitness program.
So each day, you start off by weighing yourself and doing two quick balance exercises. At which point you're presented with your "Wii Age." My wife and I were horrified to see that we were in our 60's in Wii-Ages. YIKES! That shook both of us up.
So both of us embarked on a fitness odyssey within four main workout groups. There are balance games, strength training games, Yoga poses and aerobics. Within these four groups there are different exercises to perform - some of these are locked until you reach certain goals throughout your workout history.
Balance Games: These games include moving yourself on an iceberg (as a penguin) in order to catch fish, sending balls through holes on many virtual balance tables, heading soccer balls while avoiding cleats and panda bear heads coming at you, walking a tight rope hi above a large city, walking in a bubble through a maze, slalom skiing, snowboarding and my favorite, ski jumping.
Aerobic Games: These include Hula Hoop (you swivel your hips on the board and try to catch more rings tossed at you), Super Hula Hoop, three jogging games, step aerobics to music, boxing and a meditation game that infuriates my wife and me. Each of these have various levels of difficulty.
A note about the jogging games: These games are really 'jogging in place' games. There are various levels and distances to cover. You really do work up a sweat with these exercises. I don't know if anyone has seen the little Mario character hidden on each course, but that's kind of a fun thing to do. Basically, you run in place and your Mii character jogs around a beautiful island while other Mii characters (family, friends and random) run along side of you, toward you or cheer you on. Every once in a while, there are little dogs and people who trip and fall - is this supposed to be a distraction or is it a chance for the Mii lawyer characters to bring lawsuits?
Strength Games: These include push ups, crunches, leg lunges and various other physical challenges designed to build muscle.
Yoga Games: These include deep breathing, doing the "warrior pose" and many other poses that involve balance as well. While performing these Yoga poses, the player is required to keep a red dot within the yellow balance area on the screen. Some of the poses are downright hard to do. In the beginning, you might even lose your balance and fall off the board. So make sure to have enough space around you at all times.
Each of the games keeps a record of the best scores. This is smart because not only does it challenge you to beat your own records, but it makes family members get really interested in participation through competition. For instance, try as I might, I can't beat my wife's score in catching fish on the iceberg. Try as anyone might, NO ONE can beat me at ski jumping. Wooo Hoooo!
Another great factor to this product is that you choose to have a female or male trainer. This product also teaches you habits. Workout habits for sure, but it tries to teach you NOT to snack late at night and other habits that might effect your weight goals.
After a while, you will begin to see yourself losing weight. That's not anything special if you move your body, but what's unique about this product is that it makes working out fun, challenging and competitive so you're motivated to move rather than sit on a couch and play. I have to say, that my wife and I looking more fit thanks to something thought of only as a toy is now a serious good health tool.
I also found that most people step on the balance board bare-footed. It occurred to me that if anyone gets Athlete's Foot, that would be easily transmitted to the rest of the family. I would suggest buying a non-slip cover for the board. They're available on Ebay or Amazon and come in a wide variety of colors for any decor. We also keep a container of disinfectant wipes in the living room to wipe down the Wii-Motes and the balance board.
The other accessory that we got was a rechargeable battery pack. While this board is pretty smart, in that when you turn off the Wii console or exit out of the Wii-Fit game, the balance board turns itself off. However, you will go through batteries and it just makes more sense to use rechargeable batteries.
Get a Wii-Fit and have fun losing weight and having bragging rights in the Ski Jump!
One word of buying caution: It seems that this Wii-Fit is even harder to find than the Wii console itself. The vultures online snatch these products up and try to sell them for double the retail prices. DO NOT pay the $175 - $225 that Ebay sells them for. I got mine at Wal-Mart for the actual retail price of $79.00.
I should add that there's a Wii-Fit channel available for the main screen of the Wii console. This will enable you to accomplish the initial weighing and balancing exercises without having to load the DVD into the console. If you plan to do the games, you'll need to load the DVD.
Note: If you're having a tough time finding a Wii, try this website: www.wiialerts.com - they will notify you too!
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