Wii Fit and Me
February 24th, 2009
After many months of deliberating I finally took the plunge and decided to purchase Wii Fit. To be honest it wasn’t for Wii Fit itself, but for the Balance Board, which I wanted to combine with Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. In the end however, and perhaps to my surprise, it’s Wii Fit that has seen regular use.
I think it’s fair to say that Wii Fit has endured quite a bit of scorn and scepticism during its brief life. Quite possibly because it represents the new “casual” Nintendo, not the hardcore fan service of yesteryear. But I don’t really take offence with what they (Nintendo) are doing; they’re just tapping into a mostly untouched demographic and are fully exploiting it for all it’s worth before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. In the meantime I’ll get most of my kicks on another console - that’s my prerogative.
For the record, I don’t necessarily view Wii Fit as a game in the traditional sense, although I do think it’s challenging the boundaries of what’s conceptually acceptable as a video game. It does after all have some of the qualities present in most video games - active participation with feedback, unlockable rewards, high score tables, and a goal in the form of self improvement. However, I prefer to think of Wii Fit as something more akin to say a fitness DVD. A motivational tool that’s far more entertaining than grinding out 30 minutes on a mind numbingly dull piece of fitness apparatus. And although the benefits may be proportionally less than a specialised piece of equipment, I believe it can still find place, especially if used regularly as part of an overall training plan.
The actual exercises’ within Wii Fit are split into four distinct categories: Yoga, Muscle Workouts, Aerobic Exercises, and Balance Games. To begin with not all the exercises in each category are unlocked, but instead they are slowly revealed as the total amount of Wii Fit minutes accumulates in the piggy-bank. This not only helps promote a gradual progression, but it also serves to act as a simple reward mechanism – the more you play, the more you’ll unlock, and hence the more you’ll get out of Wii Fit. Tutorials are provided for both the Yoga and Muscle Workouts with each one clearly demonstrated and explained by your personal trainer, whom will also provide useful feedback and recommendations during the actual exercise depending upon the movement being fed back from the balance board.
I’ve found nearly all of the Yoga and Muscle Workouts to be of use. Mainly serving as complimentary exercise to the aerobic training I try to undertake in the outside world. Yoga has definitely improved my balance. I am far less shaky now when standing on one leg for example, than when I began the training. As an extra boon, an old snowboarding injury specifically related to my back and right side of my torso doesn’t feel as “tight” anymore, and it certainly doesn’t ache as much. The muscle training is far harder to judge; all I can go on is that I’m able to perform more repetitions and generally my scores have improved, but it feels like it’s having an effect.
Although I’ve given all of the Balance Games and Aerobic Training activities a go at some point, I generally don’t focus on them. The balance games can be fun, but with the exception of the slalom skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding, I found them to be of limited interest. The aerobic exercises are largely ignored, but Rhythm Boxing is good fun, and Step Aerobics can be used as a good warm up / cool down activity.
I am quite impressed with the balance board. Not only is it a solid piece of kit, but it’s surprisingly sensitive to any movement. I’m still waiting for a snowboarding game that successfully uses the balance board to augment the experience, although Shaun White is a good effort. But for the moment its soul mate does only seem to be the game it was designed for.
Eventually the novelty of using the balance board and the thrill of unlocking a new exercise wears off. At this point any continued use you’re going to get from Wii Fit is really dependant upon your discipline and your motivation – but isn’t this the case with any form of exercise? Arguably I could have attained the same results had I just done some stretching or basic muscle exercises for 20 minutes per day, but I have no doubt that without Wii Fit I would have given up on the training a number of weeks ago. For the moment, Wii Fit provides the catalyst I need to get moving.
