Nintendo came out with a new “game” that is a combination of fitness and fun! We got a copy of Wii Fit last week (we pre-ordered it on Amazon.com a couple of months ago, good luck trying to find it now) and have trained with it almost every day so far. The Wii encourages more movement than other gaming consoles but Wii Fit is really the first game that is really focused on helping improve fitness. It comes with a balance board that is able to measure weight and balance and it helps the system to track progress to a personal goal. The board is very sensitive and works well. There are yoga poses, strength training, aerobic activities, and balance games. I have never had any exposure to yoga before but after doing a few of the poses on Wii Fit I think it will help me with strength, flexibility and balance. The strength training exercises are fairly basic but well rounded. The aerobic activities don’t replace going for a run or something like that but they are able to get the heart rate up and get you to sweat. The balance games are the most fun and make me a lot more aware of how I stand and balance my body.

The only thing I wish Wii Fit did differently was guide and suggest the activities that I should be doing. It does a little bit of recommending about what activities go well together but very little to try and suggest what I should work on. It does a pretty good job of knowing how well I am doing with individual exercises and sometimes provides tips on how to improve. It also rates how well I did on an individual exercise and after a few good attempts it allows me to do the exercise faster, longer, or more.

I think Wii Fit is something just about everyone could notice a benefit from. Someone that actively trains and exercises may find some of the exercises on Wii Fit to be too easy and basic. The other nice thing about Wii Fit is that it is just so easy to do, don’t have to go to the hassle of driving to the gym, finding equipment to work out on or any of that. Plus it makes exercise fun!