Ever since I borrowed a neighbor’s Wii Fit last September, I had secretly (or perhaps sometimes not so secretly) wanted to get one for myself. But, considering it was $100 and I had spent that much and more money on other products that were supposed to facilitate weight loss, I had a hard time justifying it…. what if I didn’t stick with it? What if I didn’t make the time to use it? What if I played the games but didn’t really use it for more than its entertainment value?
Well, over the course of the last couple weeks, I had the opportunity to borrow it again, this time the Wii Fit Plus. I was curious to see what new features had been added since I last tried the game eight months ago.
When my daughter asked me what I hoped to get for a Mothers Day gift, I told her that I would like to receive a Wii Fit Plus. She must have put that bug in my husband’s ear, because that is what he got!
I am now the proud owner of a Wii Fit Plus, and I am liking the fact that it is telling me that I am “almost” out of the Obese category and getting ready to approach the Overweight population. (It’s ironic how I’m happy about that fact!)
Tags: Wii Fit
That’s so great, Jennifer! I’ve been interested in getting one too, I just haven’t been sure of it and haven’t really seen one in action. After a few weeks, maybe you’ll post a blog on your experience with it?
Well Katie, considering it is almost Fathers Day, I better get going on your request for a review of the Wii Fit that I got on Mothers Day!
It has a lot of great features, and now that I’ve used it and the Wii EA Active a number of times, feel I can give an honest assessment of what I see as pluses and minuses. I think everyone’s experience and reactions to them can be different, based on what one hopes to get out of a piece of exercise equipment. With that said, take my comments with a grain of salt. Maybe you could end up borrowing one or the other without investing if you are not sure?
Anyway, I think EA Sports Active gives a better workout. I find myself tiring more when I use it, and the amount of sweat produced from the Wii Fit isn’t as much. My favorite activity on the Wii Fit is the advanced step routine. I almost feel like dancing when I do it and really get into the clapping and sideways stepping!
Since I chart my calories and additional exercise in other places, I don’t use these features of the Wii Fit. Also, I’m discouraged by the Strength activities in Wii Fit, because my body strength just appears “weak” and even some of the basic exercises like the plank position are hard for me to do. (Push-ups, as an example, are hard for me.) I need to continue working in this area, though, as I don’t want a current limitation to be a forever-limitation. The same can actually be said about running. It’s hard on me, but I really do want to build up to something more than five-minute stints.
One thing that the Wii Fit has shown me is that I have a poor center of balance and as a result my bad posture is explained. I slump a lot, and have really been trying to use the yoga poses and the balance games to improve that. I have seen some improvement! My favorite one is called Table Tilt, where you see a platform with a hole (or holes) in it where you shift your body weight on the balance board in the direction necessary to make a ball fall through the opening. There are multiple levels to this game, each one being harder of course. I’m getting pretty good at that one. Unfortunately, these exercises do not burn a ton of calories, but the yoga exercises are relaxing and the balance games are entertaining despite that fact! (Contrast this to the EA Active, where the activities aren’t, on the whole, as “fun”, but tend to burn more calories, I’d think.)
Both the Wii Fit and the Wii EA Sports Active allow you to create custom workouts by stringing together the specific activities that you’d like to perform. Each program has their activities broken down into different categories, i.e. strength, yoga, balance, aerobic, etc. and they can be ordered to your heart’s desire. Unfortunately, some of the Wii activities can’t be added to a custom routine, as you’re limited to only activities from certain categories.
Overall, I do like Wii Fit more than Active, but that is because of its entertainment value. I think for exercise to be long-term, there has to be something “fun” about it that motivates you to keep doing it.
I hope that helps a bit. If you had any specific questions, I’d be happy to answer them.
Now, for someone that has both and can comment on using Active with the balance board, perhaps you can explain exactly how that is done! Most of my experience with Active was before I had Wii Fit (and therefore the balance board) but since I knew the board could be used with Active for an enhanced workout, I was excited to try it. I couldn’t figure out how any of the exercises would be different with it. I was expecting the e-”trainer” to tell me “ok, now step on the balance board” after I had configured the software telling it that I had the balance board available, but I was never prompted. I tried using it on the exercises where I “thought” it might be appropriate, but it just didn’t feel right.