How can the Wii make you fit?

Rodale, a health and wellness company had this great article on how the WII could get you in better shape. No surprise here but just as any other kind of exercise it comes down to intensity and consistency.

Computers make it easier to do lots of things without having to leave the house—like shopping, bill-paying, renting movies and now, with the advent of Wii Fit, going running on a tropical island. But a new study illustrates that as fun as it is, a Wii Fit exercise session may not be the workout you think it is.

Wii Fit is a software and hardware combo for Nintendo’s Wii video game system that enables users to perform fitness moves and activities on a small white balance board similar to a household body-weight scale.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse Exercise and Health Program, with support from the American Council on Exercise, recruited 16 men and women ages 20 to 24 years old to test the fitness benefits of the six most aerobically challenging Wii Fit exercise programs: Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step, and Rhythm Boxing. Before testing the Wii, the volunteers each took an exercise test on a treadmill. They were also given time to practice each of the Wii exercise activities until they felt they could do them well. On a separate day, the volunteers performed each of the activities for six minutes while their heart rates and oxygen uptakes were monitored. Afterward, the exercisers gave each activity a perceived-exertion rating.

What the researchers found was that Wii Fit exercise sessions, in general, weren’t strenuous enough to improve fitness. When played for 30 minutes, Wii Fit’s Free Run and Island Run burned an average of 165 calories—the most out of the six activities tested (Rhythm Boxing burned 114; Super Hula Hoop, 111; Advanced Step, 108; and Free Step, 99). But the intensity of even the running activities wasn’t enough to improve or even maintain cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine. And the researchers found, in all instances, the real activity (actual running and boxing and stepping) burned significantly more calories than the video-game version.

Wii Fit takes a traditionally sedentary activity and makes it active—which is good. It just doesn’t make it quite active enough. “Wii Fit can help develop and improve balance and flexibility, which are important benefits,” points out physiologist Cedric Bryant, PhD, the chief science officer for the nonprofit American Council on Exercise. “But in terms of burning calories, it doesn’t even come close to the real thing.”

That’s not a blanket condemnation, though. What the system does do is make exercise fun. “People really seem to enjoy Wii Fit activities,” adds Bryant. “And that means a lot, because we know that if you enjoy something, you’ll do it on a more regular basis.” And the system does allow you to get some exercise when there’s not another option available. “If you don’t have the option to go outside for whatever reason, the Wii will allow you to do something,” Bryant says. “And something is always better than nothing.”

If you enjoy your Wii but want a better workout, here are some suggestions:

• Try Wii Sports. In a separate study, the University of Wisconsin researchers found Wii Sports, the Wii’s suite of exercise games that includes tennis, boxing, golf, and bowling, to be more intense and better exercise than the options offered in Wii Fit. “One of the limitations of the Wii Fit is that you’re contained to a ‘balance board,’” points out Bryant. “Wii Sport allows you to move around more, which burns more calories.”
• Pump your arms. “Because your lower body is confined to the balance board in Wii Fit, you need to actively engage your upper body as much as possible,” says Bryant. “For instance, aggressively pump your arms during the runs, and you’ll intensify the workout and burn more calories.”
• Wear a weighted vest. “By having that extra mass, you can increase the calorie burn of the workout,” says Dr. Bryant. “Just be sure you don’t add more than 5 to 10 percent of your body weight with the weight of the vest; if you do, you’ll alter your mechanics and increase your risk of injury.”
• Keep Wii-ing. “A minimum calorie-burn goal per workout to maintain fitness should be 300,” says Bryant. “To do that with the Free Run and Island Run, you’d need to work out for 50 to 55 minutes—no less.”

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