Wii Fit - Advice

Speaker

Dear PA

My wife is talking to me about wanting to get Wii Fit (she gave birth three months ago and has some weight she wants to lose). We don't currently have a Wii, so it's a chunk of change to get all set up.

I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on its effectiveness as excercise and/or ideas about how to come by it as inexpensively as possible.

histronic

As far as effectiveness goes, I have one and I can say it works pretty well. It has a wide variety of exercises that you can do in your own living room that range in difficulty, but with practice are all easily doable. The other nice thing about it is it tracks your progress and lets you set goals for how much weight you want to lose or gain within whatever time period you set, and then it lets you know how you are doing as far as achieving those goals. My only gripe with the current Wii Fit is that it doesn't recommend any exercises or routines as far as wanting to tone a particular part of your body or having a specific goal (i.e. losing weight or bulking up). All you do is pick the exercise you want to do and then do it with the trainer. There is a new Wii Fit Plus coming out this fall I believe though, which fixes that by providing you with routines that you can create or that the Wii Fit will pick for you to tone certain parts of your body, so you may want to wait for that one. As far as getting it for less than retail, it was hard enough just to get it (they were very rare when I got it in December, it may be a little easier now, not sure), so other than finding a used one, I don't think you're going to find any deals on it yet.

Improvolone

I've heard that EA's offering is better in terms of calories burned.

Sentry

Yeah, the EA one is significantly better, and more interesting. But, it can also use the balance board, so you could get both.

If you were only going to get one though, THIS is the one to get.

Pure Din

I have a Wii Fit, and I like all the data it keeps on keeping track of your weight and the activity log from day to day. I like doing the yoga and the balance games, but I found the strength exercises to be a bit hard to follow, and the aerobic exercises mostly repetitive or silly. (To be fair, I haven't unlocked all the exercises yet.)

I got it as a graduation present a few weeks ago, and I feel like my balance has improved, and that my abs and my back are a bit stronger. But the weight I want to lose is still here, and probably won't go away until I improve my diet.

zilo

We have both Wii Fit and EA Active. Wii Fit has been gathering dust for months- it's mostly yoga-type balance stuff and never really stresses me. EA Active is a lot more cardio stuff and the minigames are generally more fun.

You can use the Wii Fit balance board with EA Active but I haven't found much reason to other than "we already have one, may as well".

illig

from personal experience:

the wii fit won't help your wife unless she's willing to actually exercise... in general, if someone's not willing to exercise, a $350 toy will not change things

my gf bought one... and i'm the only one using it... i have to say that the balance board makes an excellent laptop stand in bed... or a place to eat lunch while fully reclined on a couch

GoodOmens

illig is right. My wife and I got it in November. Getting the Wii was her idea largely because of the Wii Fit. She used it exactly once in that time. It's a nice tool and has a decent variety of exercises, but if she's motivated to exercise there are better ways. I would also be concerned that, without an actual human there to guide you, it's easy to fall into bad habits with the exercises, leading to either lowered efficiency or increased danger of injury.

In fact, we just traded the Wii and Wii Fit in to Gamestop (yes, yes, I know...THE DEVIL) in order to get Rock Band 2 for my PS3. We figure rocking out is more fun and it's we can burn some calories that way.

Bartholamue

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

SatanIsMyMotor

I'm also one of those people that bought Wii Fit and has since gotten rid of it.

One thing nobody mentions is the fact that the peripheral itself screws with many of the exercises. For example, doing push-ups, side-planks, any number of yoga poses is screwed because your essentially doing everything off of a board on the floor.

Honestly, I think a person is better served paying $70 dollars for 8 yoga classes. If you're out of shape take a viniyoga class as they are quite low impact. If you want to tone take an Ashatanga class as they are much more difficult.

If you just want to do push ups, then do push ups or sit-ups, or whatever.

Ultimately, I think the Wii Fit is great for keeping inactive children at least some what interested in fitness. For adults however, I don't really see the value.

Monolithic_Dome

If you already had a Wii I'd say that Wii Fit is worth it just for being an accurate scale that draws you nice little graphs tracking your weight over the last few months.

But if you'd have to buy a wii anyway, You're better off looking into gym membership, treadmill or weight bench for the home, or a bicycle.

cloudeagle

Bartholamue wrote: »

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

This. I use my Wii Fit as a warmup exercise five times a week (and for the record, the balance board is so low it doesn't really interfere with pushups or yoga), but the sequel (which will be packaged with the balance board) just sounds a lot better. It'll allow you to create exercise routines that go more quickly one after the other, instead of having to choose each exercise individually as you go. Plus there's more games and such.

Then again, if a person is really serious about exercise then Wii Fit should just be a supplement to other exercises.

SatanIsMyMotor

cloudeagle wrote: »

Bartholamue wrote: »

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

This. I use my Wii Fit as a warmup exercise five times a week (and for the record, the balance board is so low it doesn't really interfere with pushups or yoga), but the sequel (which will be packaged with the balance board) just sounds a lot better. It'll allow you to create exercise routines that go more quickly one after the other, instead of having to choose each exercise individually as you go. Plus there's more games and such.

Then again, if a person is really serious about exercise then Wii Fit should just be a supplement to other exercises.

It's not that low and it absolutely interferes with going into 90% of the proper yoga postures. You're fine with most of the standing yoga postures but anything else isn't good.

For pushups and such, sure, it works. But yoga, definitely not.

Preacher

I'll second the recommendation of EA active, it does push you more than wii fit. Though I'd get a spare pack of the equipment they give you if only because the shit is cheap and not even 30 days in already breaking between my wife and myself.

Wii Fit is good for cooldown exercise/flexibility and tracking your weight. I use both of them together.

exmello

My sister has lost 45 lbs in the past 6 months with a combination of Weight Watchers and Wii Fit. I'd say it's effective. It gives gives you a lot of fun incentive to keep turning it on every day.

Dropping Loads

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

One thing nobody mentions is the fact that the peripheral itself screws with many of the exercises.

Very true!

Speaker, you mentioned your wife is looking to lose her weight from the pregnancy, but does she have any other health/fitness issues, like a bad knee or back? All this board actually measures is where your mass falls on the board, adjusted for how your feet are planted. Many of the yoga poses can cause damage if not done properly, and a 2 second video clip saying "do this" isn't enough instruction to protect your knees and back. I like the Wii Fit, but if I didn't have a Wii I'd go for yoga classes first. (As I did when I first blew out my knee, recommended by the physical therapist. It's great!)

Spherick

I suggest checking out this thread

Mr_Grinch

I've had Wii Fit for 6 months now and have used it most days throughout that time but largely only as a tool to monitor my weight and set myself a goal (which is by and large, at present, to stay the same weight).

If you're commited and want to lose weight then it's better than no exercise but it's not a substitute for going for a run or to the gym. One of the things that recently got me back in to running was the Nike+ipod combination. Slot a little device in to your shoe (or a little clip on case if you don't have nike running shoes) and it'll track how far and fast you've run and plot you a chart of where you speeded up and slowed down. It's very motivating.

The advantage of Wii Fit is that being she's just given birth she won't actually have to leave the house and can look after the kiddie (I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that she's off on maternity and you're at work during the day).

cloudeagle

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Bartholamue wrote: »

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

This. I use my Wii Fit as a warmup exercise five times a week (and for the record, the balance board is so low it doesn't really interfere with pushups or yoga), but the sequel (which will be packaged with the balance board) just sounds a lot better. It'll allow you to create exercise routines that go more quickly one after the other, instead of having to choose each exercise individually as you go. Plus there's more games and such.

Then again, if a person is really serious about exercise then Wii Fit should just be a supplement to other exercises.

It's not that low and it absolutely interferes with going into 90% of the proper yoga postures. You're fine with most of the standing yoga postures but anything else isn't good.

For pushups and such, sure, it works. But yoga, definitely not.

Well, considering that for the yoga postures you're either standing or not using the balance board at all, I'd say it's not a problem. :P

SatanIsMyMotor

cloudeagle wrote: »

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Bartholamue wrote: »

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

This. I use my Wii Fit as a warmup exercise five times a week (and for the record, the balance board is so low it doesn't really interfere with pushups or yoga), but the sequel (which will be packaged with the balance board) just sounds a lot better. It'll allow you to create exercise routines that go more quickly one after the other, instead of having to choose each exercise individually as you go. Plus there's more games and such.

Then again, if a person is really serious about exercise then Wii Fit should just be a supplement to other exercises.

It's not that low and it absolutely interferes with going into 90% of the proper yoga postures. You're fine with most of the standing yoga postures but anything else isn't good.

For pushups and such, sure, it works. But yoga, definitely not.

Well, considering that for the yoga postures you're either standing or not using the balance board at all, I'd say it's not a problem. :P

Here's a list of all of the poses. I can't remember which ones you do/don't do on the board but I'm going to indicate everyone that would be screwed via working off of a board.

* Deep Breathing
* Half-Moon
* Dance
* Cobra - this one
* Bridge - this one
* Spinal Twist
* Shoulder Stand - this one
* Warrior - this one
* Sun Salutation - this one
* Tree
* Downward Facing Dog - this one
* Standing Knee
* Palm Tree
* Chair
* Triangle - this one

TwoQuestions

The Wii Fit is a great way to keep track of your weight and exercise, but actually getting that exercise would probably be best with some other equipment. The aerobic exercises really didn't get my heart rate up at all, but the strength ones are actually kind of good.

I don't own the EA offering, so I can't comment on that. But for that kind of money, I'd rather just get a home gym and an exercise book.

Grats on the new baby!

cloudeagle

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Bartholamue wrote: »

You could always wait for that Wii Fit sequel that's coming out.

This. I use my Wii Fit as a warmup exercise five times a week (and for the record, the balance board is so low it doesn't really interfere with pushups or yoga), but the sequel (which will be packaged with the balance board) just sounds a lot better. It'll allow you to create exercise routines that go more quickly one after the other, instead of having to choose each exercise individually as you go. Plus there's more games and such.

Then again, if a person is really serious about exercise then Wii Fit should just be a supplement to other exercises.

It's not that low and it absolutely interferes with going into 90% of the proper yoga postures. You're fine with most of the standing yoga postures but anything else isn't good.

For pushups and such, sure, it works. But yoga, definitely not.

Well, considering that for the yoga postures you're either standing or not using the balance board at all, I'd say it's not a problem. :P

Here's a list of all of the poses. I can't remember which ones you do/don't do on the board but I'm going to indicate everyone that would be screwed via working off of a board.

Of the ones you listed:

* Cobra - not on the board
* Bridge - not on the board
* Shoulder Stand - not on the board
* Sun Salutation - both feet on the board, you bend to board-level
* Downward Facing Dog - both feet on the board, you bend to board-level
* Triangle - your feet are so far apart that the extra inch isn't going to make any difference

Though I should mention Wii Fit's reliance on BMI drives me nuts. I'm 6', have a 34-inch waist yet some extra muscle on me due to lifting weights, and the thing insists on calling me a fatty.

SatanIsMyMotor

How do you do downward facing dog with your feet on the board?

Also, triangle is all about the stretch in your side. If your foot is elevated it will throw the symmetry and the stretch off.

cloudeagle

SatanIsMyMotor wrote: »

How do you do downward facing dog with your feet on the board?

Also, triangle is all about the stretch in your side. If your foot is elevated it will throw the symmetry and the stretch off.

It's elevated by an inch. I've done that one every day for a year and managed to stretch well/not to injure myself.

Oh wait, I was mixing up downward facing dog. You're right, that's not on the board, but considering you're just adding in an extra inch it's not throwing things off too much. Also, I do it regularly, manage to stretch well/not injure myself, etc.

Edit: And yes, I do/have done both without the balance board too. Doesn't really make a difference.

SatanIsMyMotor

It's actually 2.1 inches. It throws where the weight is being centered off - so yes, it does affect things.

Sure, you can still do it but you aren't doing it right and in that case - what's the point?

Bartholamue

cloudeagle wrote: »

Though I should mention Wii Fit's reliance on BMI drives me nuts. I'm 6', have a 34-inch waist yet some extra muscle on me due to lifting weights, and the thing insists on calling me a fatty.

The whole thing on the BMI is that it is completely inaccurate. If you had 6% body fat and you are 200 pounds, it would still call you overweight.