Nintendo Wii Fit: A New Twist to Physical Fitness - By: Jonathan Hughes

The Nintendo Wii Fit has become famous for both its popularity as a gaming system and its physical fitness benefits since its release to the public. The Nintendo Wii game system is the new cutting-edge evolution in video game playing where players utilize the remote to mimic real-life actions such as a tennis forehand stroke. The players' physical moves are then played out on the screen.

The Wii Fit is a "game" that can increase your fitness levels according to the Nintendo website. You, your friends, and your family can achieve personal goals of better health and fitness by playing Wii Fit a little every day. This game should certainly aid in the solution to America's growing obesity problem.

The Nintendo Wii Fit comes packaged with a balance board that the player utilizes to interact with the game. The Wii Fit assesses your balance when you first start the game - which is all important in your overall health, but is normally not a worry for anyone who's not a golden ager or convalescing from an injury.

And then it moves on to perform the Body Test, which is really more balance assessment, followed by the calculation of Body Mass Index (or BMI). BMI is really an imperfect measure of a person's fitness, since it measures the ratio of a person's scale weight to a person's height. For example, on the BMI scale, the following sports and fitness personalities are regarded to be Overweight or Obese:

1. Sylvester Stallone - movie star
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger - guvernator, movie star and body builder
3. Tom Brady - Star QB, New England Patriots
4. Lance Armstrong - Olympic cycling fame
5. Alex Rodriguez - Star, New York Yankees

In addition, evaluating BMI on anybody under 19 is very inexact. Nintendo has added a disclaimer that the BMI feature is meant for adults only, and not child users.

Furthermore, scale weight doesn't account for the measure of lean body mass someone is carrying. That is why body fat percentage is the best gauge when measuring one's fitness.

The game moves on to calculate a Wii Fit Age for the user based on your balance test results, actual age, etc. Once again, this is an unstable method to measure one's fitness. One that could mislead people.

The Training section of the game is separated into four sections: Yoga, Balance Games, Strength Training and Aerobics, all sections can be bought for less than the $89.95 suggested retail price for Wii Fit.

Let's analyze the Strength Training section as a good example of some of the game's flaws. The first exercise is a Single Leg Extension, which is more of an exercise in balance than a strength training exercise. Also, leg extensions do not mimic a real life function of the leg, and the leg extension machine is possibly one of the most unfavorable machines in the system's gym.

Torso twists is the next exercise, which is more of a dynamical stretch than a strength building exercise, specifically in the absence of any weighted bar or dumbbells. Next is the push-up and side plank. Both of these exercises are very popular, but they are not really for the out of shape person - they can be a bit strenuous. Many men are not capable of doing pushups with proper form, and women usually start out with the modified push-up until they have the strength to do correct form.

Jack-knifes is the next exercise, it is for people who have progressed in their training. It breaks one of the basic principles of fitness professionals around the world - never put a de-conditioned person on their back on the floor for any exercise. Finally, the game causes the user to perform lunges, which are good muscle builders.

In summary, the Nintendo Wii Fit is a game system that tries to get users to be more active, which is more than can be said for other video game manufacturers. Parents, with this game system, you can form stronger bonds with your kids as you increase your fitness levels together.

About the Author

Jonathan Hughes is an avid Nintendo Wii Fit gamer and webmaster at http://wiiwhiz.com where you can find a huge selection of video games, systems and accessories at very low prices.

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