In short, the Nintendo Wii Fit is the one Christmas present that the whole family is still fighting over. The Specifics
The Nintendo Wii Fit comes with centered around the new balance board, a good looking yet sturdy board which features several scales that can detect even the smallest changes in weight and pressure while you’re on top of it. It’s a sturdy board that weight about 9 lbs. and connects to the Wii wirelessly just like the Wii Remotes. It takes 4 AA batteries which are included.
The board is rated up to 330lbs (150kg) max weight. It has 4 rubber feet to help prevent it from slipping on smooth surfaces (and even comes with four extra feet that can be used to raise your balance board higher should you have thick carpet on your floors). The game itself is made up of 40 or so different games and activities. They are broken up into Yoga, Strength Exercises, Balance Games, and Aerobics.
Getting Started
So you put in the game just as you do any other Wii game and turn on your Wii Balance Board. The first thing it asks you to do is to ‘register’ yourself as a user. So you pick your Mii character and it asks the general questions. How tall are you, when’s your birthday, etc.
It then weighs you and comes up with your BMI (Body Mass Index). I think this is about the only questionable thing about the Nintendo Wii Fitthat I’ve found so far. The game doesn’t account for different body builds or more importantly muscle mass. I can just imagine someone like an MMA fighter getting on the Wii board and it telling him that he’s obese. You would probably have to purchase another board since I’m sure he would crush it. Those guys are heavy, but far from overweight. Almost everyone in my family was correctly labeled and it didn’t pose a problem, but I can see where it could get ‘way’ wrong. Basically if you are a big body builder and have very low body fat and a lot of muscle mass, Nintendo will count all that as fat, which could be an issue, especially for the hardware.
I think this might be a great feature in future releases. To allow you to choose a particular build, or even enter a BMI or body fat percentage that you received from a physician.
The game then takes you through a few balance activities to see where you currently stand, no pun intended, and then gives you a ‘Wii Fit Age’. You can get a new ‘Wii Fit Age’ only once per day, but you can practice these balance games through the interface.
After this, it will adjust your Mii to fit your BMI. This is not pleasant for someone that receives an overweight or obese BMI. This can serve as inspiration enough to take a few extra pounds off.
You will have to pick your trainer, which is basically either a male or female. This whole process takes 15-20 minutes to complete for each user. You can then click on your Mii and continue into the game.
What do I do now?
After entering the game you will have a few (3) exercises in each section available. You can start and your trainer will show you a brief demonstration and then allow you to try. It keeps a running top 10 of the best scores out of all the users. Again, another great motivational tool! Everyone wants to beat each other on the top 10 lists.
After completing specific exercises and/or games in each section you will unlock longer sessions and sometimes new exercises. You can unlock up to 15 yoga poses and 15 muscle-toning moves to use. Your trainer will be there training with you through all of these exercises and will offer praise and/or criticism depending on your performance.
There are 18 different games in the aerobic and balance sections. This is the fun stuff! You have everything from hula hooping, boxing, step aerobics, jogging, skiing, and even snowboarding. I love these, because the kids have just as much of a chance to master these as the adults. It is a true competition between everyone in my house.
My Experience
Just for clarification, we had been eyeing this for a while since we have owned a Wii for a little over a year. We decided that it would be a great family gift for Christmas.
My wife underwent back surgery for degenerative discs last May. She has always been a very small lady, even after 5 children. This caused her to put on a little weight, which made her sad, and also didn’t help with the rehab, carrying around extra pounds on the newly healing back. I think she was the most excited about this gift.
I can tell you that she has since stopped going to rehab and is solely on the Nintendo Wii Fit rehab plan. When she went to rehab her muscles would stay pretty loose throughout about half the day and then she would be in pretty bad pain. Since the Nintendo Wii Fit, she puts in 30 minutes in the morning and is able to keep her muscles loose all day. This has increased her activity levels and allows her to follow her progress on the Wii. She primarily uses the Yoga and the hula hoop activity on the game. It has honestly been a life saver for her.
She’s lost 20 pounds in less than a month of using it. Mainly because she’s able to keep her muscles loose throughout the day and increase her normal activities.
In Conclusion
I don't think Nintendo Wii Fit is the greatest workout tool by any means. I think Nintendo could have easily fixed the BMI issue with a little forethought. Some of the challenges are a lot more fun and healthier than others. Some of the exercises don’t even use the Wii Balance board. You will use the Wii remote with a lot of the exercises like running, etc. This does allow for cheating, like sitting on the couch with your feet up while you bounce the remote up and down. I don’t know why anyone would want to do that, but it can be done.
Even with these issues, Nintendo Wii Fit is a great tool when we need a little help getting back into shape. It is probably the most interactive way to get your body moving again. And I guarantee you, if you really want to lose weight with Nintendo Wii Fit, you can do it, just as you can build and tone muscle. It’s really awesome that a “game” has finally crossed that line and became interactive enough that we beg our kids to play it.
Pair of boxing gloves Wii remote holder workout belt 2 soft grip 2 lbs dumbells Travel bag to carry Balance Board & accessories, Platforms: Nintendo W...More at Amazon
Features: Includes 1 pair of textured foot socks Rechargeable Battery Pack & USB charging cable Jeli Sleeve Fitness Mat and Travel Bag. Product Fe...More at Newegg.com
This impressive bundle supplies five essential items for your Wii Fit. You'll receive a travel bag, a fitness mat, one pair of textured foot socks, a ...More at Best Buy ®
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