General Fitness

The Nintendo Wii can be used to improve General fitness and improve tolerance to exercise and this page explains how.

Any additional exercise that the body participates in will have some effect on and contribute to general fitness. The methods by which the Nintendo Wii requires the user to play the games often require a degree of physical effort in comparison to more traditional consoles using a control pad to exercise thumbs.

Because of the movement required by arms and or legs during the games, calories are burnt which is often considered a way of loosing weight coupled with a sensible diet.

Calories used by playing games.
Research has estimated the number of calories used during Wii Sports.
The article can be found here but for those just wanting the figures, here they are:

Another alternative is the Wii Jog It turns first person action games into an exercise. By plugging the WiiMote and Nunchuk into the Wii jOG device the player is required to jog in order to move their character forwards.
TOP TIPS
……..when working to improve General Fitness.

– Add weights to your ankles or wrists to add extra resistance to your muscles, taking the exercise to a more challenging level.
– Raise the level of the fit board during step up exercises to increase the work required by your legs. An adapter that turns your balance board into an aerobic stepper can be purchased on Amazon.

– Use an arm strap to keep the Wii Remote close but out of the way. The strap secures the Remote to your wrist whilst you exercise and allows you access the buttons when needed. For further information and to purchase the ‘Wiitality Arm Band’ click here

– Keep the level of exercise up and keep progressing, lengthening sessions of workouts. Recommended levels of exercise by the Government is currently 30 minutes three times per week.

– Be mindful of injury and muscle strain when using the Wii. There have been many reports of people sustaining injuries to shoulders, arms and knees whilst using their consoles. If your muscles are not used to exercising then start off slowly and ALWAYS warm up with a stretch.

Games that can help
There are a good selection of games available, with games lending themselves to general fitness work generally involving the Wii Fit Balance Board, unless you intend to use other methods to balance whilst playing the games. The links below are for games that have aspects of them that would be suitable for working on balance. Information about other games that can be used to improve balance can be found in the games section