“Poor Man’s?!?” You might be saying…but at around $89, Nintendo’s Wii Fit system costs less than one session with a living breathing personal trainer. (Assuming of course, you already own the Wii system).
I had added the Wii Fit to my wish list thinking, it might be cool to try and I am seriously in need of ways to shrink my ASSets.
So hubby got it for me as a Christmas gift, and I am actually really enjoying it.
Since the balance board is essentially a scale, the first thing I wanted to know was…”CAN I HIDE MY PERSONAL INFO (as in weight and BMI) from the rest of the world?!?” My husband will never tell me his web passwords…and I will never tell him my weight.
I did a little googling, and this was a concern for a great many. The short answer is – yes. You can keep your personal info secret with password protection. Concerned as to what my “Mii” character would look like once the stats were added, I test drove it using a chubby looking character my daughter created…an imaginary friend she named “Tina.” I had considered using the Henry VIII mii my husband created, but didn’t think that would be very good for my self-esteem.
Then I did myself (and, thankfully, the Melonie Mii did not inflate like a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.)
So now I rotate between the two characters, using Tina for Yoga, and Melonie for strength and balance training.
Now that we have that most important issue out of the way – more about the system.
If you are in decent shape, than the cardio option won’t be much of a challenge for you. I broke a slight sweat during the super hula hoop game, but snoozed through the step aerobics and rhythm boxing. They have running too (my 5 year old loves the 10 minute free run option) but I just don’t like it. I prefer the treadmill…or even better a run outdoors. That’s what I have to target next…my cardio – I was doing awesome while in the BiggestLoser contest (and won, btw) but once the carrot (or in this case, the nearly $500) wasn’t dangling at the end of the stick anymore…my drive to squeeze in some running EVERYDAY NO MATTER WHAT sort of disappeared.
But back to the Wii – what I do really like is the Yoga. Once you unlock all the poses, you have a 30 minute yoga workout that hits all the areas: back, legs abs, etc. What is awesome about this system is the way the balance board displays how well you hold a pose and if you are properly aligned or not…pretty important to performing yoga correctly and reaping the benefits. However the music is rather lame, it reminds me of something you’d hear in one of those videos you’re forced to watch about employee responsibilities and rights at a crappy mall job. To bypass this, I burned a cd and play that while I workout. If you need some good ideas for yoga tunes, check out my top 10 page.
The balance games are actually quite fun, my favorites are the soccer (I scored a 500 yesterday!) and the table tilt. (You have to watch someone try this game, it is most hilarious.)
The strength training exercises are so-so. Some of them: like the plank, the push-up with side lift, and the jack knife are great and like yoga, hold you accountable for proper form and balance. A few others, like the triceps dips, don’t transfer well to the system, and I’d prefer to just do stuff like that on my own with weights.
All in all though, I’d have to say the system is a success for me. I like that it keeps track of how long I exercise (you earn credits in a “fit bank”) and chides me if I miss a day or two. Most mornings I have managed to fit in a 20-50 minute workout before Lil’ G wakes up, and that is quite the success indeed.
Melonie Johnson 