Fitness Made Digital
Can Wii Fit pump you up? Workout guru Tony Little helps us find out.
After revolutionizing home gaming by letting players work up non-virtual sweat with the Wii, Nintendo again ups the video-game-as-workout ante. Enter Wii Fit, a balance board with sensors that read your position and replicate your movements on-screen. But can it really turn doughy thumb-twiddlers into iron men? We called on our favorite ponytail—er, fitness info-mercial king—to weigh in. Let’s hope it doesn’t get his spandex tied up in a knot.
Where’s the beef?
The Fit’s strength-training program includes slow-motion squats, lunges, and push-ups that will test your inner Rampage Jackson. And if that’s not enough, push-up and jackknife challenges will have you begging for a nice, sedentary game of Tetris.
Tony’s take: “Yeah, this will add strength. Slow push-ups really work muscle groups.”
Cardio arrest
If looking like the Hulk’s pasty cousin isn’t your thing, check out the Fit’s aerobics plan: step classes, rhythm boxing, and hula hoop (you read that correctly). The Fit will even track your reductions in weight and BMI.
Tony’s take: “This could get boring quick. Hell, they should knock off my personality and just make me into an animation!”
Strike a pose
Promising 15 authentic yoga positions, the Fit replicates your half-moons, cobra poses, and sun salutations with gurulike precision. If you can’t tell a downward dog from doggy doo, an on-screen instructor demonstrates each pose as the routine begins.
Tony’s take: “Yoga’s not my gig. It’s good for your mind, but not your butt!”
Read This Next
