Wii Fit Review (WII)

Nice work out (if you can get it)

I’ve always been relatively slim and able to eat what I like (alright, stop throwing things) but as I approach 30, the times they are a changing. Not one to give up chocolate or biscuits, I decided a bit more exercise was in order. But this is the UK after all and I’m not the type of girl to go running in the rain or any of that nonsense. So I decided to buy the Wii Fit + balance board bundle.

Firstly, that is easier said than done and you may have to be prepared to be either a) very patient or b) very vigilant in order to get one. It took me a little effort and a lot of luck to get mine but after three weeks, it arrived all brand spanking new. Very exciting.

Step one is syncing the board, which is extremely easy and then step two is setting up a user file with your chosen Mii. You enter height and age and the board weighs you and works out your BMI. You also have to do balance tests. Apparently, I have poor balance and the little character on screen asked me if I trip up quite a lot. I was quite impressed at this point, having fallen down the stairs only last week. Having received my BMI and weight, I set a goal to maintain my weight but have been working on toning up.

There are four types of exercises: Yoga, Muscle workout, Balance and Aerobic. I’ve developed a little routine of starting with Aerobic then doing Balance followed by Muscle workout and finally a little Yoga.

Now, after all this exercise, I think I deserve a biscuit…

You have a little companion who logs the time you spend on each exercise and as a rule I do it for about 30 minutes each day. The more time you spend on Wii Fit, the more exercises you open up, thus enabling you to have a more varied workout each time. Exercises include hula hoop spinning, step aerobics, jogging, ski jump, football heading, press ups, lunges and many more.

So, does it work? Really, I think it comes down to this: Wii Fit is better than no exercise at all but it would be better to do Wii Fit with other things as well (and no I don’t mean Wii Sports!). Although you can do a variety of things with the Wii Fit program I strongly feel that this should be as a compliment to additional exercise, if only so you can be sure to get some fresh air and sunshine (if you’re lucky, obviously).

However, I have noticed that I make a more conscious effort with my balance so far and also find the muscle workout exercises are really good. I’ve always struggled with those kind of exercises, so it’s nice to be able to watch the demonstration tutorials. That said, I did find that sometimes it wasn’t always easy to follow and it did take two or three attempts to figure out what I was doing for some exercises.

In terms of graphics, it’s typical Wii. Very cartoon like, good fun and bright colours. Think Wii Sports basically. Sound is OK – they have put in music for some of the exercises and a beat can be quite helpful but the sounds are nothing to write home about. Again, think Wii Sports – it’s more background noise than anything else.

So, there you have it. It’s a good motivator (being ranked as ‘Couch Potato’ will get you clicking ‘Retry’ every time) and as well as lots of fun exercises, there is a built in scale and BMI checker. What more could you ask for? Well, being able to buy one probably but when you do get it, I’m sure you’ll think it was worth the wait. Now, after all this exercise, I think I deserve a biscuit…