2 Days with Nintendo Wii Fit: the Balance Board is life changing
Filed under: Gaming, Hands On, Nintendo Wii | By: Daniel
Posted on: April 27, 2008 | 61 Comments
It’s only been a couple of days since we posted a first look with some hands-on photos of the Nintendo Wii Fit and Balance Board, on that day I decided to spend time everyday using Wii Fit and to see just how good it was, as the Nintendo Wii needed to get some time because it was just sitting there not being used. Now only two days later I am amazed at how good Wii Fit is, it has changed everything for the Wii and not only am I using the it to keep fit, but also my wife, daughter and son.
I can tell you first hand that the Balance Board and Wii Fit is truly life changing, I not only know I am overweight and have a high BMI but I am even learning about the way I stand and how it is very wrong and bad for my health. Last night I was waiting for my brother to arrive outside his home and I realized I was standing with all my weight on one leg and I corrected this to a better posture like it shows you in Wii Fit…things are changing already.
There has been times when I go to bed feeling fat as I have eaten late, but over the last two evenings I felt great as I spent 30 minutes on the Balance Board doing some step, press ups and even some jogging on the spot which works amazingly well. Now my whole family is not only keeping fit and working towards our own goals, but we are also competing for the top place on the scoreboard for each task. Even my mother-in-law came over and used the Wii Fit, I am also sure we’re not the only family that has had its daily life changed thanks to Wii Fit….gaming and fitness is going to change many lives and save money on healthcare costs.
If you have not got Wii Fit yet, I would strongly recommend you do so, as my mind has been changed from the view that the Wii is for kids and the PS3 and 360 are the real games machines to the Wii being in another interactive league compared to the other next-gen consoles.
In Summery: Wii Fit 10/10, best £69 I have spent in a long time.
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I’m sorry but this is the point: WII FIT WILL NOT MAKE YOU FIT IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN LOUNGE. If you are an absolute no hoper couch potato, it might make you very marginally fitter but for everyone else, it is nothing but a bit of fun. People who keep maintaining on this thread that the Wii Fit is a gateway to a lifetime of fitness are talking absolute crap. You are deluding yourselves. Getting aerobically fit involves working hard, getting sweaty and - almost unavoidably - going outside or visiting some kind of gym or other fitness facility. It doesn’t involve balancing on a bit of plastic watching your Super Mario avatar do the same on TV.
Getting fit has different meanings to different people. Not everyone wants or needs to get athletically fit - but those of us that don’t exercise normally and find the Wii Fit fun to use then this is beneficial as it is better than nothing and if it’s fun then why not!!! Wii is a fun gaming toy…..Wii Fit is a fun gaming toy that HELPS you to get fit - logical!!! It doesn’t claim to get you athletically fit, but not everyone wants to get athletically fit - doctors say all we need is to get the heart rate going for 30 minutes a day - not work up a sweat! Get over it!!!
How are you going to raise your heart rate without getting a little sweaty? And what does “athletically fit” mean? Doesn’t that just mean “fit”?
This is the problem - there is now a pretty big demographic who are so sedentary that they believe that you can exercise to a level that is worth doing without actually doing anything looks like exercise. And that’s just not possible. There is no “athletically fit”. There is only “fit”.
Any other type of fit just isn’t.
@Simon Wells
Based on the amount of replies, you need to get out more yourself! Or get to work!
I don’t believe the amount of nonsense you manage you post here.
Fact: Continuous movement of the muscular system for a period of minimum 30 minutes DOES good to your body (stepping boards in aerobics, indoor training bicycles, even balancing on a silly workout mat)
WiiFit is just another method of doing that.
Apparently you just have an issue with people enjoying that kind of entertainment and getting off their behinds for a change. And maybe they even discover sports can be fun.
You should read and view the videos on:
http://ms2.nintendo-europe.com/wiifit/enGB/
There you’ll actually see the exercises!
There is already enough scientific proof that small workouts several times a day have much more effect than one big one. So no need to get all sweaty.
Besides, you said: “How are you going to raise your heart rate without getting a little sweaty?”
Ever encountered a beautiful person that made your heart beat faster? I bet you broke out in a big sweat then… Not everybody is like you.
Also your claim that you *need* to go outside your home to do any exercise is so way out of reality, ever heard of aerobics/tae-bo/fitness DVDs? No? Get a life then…
Stop bashing the WiiFit, buy one, play with it for a week and come back to tell your honest opinion.
I can’t wait for the results of the University that is currently studying the effects of the WiiFit, so I can slap you around the ears with it.
To the rest of the people who made it this far, enjoy the games, stay healthy!
Let’s get one point absolutely straight first.
You appear to be saying that you can get adequate exercise from the amount your heart rate increases if you look at someone you fancy?
So, having established that you have well, a highly individual interpretation of the concept of exercise, we’ll move on.
There is no “scientific proof” anywhere to suggest that you can get to even a minimum level of fitness without doing the kind of exercise that makes 90 per cent of the population perspire. I’m curious as to what kind of “exercise” you believe can be done without getting at least a little bit of a glow up.
Exercise is exactly that. Wii Fit provides an absolute minimal level workput that might be suitable for someone who is clinically obese or old and inactive. Anyone else who uses it under the impression that they will reach a level of fitness that will have a long term impact on their health is seriously deluded.
Again, I point out that Nintendo make no fitness claims for Wii at all and certainly none of the kind that are being seen in this thread. The most dynamic word they employ in their own marketing material is “active” and “fun”. That’s fine. I’ve looked at the videos and Wii Fit looks active and fun to me. What it doesn’t look like is anything like even the most stress-free workout.
“Stay healthy”. Puh-lease.
jesus
@ Simon:
I did not claim that looking at someone and get an increased heart rate is exercise. I claimed that you can have an increase in heart rate without getting sweaty. Ripping things out of context and/or poor reading seems to be a familiar issue to you?
On the reading matter, fitness is not only exercise, it includes also healthy eating and proper sleeping.
Interesting article about fitness:
http://www.answers.com/topic/fitness?cat=health
So, IMHO WiiFit is indeed the gateway to a fitter lifestyle. But like with any other fitness aid, you need to do more than just that. Nothing does a miracle for your body, you need to do it yourself.
Simon Wells: Get off and get a life!!!!!!!! Open your mind and see the world around you, your opinions aren’t the be all and end all like you seem to be making out they are! Get over yourself!
Your comment suggesting Rhian is claiming adequate exercise can be gained by looking at someone you fancy…..no this is not what was being said so stop putting words in other people’s mouths. Because we sweat doesn’t mean we’re exercising….do you even have a sex life? Get out of here!
Wii Fit might be a gateway to a healtier lifestyle if, currently, you have trouble raising yourself from the couch. But the bottom line is that exercise is work and, especially if you have a history of not exercising, hard work. For those people, getting fit will be painful and require a lot of dedication. There is just no avoiding that.
Fat and/or unfit guys and girls who believe that balancing on a plastic mat in front of a TV can somehow circumvent that basic, painful fact are just plain wrong and the claims those people are making for Wii Fit - such as Daniel at the top of the thread who calls it “life changing” after two days of using it - are irresponsible and incorrect.
It’s funny, really. A load of couch potato gamers posting on here suddenly think they are fitness experts because Nintendo has sold them something that probably has no more fitness benefit than walking up and down a flight of stairs a couple of time. Again, Nintendo makes no such claims and, in fact, the guy who invented it keeps telling people to go outside more. Just Google.
PS You are of course right about diet, etc, also being crucial components of stayng fit.
“Have trouble getting of the couch”…..is there a need to be so sarcastic and to judge people?! You’ve got a serious chip on your shoulder Simon and obviously enjoy having a good argument. Me….I’ve got better things to do.