Like just about every other house in the U.S., mine was filled the joyous sounds of opening a new Wii for Christmas. I haven’t played a video game since I was 12, so imagine my surprise when I was instantly drawn to the simplicity. After my husband beat me in two back-to-back tennis matches, I realized I was breaking a sweat, and a little out of breath. On my walk to the fridge to grab a glass a water, a little light bulb dinged inside my head. Could I use the Wii as a fitness tool?
Jumped on Google and found that I wasn’t the only one thinking this way. In fact,
Nintendo is thinking about it, too. And celebrities like Jessica Alba have said they’ve started supplementing their usual workout with extra Wii time. In Japan, they’ve already released the Wii Fit. This small board, temporarily named the Wii Balance Board, comes with the game Wii Fit- together they can replace your home gym (and possibly your membership).
The workouts concentrate on core strengthening via yoga, muscle stretches, aerobics, lunges, squats, dancing and more. The game will also keep track of calories burned, BMI and how your strength is increasing. It’s recommended you do about 30-45 minutes each day to get the most out of the Wii Fit.
While Wii Fit is currently only available in Japan, retailing for about $180, you can get started now. Once the kids head to school or fall asleep at night, fire up the Wii Sports. You stand to lose at least 100 calories for playing even 15 minutes.
Boxing 15 minutes ~121 calories
Tennis 25 minutes ~110 calories
Bowling 30 minutes ~104 calories
Baseball 35 minutes ~102 calories
Golf 45 minutes ~99 calories
Some reports say that serious gamers spending 12 hours a day on their video games can burn about 1800 calories.
The Wii is definitely changing the way we all look at video games and now it looks as though it might change the way our bodies look while playing them.
I was planning to get one for my son, but after reading this — I think I’ll be keeping it for myself! After all, he doesn’t need the fitness workout as much as I do.
I wrote about working out with it a few months ago and it was awesome. I also came across a site where this one kid lost 20 lbs in a few weeks. Nintendo has revolutionized home gaming.