12 | Fitness | Aug/Sept 2011
CARDIO TRAINING
The Wii Fit:
Can it make you
as aerobically fit as
a real-world workout?
Does the Wii Fit live up to Nintendo’s claim that
daily use can lead to improved health and fitness?
Christian Finn puts it through its paces.
T
he Wii Fit is one of the first
products to be marketed as a
‘fitness’ game with four training
categories aimed at improving
players’ muscle condition, balance,
flexibility and aerobic capacity. You might
also have seen TV adverts claiming that the
Wii Fit will help you lose weight.
So, is the Wii Fit a suitable alternative to
regular workouts? Or is it just another in
a long line of fitness gadgets that promise
much but deliver little?
Energy expenditure
Researchers from Japan report that onethird of the activities included in Wii Sports
(golf, bowling, tennis, baseball and boxing)
and the Wii Fit Plus (yoga, resistance,
balance and aerobic exercises) can count
toward the daily amount of moderateintensity physical activity recommended by
the American College of Sports Medicine
to prevent weight gain and provide
modest weight loss.1
The study measured energy expenditure
in terms of the metabolic equivalent
of task (MET). METs are used by some
physiologists and involve expressing the
Fitpro
energy cost of a given activity as a multiple
of your resting metabolic rate (RMR).
One MET represents the energy
expended during quiet sitting. Two METs
indicates the energy expended is twice
that of resting levels, three METs are triple
the resting energy expenditure, and so
on. MET values range from a low of 0.9
(sleeping) to a high of 18 (running at 17.5
kilometres per hour).
The average MET values of all activities
included in Wii Fit and Wii Sports ranged
from 1.3 METs (Lotus Focus) to 5.6 METs
(single-arm stand). The average MET
values in yoga, balance, resistance and
aerobic exercises of Wii Fit Plus and Wii
Sports were 2.1, 2.0, 3.2, and 3.4 METs,
respectively.
Roughly two-thirds of the activities
(67%) were classified as light intensity (less
than 3.0 METs), while 22 activities (33%)
were classified as moderate intensity
(3.0-6.0 METs). There were no vigorousintensity activities (greater than 6.0 METs).
Research commissioned by the
American Council on Exercise (ACE) has
also examined the impact of the Wii Fit on
calorie expenditure.2 The study measured
energy expenditure during the six most
challenging activities featured in the Wii Fit
(Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Advanced
Step, Super Hula Hoop and Rhythm
Boxing).
When played for 30 minutes, Wii
Fit’s Free Run and Island Run burned an
average of 165 calories, which was the
highest calorie expenditure of the six
activities tested. Rhythm Boxing expended
an average of 114 calories, followed by
Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step and
Free Step at 111, 108 and 99 calories,
respectively. As you might imagine, doing
the real thing as opposed to the virtual
one leads to significantly higher calorie
expenditure.
For example, even the Wii Fit advanced
step game burned only 25% of the
calories of a regular step aerobics class of
the same length, mainly because of the
low height of the Wii Fit Balance Board
that’s used as a step.
“I guess a little is better than nothing,”
says study lead author John Porcari PhD,
“but we were a little underwhelmed with
the intensity of some of the exercises. The
Wii Fit is a very, very mild workout.”
Aug/Sept 2011 | Fitness | 13
Special populations
An earlier study by Porcari 3 suggests
that Wii Sports, the suite of games that
includes tennis, boxing, golf and bowling,
is a far better way to meet the minimum
intensity guidelines for exercise.
“You’re better off doing Wii Sports
than Wii Fit,” he says. “In Wii Sports,
there’s more jumping around and you’re
not constrained by having to stand on
the balance pad. I just think there’s much
more freedom of movement and you get a
better workout.”
When you buy the Wii Fit, you also get
a Balance Board. As you step onto the
board, it interprets the movement of your
feet, sensing your weight and balance,
and bringing your motions to life on the
screen. Using the Wii Fit Balance Board,
researchers have been able to design tasks
that both train and test balance in older
adults, particularly those unable to take
part in regular exercise due to the risk of
falling.
When compared with a laboratorygrade force platform (which are often
prohibitively expensive), the Wii Fit
Balance Board has been shown to provide
the average clinician with a balance
assessment tool that is inexpensive, widely
available and accurate enough to be used
in a clinical setting.4 Studies are now
underway to see if the Wii Fit Balance
Board can improve balance in patients who
have suffered a stroke, have Parkinson’s
Disease, and also in healthy elderly subjects
at risk of falling.
Wii Sports’ tennis and boxing have
also both been shown to provide at least
moderate-intensity exercise in adults with
bilateral spastic cerebral palsy.5 Average
energy expenditure during Wii Sports
game play was 4.5 METs for tennis and 5.0
METs for boxing (3.0-6.0 METs is classed
as moderate-intensity activity), while two
participants attained energy expenditures
greater than 6.0 METs (vigorous intensity)
while playing Wii Sports’ tennis or boxing.5
As with most forms of exercise, the
benefits of Wii Fit will depend largely
on the individual. It might be a good
start for someone who is sedentary, or
to supplement a more vigorous exercise
routine. The feedback provided by the
device may also give it an edge over
traditional exercise DVDs – the Wii
provides a range of statistics, personal
targets, charts, and so on, which help
to keep you motivated once the initial
enthusiasm has worn off. While the Wii
Fit shouldn’t replace existing workouts,
particularly for those who are already fit,
it’s certainly better than the alternative
– sitting on the sofa hunched over a
controller pressing buttons. fp
To view the references, visit
www.fitpro.com/references
www.fitpro.com