How does Wii Fit Work?

Question

What do you guys think about Wii Fit? Does it really work? Will it give you a challenging workout experienced? How does it work? Besides the Wii console, what other accessories would I need to buy?

Answer 1

I must say, I am very impressed with Wii Fit.  After getting it myself, I found my own physical heath actually improving.  For the most part, yes it does give you challenging workouts.  Some of the exercises seem to work less than others, but they really do work.

The way that the balance board actually works is that there are four pressure sensors, one on each corner.  They are used for measuring weight and center of balance of which is determined by the percentage of pressure that each sensor receives.  For each activity on Wii Fit, it will actually weigh you very quickly.  This is so that the balance board can accurately tell how much pressure you are applying.  This helps so that it knows if you are doing the activities correctly, such as putting the proper amount of your weight of a leg (ex. the warrior pose).

The only case that you would want to get an accessory is if you are going to be placing the balance board on a hard surface such as tile or wood.  You would want to consider getting a yoga mat for that.  There are several activities where you lie on the floor, and you don't want to strain yourself.  The game even tells you that itself when you play.  You could get the special Wii Fit yoga mat if you want, or a regular run of the mill one, although the Wii Fit one was designed with Wii Fit in mind.

Another word on game play.  It starts off with the easiest activities on the easiest levels.  As you play, other activities and difficulty levels become available to keep you challenged.  For example, the Push-up and Side Plank exercise starts off with only 6 repetitions (reps).  As you do that exercise more, it unlocks 10 and 20 reps.  Also, you can unlock three challenges: push-ups, jackknifes, and plank.  These allow you to really test yourself with no barrier of reps or time limits.

There is more than just yoga and strength exercises.  You also have aerobics and balance games which are a lot more fun oriented, but still give you excursive in their own way.

If you have any more questions that you are dying to ask, feel free to e-mail me.  Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I like Wii Fit. I have personally lost over 20 pounds since I got it in May. The degree of the workout is only equal to what you put in. For example, I use ankle weights and dumbbells to maximize my workout.

Everything you need (the Wii Fit game disc and the Balance Board) is packaged together. You dont need to buy anything else, though I recommend going somewhere cheap like Walmart and getting weights and an exercise mat.

Answer 3

It's horrible and a rip-off

No

No

You do lame activites every day for a week

Comes with the "white thing you stand on" (balance board) all you need

Answer 4

I'm quite fond of Wii Fit.  I don't have as much fun with it as some people do, but the fact that solitary indoor exercise is fun at all is quite a step up for me!

It really does work.  I had it for a week before a major injury, and the trauma ward medical staff told me the muscle I built in just that week helped mitigate the injury and speed recovery time.  I was also cycling, skating, and walking, but wii fit was the motivator there.  Its tracking system has me exercising more than usual, including outdoor activities.

When I was allowed to exercise again after the injury, Wii Fit had almost all of the exercises my doctor ordered.  That was a HUGE help!  It has bending, stretching, toe-touches, torso twists, side leg lifts, and side twists that were all required for my rehab.  In fact, it was only missing the walking!  I'm fine with walking the mall or outdoors, as that's more interesting than calisthenics anyway.

Before the injury, I didn't find the vast majority of the workouts challenging.  I think that's a plus.  The workouts are easy to follow, and while it's only light exercise it IS exercise.  A few of them are challenging, such as squats or hula-hooping as fast as you can shake your hips for ten minutes.  I'm pretty sure I could go head to head with Shakira after all that hula.

Here's how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4kN7SHeH...

That's a clip from the nintendo channel on how their balance board works.  I thought the strain gauges were pretty neat.  I only had one engineering class, but I think I can see why jumping on your balance board is a bad idea!

The consoles and balance boards are all manufactured under the direction of nintendo, and I'd be rather surprised if they sent any out that failed any quality check, so the ones you purchase at walmart should be identical to what you'd purchase anywhere else.  Only third-party accessories will differ in quality.  Those are things like yoga mats and rechargeable battery packs:  nice, but not required.  You can purchase your copy of Wii Fit (which includes the balance board) and the console itself at places like wal mart, sam's club, target,  best buy, game crazy, and game stop.  I had to make buddies with employees at game crazy and best buy in order to get consoles for myself and my parents, and I'm still waiting on a second copy of Wii Fit for my mother.  

I bribed a best buy manager with cookies.  No, I'm not kidding.  He says he feels like a drug dealer because people he doesn't even know are calling him in the middle of the night saying "Dude, I hear you're getting a shipment in . . . ."  Poor things!  I've been so lucky.  The game crazy near my house, in particular, has amazingly helpful employees who called me unprompted to say "Hey, are you looking for a wii fit?  We got one in and wanted to check with our most valued customers first before we put them on the shelves."

Making friends at a store that carries them really helps!  It's less time-consuming than checking out each store when it opens to see if they got some in.

There's no point shopping in the evening for this stuff.  Trucks come in before they open, and stores are sold out by the afternoon.

Good luck!l

Answer 5

Wii Fit comes with everything you need to play...the balance board is included.....i've heard that it really works just as long as you be honest with yourself, i.e., don't cheat