Wii Fit

Product Details

Have fun while you get fit

The Wii Balance Board. View larger.

Calculate your BMI and Wii Fit age. View larger.

Enjoy a wide variety of mini-games. View larger.

Follow your own personal trainer. View larger.

Track your progress against friends. View larger.

The Wii Fit Balance Board
The primary tenet of Wii Fit is balance. Your center of balance, the point between your left and right sides when you stand upright, has a lot to do with your health. Those without an even center of balance will be unnaturally compensating for this imbalance, which causes their posture to become misaligned, increasing the possibility of putting unnecessary strain on their bodies. This is where the Wii Balance Board comes in.

Similar in appearance to a step aerobics board, the Wii Balance Board is much, much more. Easily capable of supporting weights up to a maximum of 300 pounds, it is sturdy and precise, able to measure weight and register pressure accurately when placed on a variety of flat surfaces. This advanced level of sensitivity allows for both the wide range of activities found in the Wii Fit software as well as the board's amazing ability recognize individual players by their weight alone.

Getting Started: Create a Profile
Before you jump into doing exercises and activities, youll start by creating a profile. This is done easily and intuitively by simply choosing a Mii, entering your height and age information, and doing a few quick tests that will serve as a baseline for your new Wii fitness regimen. These tests are:

• BMI Check: BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that is the standard used by agencies such as the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Health. To check your BMI, youll enter your height then stand on the Wii Balance Board and let it read your weight.
• Wii Fit Age: After youve checked your BMI, youll do a basic balance test and find out your current Wii Fit Age. This basic balance test measures how well you can control your left and right balance. Based on the results, youll be assigned a Wii Fit Age.

Four Categories of Fun
Once you have created your profile it's time to have some fun. Wii Fit features four main categories of exercises to choose from: Strength Training, Aerobics, Yoga and Balance Games. Wii Fit will guide you through the first three with the help of your own virtual personal trainer, while the balance games offer variety and fun to help keep you engaged and excited about your fitness goals. In addition, as you spend time exercising, youll earn Fit Credits that unlock additional exercises and activities within your favorite categories that will allow you to continue to push yourself. See more detail on the four categories below:

• Strength Training: Put your strength to the test with muscle-toning exercises like Single Leg Extension, Sideways Leg Lift, Arm and Leg Lift, Single-Arm Stand, Torso Twists, Rowing Squat, Single Leg Twist, Lunge, Push-Up and Side Plank, Jackknife, Plank and Tricep Extension. Challenges include Push-Up Challenge, Plank Challenge and Jackknife Challenge.
• Aerobics: Get your heart pumping with fun, interactive Aerobic exercises like Hula Hoop, Basic Step, Basic Run, Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step, 2-P Run, Rhythm Boxing, Free Step and Free Run.
• Yoga: Work on your balance and flexibility with Yoga poses and activities like Deep Breathing, Half-Moon, Dance, Cobra, Bridge, Spinal Twist, Shoulder Stand, Warrior, Tree, Sun Salutation, Standing Knee, Palm Tree, Chair, Triangle and Downward-Facing Dog.
• Balance Games: Get into the action with fun, balanced-based games like Soccer Heading, Ski Slalom, Ski Jump, Table Tilt, Tightrope Walk, Balance Bubble, Penguin Slide, Snowboard Slalom and Lotus Focus.

Keep Track of Your Progress
Because keeping fit is an ongoing process, Wii Fit also tracks the activities you do the most and puts them into your Favorites category. With this information players can note exercises and activities that they are strong in, as well as others that may need to improve at. Some of the ways players can use this information for are to:

• Keep tabs on your daily progress with easy-to-understand graphs and charts. Using your personal profile, you can set goals, view a graph of your BMI results over time, see how many Fit Credits youve earned, check your Wii Fit Age and even enter exercise time youve done outside of Wii Fit. Its all about coming back and exercising a little every day, and the personal profile makes tracking your daily progress simple and easy.
• Quickly check your Wii Fit Age and BMI without even putting the game in the console by going directly to the Wii Fit Channel.
• Allow up to eight family members can create their own profiles in Wii Fit. On the profile-selection screen, everyone in the family can see each others recent BMI progress and Fit Credit total. This will allow families to have a friendly competition to exercise and get fit.

Product Reviews

(3 stars) - Thumbs up, thumbs down
Pros:
* FUN workout! Time just flies as you play.
* You can keep switching it up to keep it from getting boring.
* Terrific for people with balance problems - daily results show improvement.
* Easy to see if you're on target for your goals.
* You can customize daily yoga/strength exercises that you do in a certain order every day.
* Terrific for those of us with knee injuries - you can do your entire work-out with no impact.

Cons:
* Balance board does not work well as a scale. I had bizarre fluctuations (+3 lbs in one day, +.5 lbs in first 15 min of workout, etc.) that were not the same results as my regular scale.
* Wii fit age function seems random. Having a Wii fit age of 32 one day and 68 the next with fairly similar scores makes no sense.
* Intervals in aerobic area are far too short. 2 min on average before you either replay a section or switch it up. I'd like more options - 5 min step, 5 min hula hoop, etc. And the option to program the game to go directly from basic step to hula hoop to advanced step to advanced hula hoop without stopping would be nice.
* Unless you are extremely obese, elderly, and/or out of shape, you will struggle to get an aerobic workout - very slow and easy. I am quite obese and 45 and the workouts are very easy for me.

Add a few bucks and get the Wii fit plus - not much more money and lots more to do.

So if you're just starting out a workout plan, Wii Fit can be a fun and engaging way to start. Just do your weigh-ins on a real scale and ignore the Wii results. And have fun!

(4 stars) - Fun exercises, but . . .
Although I enjoy using the Wii Fit, perhaps the most frustrating aspect is the short duration of most of the exercises, with lots of button pushing in between. Especially when you're first beginning and haven't unlocked some of the longer exercises, you can spend an hour and a half completing just 45 minutes of actual exercises. Supposedly, the Wii Fit Plus, if you already have Wii Fit or the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board, if you need the board, solves this problem for yoga and strength exercises, not aerobics.

Because I was already somewhat in shape when I started, most of the exercises do not sufficiently sustain an elevated heart rate. The free run and step programs do better, but these must be unlocked by good scores in other areas. However, for those who are just embarking on an exercise program, I cannot imagine a better tool, especially since the trainer (you can choose male or female) and the tiny Wii voice encourage the user to continue. The games keep your attention, and even the runs provide moving scenery to keep things interesting. You'll probably find, as I did, that some games are tough to figure out right away, and so, once you realize how to score well, you'll improve, and there's nothing like beating your old record.

The Wii works in two main sections, body measurement/testing and training/exercises. The measurement keeps track of your weight, records your goals, calculates BMI, graphs progress, and gives balance tests to determine your Wii Fit "age." (Expect to peel off those first "years" by figuring out what the Wii wants.) If you don't want other people in your house knowing your weight, BMI, etc., you can lock your profile and measurements using a PIN code. The exercise section is broken down into yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance games, with the Wii keeping track of your history.

The biggest advantage of Fit is the way it helps time pass quickly. Before you know it, you'll have logged in thirty minutes of exercise. Although people swear by the Fit for weight loss, you'll get quicker and more permanent results with diet changes as well. If you already have an exercise outlet or if the weather prevents you from following your usual sport, the Wii makes an excellent supplement.

-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

(5 stars) - Countless hours of fun and some fitness
This has provided many hours of fun and some fitness. After a few months it may get tired. However there is now a wii fit plus add on. If you have a wii, get the wii fit. You will not regret this purchase! Fun for everyone in the family.

(5 stars) - great party flavour
no more need to talk to guests
just put on the wii and wii fit and they are too buisy to talk :D

(4 stars) - Good fun, but room for improvement...
I have had my Wii Fit since mid-August and, I have to say, I have a lot of fun with it. For me the pros are the activity tracking, so I know if and how I have improved, as well as the selection of activities to keep me coming back. I am not a novice, but I am not a pro, neither. The Wii Fit is a good supplement to my gym membership and I can use it anytime I want, which is especially nice since I live on the rainy/windy Oregon coast and work graveyard! Unlike my gym, my Wii Fit is open 24 hours and I can stay dry!

The one thing I'm not too keen on with the Wii Fit? I'm not thrilled about how the Wii Fit does not transition from one workout to the next. It's a bit chopped up between exercises. For me that's a minor issue and I still feel like I'm getting a pretty good workout. How do I know this? My muscles tell me!

Overall, I am pretty happy with the Wii Fit and I have a great deal of fun doing it. I just would not recommend it being your only source of exercise, but it is certainly better than nothing!

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