Wii sports and fit—considered a gym substitute?

Skiing, snowboarding, hula-hooping, stepping and boxing.

Who would have thought that one day we could do all of these things without skis, a snowboard, a hula hoop, or boxing gloves?

Since its release in November of 2006, the Wii gaming system has become a staple of entertainment for our generation. The system runs for around $200 and includes the game, Wii Sports.

But how often could you pick up a remote instead of heading to the gym?

Probably not often if you want to see any noticeable results, but “working out” with a Wii cannot hurt.

It does activate some muscles which may not be used other wise, and increases heart rate.

According to the Wii Healthy Web site, with about 30 minutes of play on Wii Sports, you could burn 102 calories smacking homeruns in baseball, 104 calories tossing gutter balls in bowling, and in a 45-minute golf session, you can burn 99 calories.

Many users have complained of injury, including “Wii elbow,” which has occurred on several occasions to the regular participant.

The Wii Fit is a little more engaging, and was created for the purpose of convenient exercise.

It features four categories of fitness—aerobics, strength training, yoga and balance games.

According to an article in Newsweek, these games are supposed to increase heart rate and muscle tone while developing “core” muscles.

One problem with Wii Fit is that the increase of heart rate is not sustained for a long enough time to prove effective.

I tested out the Fit myself, and found it to be a little juvenile.

The games seem to be graphically created for a much younger person than myself, which would coincide with such a gaming system.

The Wii is a “family” gaming system, created to invoke fun entertainment for all to share.

The Wii Fit requires a Wii balance board to play, which constantly takes your weight measurements, while calculating other factors, such as center balance, and weight distribution.

One balance board game that peaks my curiosity is that of the ski slalom.

The game instructs the user to maintain center balance and bend at the knees, while they rush down the mountain, in preparation to “jump off” at the end.

As they extend their knees for maximum distance and stand on their toes, they hold this position on their way down the mountain.

If you are successful in your downhill journey, your peers or “Miis” (or personalized Wii players), will cheer you on in celebration at the bottom of the heap.

The Wii Fit has a “fit bank”, which keeps tracks of the total number of minutes that you are performing the activities, rather than overall time using the game itself.

It does not add up your calories, however, making some gamers wonder the actual benefit of such a game.

If their goal is fitness, shouldn’t this be something that can be seen as well?

When the game measures you everyday, it does allow you to track your progress, and determine if you have lost any weight.

According to the Spark People Web site, when your weight is taken into consideration, you could burn 84 calories in 30 minutes while super hula-hooping, 96 calories from rhythm boxing, and 126 from free-step.

So is playing on a Wii system really worth skipping the gym?

Probably not if you are an avid athlete, or if you workout on a regular basis. However, if you don’t fit these patterns, then these games may be just what you need.

It is a small amount of athletic activity that combines fun and entertainment to a usually boring and repetitive routine.