Use the WII to get In Shape

Now, with Wii Fit’s U.S. debut inching ever closer, it’s time for American gamers to start stretching and warming up. But what is Wii Fit? And why is it being seen as the next big product launch from Nintendo?

What makes Wii Fit unique is its electronic balance board that responds to players’ movement and weight.

Built-in sensors track the side-to-side and front-to-back movements of the player to control the actions of the player’s avatar on screen. Unlike other popular video games that emphasize role-playing, stealth, warfare, or the supernatural, Wii Fit stresses aerobics, strength training, and muscle-toning exercises.

Wii Fit will use the Body Mass Index (BMI) as the key metric to monitor your progress toward a healthier lifestyle.

The BMI is a standard measure of body fat supported by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Health.

It’s based on height, age, and weight, so after you register the first two metrics, you step onto the balance board to record your weight. Don’t worry — the Wii Fit balance board is rated to at least 300 pounds, so step right up.

In addition to establishing your BMI, Wii Fit will also put you through an initial series of activities to test and grade your ability to balance the left and right sides of your body.

Standing on the board and shifting your weight in all directions is essential to almost all of the Wii Fit games and physical activities. It will then assign you a Wii Fit age, another metric the software uses to record the progress toward your fitness goals.

Of course, the entire point of Wii Fit is that you’re going to have to put in consistent, periodic physical effort to stay in shape. To keep you interested and on track, Wii Fit has an impressive list of 40 activities and games that are organized into four main categories: strength training, aerobics, balance games and yoga.

Strength training consists of familiar exercises such as push-ups, lunges, leg extensions, and other activities common to most workouts. You do these by starting with various parts of your body on the balance board depending on the exercise.

With lunges, for example, one leg is on the board and the other is behind you on the floor, so you actually lean into the lunge. Wii Fit analyzes frequency, balance and form.

The aerobics set includes basic cardiovascular activities, such as simple dance step routines, rhythmic boxing workouts and some light jogging, in which you run through a virtual countryside circuit.

Sounds like it could be a winner. For the full story click here.