If that is your question, the answer isn't a simple yes or no. But you probably guessed that or this would be the shortest blog post in history.
Since the Wii Fit Plus came out just in time for the holiday season, you may still be in the swing of things, so to speak. Or, on the contrary, it may be sitting in a corner gathering dust.
Wii Fit is an exer-game for the Nintendo Wii. It offers programs for strength training, aerobics, yoga, balance and sports games performed on a small white balance board that looks similar to the scale in your bathroom.
Since its launch in 2007, Wii Fit has been selling like hotcakes, which, given the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S., is encouraging news. But just how much better is the Wii Fit than sitting on your couch and eating actual hotcakes? Well, it turns out that the amount of exercise you get from the Wii Fit is only a wee bit better than doing nothing. I'm sure Nintendo, as I write this, is still trying to develop the George Jetson virtual workout program. Remember how he'd lay in bed watching himself working out and get the benefit in his real body? That's what people really want. In the meantime we have the Wii Fit, and the Wii Fit Plus.
The exercise industry is taking this modality seriously, as 300,000 premature deaths a year are related to obesity and it's complications. Recently, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) commissioned a study using 16 participants ranging in age from 20 - 24 years old to test the efficacy of the more aerobically focused Wii Fit programs: Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Advanced Step, Super Hula Hoop and Rhythm Boxing.
The results were not stellar. According the standards set by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), none of these workouts meet the level of energy expenditure needed to maintain or improve your cardiovascular fitness. If you're curious about how many calories were burned during the study, Free Run and Island Run fared the best with an average of 5.5 calories per minute or 165 calories in 30 minutes. The real thing burns virtually double at approximately 11.8 cal/min. The others tested burned even less. Free Step burned 3.3 cal/min., Super Hula Hoop came in at 3.7 cal/min. and Rhythm Boxing at 3.8. That translates to less than one serving of pretzels, chips or 16.5 peanuts per 30-minute workout. Yeah, I did the math.
ACE surmises that the lower than normal calorie burning for these activities has to do with the mandatory instruction prior to each move. All that stopping and starting kills your cardio buzz and slows the calorie burn. This problem may be improved with the new Wii Fit Plus, whose new features include workouts that can be set to any duration in five-minute intervals up to an hour. Plus, you can now see an estimation of your calories burned during each workout.
So what's my verdict on whether to Wii or not to Wii? If you think the Wii Fit can be a cost effective replacement to a gym membership (that you use) or a real cardio machine (that you use), think again.
What I do think it's good for is easing you into making exercise a regular part of your life, if your current fitness routine is little more than looking at your local gym as you wait for your order at the In-N-Out Burger drive thru. Ironically, many people actually avoid going to the gym because they think they need to lose weight or achieve a certain level of fitness first, before walking in the door! (Head scratch.)
Another potential benefit can be the Wii Fit's balance and yoga games. Balance and flexibility are important components of anyone's fitness, not just strengthening and weight loss.
And finally, if you're looking for a fun, easy way to do more activities with your kids, the Wii Fit is a much better way to spend family time than watching American Idol or playing Final Fantasy.