/ Maggie Koerth-Baker / 8:42 am Fri Jul 30, 2010

Wii, wii, wii—all the way back to the gym

The good news: You're less likely to injure yourself while working out with Wii Fit than while working out at the gym. The bad news: The Wii is safer because you are doing less. "People tend to burn twice as many calories per minute doing an actual activity than when doing the same activity on the Wii."

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  1. Yes, but I play the Wii in my living room more often than I get the kids in the car, drive to the gym, register them for the “kids club”, put my stuff in the locker, get on the treadmill, work out, get my stuff from the locker, sign the kids out, and drive back home.

    Would I be better off going to the gym than playing Wii? Yes. But I am also better off playing the Wii than sitting on my lazy behind, watching TV.

    Plus, apparently, it is safer :)

  3. I got a frozen shoulder from overdoing the bowling on the Wii. Without the weight of the bowling ball to tire me out, I inflamed the tendons and joint so badly I was in physical therapy for 6 months.

    And like Kaz, I’m on the Wii Fit program most days, where I wouldn’t make time to “exercise” once a week. The Wii is just part of my life in a way formal exercise never was, because the Wii is fun and exercise is medicine, something I’m supposed to do.

  4. The goal of Wii Fit is core muscles and posture, not burning calories. Yoga, and the strength exercises do not burn many calories. With that said, the aerobic exercises in Wii Fit will get you sweating… it all depends on how much effort you put into them.

  5. “..a 16-year-old male straining his thigh” – that showed up in a list of emergency room submissions?

  6. Of course it’s not as good as traditional exercise, because there’s very little resistance involved. It’s also worth mentioning how beneficial Wii games are for seniors who may have difficulty with traditional exercise methods. I’ve seen video of whole bowling leagues built around the Wii, with wheelchair- and walker-bound members among the ranks.

    As Kai mentioned, overdoing it is still possible, but it’s much less likely than with traditional exercises.

  7. When I went to my local gym dressed as a clown, climbed up on a giant ball and started juggling… they asked me to leave. That’s all I’m saying.

  9. Ya know, I’d have expected the NYT editorial staff to have mastered the difference between “than” and “then” by now.

    Same for Matt Richtel.

  10. I agree with Zoyx (post #4) regarding the intent of Wii Fit to engage the core and work on muscle memory. A good friends is just completing a study that attempts to determine the positive net effect of using the Wii on those suffering with typical variants of MS.

  12. “People tend to burn twice as many calories per minute doing an actual activity than when doing the same activity on the Wii.”

    I’ll just spend twice as much time on my wii then :P

    I have never gone to a gym, I never exercise, my nutrition is on par with a first year college student (considering all that, I’m doing pretty good!)
    So in my case, even 2-3 minutes on my Wii would mean 200-300% more exercise than I normally do :P

  13. I use my Wii-Fit longer than i would use anything at the gym. Part of the reason is that, since i am already overweight, i don’t have to be in front of others and feel like i am a spectacle, but also because i don’t have someone very obviously waiting for the same piece of equipment i am using.

    My wife and i use it almost every single day whereas i can say honestly that if i was regulated to going to a gym i would probably make it once or twice a week. we are losing a bunch of weight and she is in the best shape of her adult life and i am pretty close myself.

    just sayin’ the Wii is WAY better for us, but like with anything, it is how you use it.

  15. I heard a trainer once say “anything that makes someone move when they wouldn’t normally move is good for them”.

    How about instead of slamming people for not moving enough we give them props for moving at all?

    I would imagine that the people that use Wii instead of the going to gym would have been likely to go to the gym anyways.

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