PART II - FINALLY A WII FOR MII

(continued from Finally a Wii for Mii)

I was beginning to doubt this purchase but continued on and entered the training mode. This mode consists of four areas : Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balance Games. You can choose either a male or female trainer. They both have a pony tail and neither one moves their mouth while they instruct you. I selected my oddly robotic, animated , ventriloquist(?) trainer who guided me through two push ups until I quit that section due to lack of upper arm strength and audience heckling.
Onward to aerobics! The hula hoop game is fun and is a good workout. Your feet have to stay planted on the balance board and rotate your hips so I can see where this could be a strain on the knees. There is a couple of running games. One can only be played with two players so I did the single player short run. Holding the controller I ran on the carpet and not on the balance board. The controller (which had come with the Wii and not the Wii Fit) has sensors or magic fairy dust that send the information to the Wii about my pace . How did it do that? I was starting to like the Wii Fit again even if it did call me obese.
Still not moving her mouth ,my trainer then guided me through some yoga poses. She demonstrated putting her right foot on her left thigh to begin the tree pose. She doesn’t suggest modification as my real life, mouth moving yoga instructor does. Barring a horrific car accident my right foot is not going to rest on my upper left thigh so I put it on my calf instead. Good enough. The Wii Fit then gives displays an on screen graph of how my balance was. The goal is to maintain your balance and keep your red dot on the screen within the large yellow circle. The graph showed maniacal red scribbles that looked like the work of a serial killer with a red Sharpie. The Wii Fit then tells me I need to work on my balance. At least it didn’t call me obese again!
The Wii Fit has a bank for each player (you can have up to ten players) that tracks the minutes played. These minutes can unlock other games and activities when enough points are accumulated. There are charts and graphs to track weight, BMI and minutes of use. I can see this being a very motivational tool.
Will I give up my gym membership now?
No way! I personally need feedback, especially when beginning a new activity. Performing an exercise correctly avoids injury but once a person has the correct form the Wii Fit can be a great supplement or diversion. Without earning the extra points to unlock additional games the forty activities on the Wii Fit are enjoyable and varied enough to keep me coming back for more.
What’s not to love? Well, there are a couple things that I wasn’t thrilled with such as each player you add must go through the lengthy set up and changing players is not simple or quick. Doing push ups with my hands on the balance board was uncomfortable but that might just take some getting used to. I was not surprised that the Wii Fit called me obese; it was a blow to the ego though. I admit it is motivating to see how much lower I can get my BMI. The biggest drawback to the Wii Fit is that the player must be barefoot on the balance board. For people with bad feet I can see this being a problem. I have heel fasciitis so I know I am going to have to be careful about how much time I spend barefoot on the balance board but I can easily change activities, put my shoes on and do the running or strength training so it is not a deal breaker.
Would I recommend the Wii Fit? Sure I would but right now I am in ‘’crush’’ mode. Everything is new and exciting. We will see if the Wii Fit holds my interest and goes into ‘’long term relationship’’ mode or if it gets relegated to the basement which is the dungeon for my dumped and damaged fitness equipment.
Stay tuned and toned!