Wii Fit for exercise?

I just began using Wii Fit in combination with my new and healthier eating habits.

I have been mixing up my 30-40 minutes on the Wii Fit by using the strength training, yoga, and aerobic exercises. Maybe I'm just out of shape, but it makes me sore in places I didn't know I could work.

Anyone else using or has used the Wii Fit?

I don't get much time to go to an actual gym, so I thought this was the perfect Christmas gift!

Original Post by tommy21pmp:

My take on Wii Fit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns

Okay, glad I'm not alone.  If it's the difference between sitting on the couch and doing wii Fit, then go for it.  If it's the difference between a workout and wii fit, you might as well sit on the couch.

i find it difficult to believe that anyone who already does "serious" workouts would replace them with the Fitt. but for those of us who don't seem to be able to make the time and/or $ for a gym...

well all i can say is that it has gotten me up off my butt on a regular basis. i'm hoping it might be like a "gateway" drug. (not that i believe in such a thing.) but maybe, just maybe i'll eventually want more. LOL

Well said satyrswoman.  They can't knock it until they tried it.  I know that in the one month of dieting I did not loose all 15 lbs just due to eating healthy and light.  I think putting a little work out routine into my day made a huge difference.  I went from no work out plan to Wii Fit and my sore body let me know that it was working.  However, once the weather warms up and my body is use to the Wii exercises I definitely intend on upping the intensity of my workout routine!

Funny you should ask. :P I am sore in my belly because I keep going back to challenge the trainer with the crunches (my Wii Fit is in Spanish so not sure what you call them in English) and my abs hurt sooo bad... I did 80 before I gave up, ugh! lol. He started messing with me after him giving up for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60.

I do the toning exercises one day, then the yoga the next today. Both for an hour. For cardio I rather use my elliptical while I watch TV. :)

I admit I do find the strenght training excercises a limited in number  But for all the doubters - a lunge is a lunge, a squat is a squat. Going to the gym is not going to make the exercises more effective.  Just more expensive and time consuming.

Any lack of results is entirely up to you.

Original Post by st_rider:

If it's the difference between sitting on the couch and doing wii Fit, then go for it. 

 Agreed.

Doing something is better than nothing. If Wii Fit gets you motivated, then that is good. Didn't want to offend anyone but if you want to learn some other workout alteratives, I would be happy to help.

Original Post by madamq:

I admit I do find the strenght training excercises a limited in number  But for all the doubters - a lunge is a lunge, a squat is a squat. Going to the gym is not going to make the exercises more effective.  Just more expensive and time consuming.

Any lack of results is entirely up to you.

 

 

Well a lunge is a lunge and a squat is a squat, and I do love my Wii.  For a while those bodyweight exercises are going to help you.  But if you want to get stronger, you are only going to be challenged for so long by your own bodyweight. 

I play on the Wii as a way of being active on the days I don't lift weights. 

Doing squats with a weighted barbell and lunges with dumbbells in each hand, or doing variations of lunges from a step are a better way for me to stay challenged and get stronger.  I do them in my spare bedroom, so I don't go to the gym either. 

The Wii Fit was a gateway machine for me.  It started me on the track I'm on and so far, with walking, periodic running (I stopped because it was hurting my knees since I'm still too heavy), strength training, Wii fit and calorie counting  I've lost about 24 lbs since October.  Not to mention I gained muscle so I don't really know how much *fat* I've lost.

But - the key is that it all literally started with the Wii Fit.  It got me thinking more along the lines of fitness and finding exercises that I liked doing instead of dreading the endless cardio.

In any case, at this point I don't use it as much since I'm doing more lifting now but I decided the other day that I would do like karozel and do Wii Fit on my off-days from lifting to keep myself active.  And I've got 12 more lbs to lose until I'm at the 199 mark, which is when I told myself I'd start running again.  The aerobic exercises don't really do much for me so I stopped when I started running, but then haven't done much since. 

I still do use it as my (only) scale, but that's been the most use it's gotten recently.  A pretty hefty price tag for a scale, but I would say it was worth every penny, if just for where it took me.

The hula hooping is definitely something to get the heart rate up, and I was thinking about building a wooden riser so I could do the step aerobics and have it be more of a workout.

I agree bdasko.  But I wonder why so many people spend so much time doubting the usefulness of the wii fit. 

Its true that it is not the forever answer and you will never need any other tool or routine again.  That is very unrealistic for ANY routine or tool.  Wii fit is just another tool, another way.  It is no more useless than a set of resistance bands or an excercise ball.  If one is serious everyone out grows the tools they start with. 

5 lbs become 10, 10 to 20.  That does not mean it is wrong to buy a 5 lbs weight.  But to expect this one tool to do it all forever is silly.

I just wish it was upgradable.  I too am ready to move on to something more challenging. 

Jullian Michaels now has a game out...which is workouts for the wii and is compatible with the balance board.

That has gotten some seriously bad reviews.  I have not seen it but the reviews are so very bad I dont think I would even consider it.  Lots of technical glitches and less of a work out than a walk around the block.

^i have that and I dont have a problem with it. Its not my fav out of all my wii excercise games. Im oblivious to things so i havnt really noticed any glitches but I can get my heart rate up some and burn like 100 cals during a few of their routines.

Madamq - I agree, I wish it was upgradeable.  I would definitely continue to use it if I could buy a more "advanced" CD with faster step, etc.  Or even some new games for the fit that are a little harder.  I like your 5lb analogy - it makes a lot of sense.

The next person to complain that Wii Fit is no good gets challenged to a Super Hula Hoop duel!!!

I like it.  No, it hasn't replaced my 5k walk/runs but it's fun and provides an opportunity for activity on my off days. 

987.

While Jillian Michaels has bad reviews, there's one that looks promising called My Fitness Coach... I don't have it, but I'd love to get that one.

Original Post by madamq:

That has gotten some seriously bad reviews.  I have not seen it but the reviews are so very bad I dont think I would even consider it.  Lots of technical glitches and less of a work out than a walk around the block.

 

I wish I had read the reviews before getting Jillian Michael's Wii game.  It's terrible.  The graphics are bad, there are only about 10 exercises, and half of them involve squats and not much else.  Some of the exercises I couldn't even get to work. 

For instance, there is one with a puching bag, and I couldn't get the character I had  made to even take a swing or kick it no matter what I did.  But the whole time I have Jillian's voice going "Geat job!". 

BAH.  I can swell/swap the game at the local game store, so maybe I can get MyFitnessCoach instead. 

Wii Fit = $140

My Gym membership at Planet Fitness = $140

Value of Wii Fit equipment = $140

Estimated value of my gym's equipment = $150,000

It's all down to opinion, if i read only certain opinions on this site then my time spent on the wii fit and my cross trainer would be apparently a MASSIVE waste of time, the fact it's helped me drop over a stone and keep it off, however, is to me at least proof otherwise.

If I could get a years membership at a gym, with no monthly dues, open 24 hours a day, and close enough i can help my son with home work while dinner is cooking, I just might get it.

Point is - not every tool is suitable for every user.  The high cost of gym memberships near me keeps me from going to the gym. 

There is also one other important fact that people seem to miss quite often.  Not every one wants to have a body that looks like a fitness models.  Most of us just want to be healthy and look decent in our clothing.

There is no need to go to a gym to be healthy.  The insistance that gyms are the only route to true physical fitness is part of the reason we have so many people who are unfit in North America.  If more people understood that fitness can be obtained with nothing more than your own body and feet, maybe a few props from home, there would be less fitness anxiety.

I dont go to the gym.  But I know for a fact that my health and fitness level do not depend on it.

In just over a month I have:

lost 2 inches off my hips and waist

lowered my blood pressure 30 points

lowered my resting heart rate 12 beats a minute

increased my endurance from 5 minutes of walking to walking endlessly

lifting 2lbs weights to 20 (we dont have the weight bench up yet...who knows how far I will take it)

from having knees so bad I could no go up stairs without pain, to running up stairs without pain or breathlessness. 

The point is, the real fitness does come from a gym or a wii fit.  It comes from hard work that can be done for free.