Wii Fit: Is it Worth It?

My husband purchased a Wii Fit for me for Mother's Day. Was it a hint that I needed to lose weight? Many women reading this probably think that, but in reality he knows I am something of an exercise nut and I always love trying something new. I have all of the Firm workouts, and have taken just about every type of aerobics classes offered at local community centers and YMCA's that you can imagine. I love to work out and try to do it six days a week. My husband obviously knows me because when he purchased the Wii Fit, I was thrilled.

I had read reviews elsewhere about this program for the Wii and wasn't impressed with what others had to say. Many hardcore exercisers were saying that the Wii Fit was good, but certainly didn't give them a hard enough workout that they would consider using the Wii Fit strictly over any other type of workout. Now, I agree with this somewhat but only because I believe that the more you change up your workouts each week, the less chance you have of getting bored with working out. I certainly wouldn't stop doing workouts that included weights and toning and strictly do the Wii Fit, but for cardio I really believe the Wii Fit is on to something.

Once we programmed the Wii Fit and the balance board to synchronize with each other, I picked my Mii, which is your Wii character that you will use when working out with the Wii. After this is done, you do a body test that weighs you and calculates your BMI. It also judges your balance, which I thought was off or I am not at all coordinated in my old age. I was once a competitive gymnast so to be told that I had zero balance was a bit embarrassing. The Wii then allows you to pick from specific categories to work out with. You can choose yoga, balance games, aerobics and strength training. As you do activities within each category you can open up new activities throughout the Wii Fit program. I will admit that I focused on aerobics but I have opened every activity in every category. Within the aerobics category you can do step aerobics by following a Mii Instructor, you can jog or run and you can do the hula hoop. Yes, the hula hoop that fantastic childhood toy is back! Eventually I opened up a free run and a free step, which allows you to jog in place while watching television or do a free step while watching your choice of TV shows. I found myself addicted to running in place and back and forth in my basement for 30 minutes at a time.

I have to say that out of all my years of exercising, I have never been a runner or a jogger- I just didn't like it and couldn't do it- even on the treadmill. For some reason I loved it on the Wii Fit. This is why I disagree with many reviewers who say it isn't a hard enough workout to use in place of your normal workouts. I can set up the Wii Fit and run for 30 minutes at a time, usually going a little over four miles each session. Of course it isn't like running outside because I am basically running in place and there are no hills to make the workout more difficult, but I found myself sweating with a higher heart rate after each Wii Fit jog/run I completed.

The hula hoop is also fantastic and so great for your core. All of that hip swirling really works your abdominal muscles and hips. I am serious when I say that by using the Wii Fit hula hoop activity, I noticed tighter ab's and slimmer hips. In addition, the yoga activities are great for stretching after you finish up an aerobic activity. In my house, the balance games are popular with my children and my husband. I haven't really gotten into those yet, but my husband and kids think the soccer ball heading game is quite fun. I am horrible at it, therefore I don't do it. That's just how it is, I would much rather run or jog.

Is the Wii Fit worth the money? I can honestly say that we have gotten our money's worth and then since May. It is used on a regular basis and like I previously mentioned, I mix it up with other workouts and am never bored. If you can find one (I hear they are still hard to find), go for it!