FitSugar

Game Review: Your Shape For Wii

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:50:08 -0800

There's a new fitness game in town and it's ready to work you out and make you sweat. Your Shape ($69), a new Wii game by Ubisoft, makes Jenny McCarthy your workout coach and training buddy so you don't have to sweat it out alone.

The game comes with a camera that you perch on your TV; it captures your image and plays it on your TV so you move with a reflection of yourself, like looking in a mirror. The camera also monitors your movements, and if you slack off, Jenny will let you know - she also gives you praise when you make a correction. Who couldn't use an ego boost mid-workout?

To learn more about the game, continue reading.

Just Released: Three Fitness Video Games For the Wii

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:00:47 -0700

Confession: I love playing video games - I especially love them on the Wii because I get to move, jump, and shake myself into a tizzy. Three fitness games were released for the Wii this last week and even though it's not like doing the real deal outside, the games are a fun way to burn calories and whip your bod into shape.

Nintendo Wii Fit Plus ($20) Wii Fit Plus is Nintendo's follow-up to the popular Wii Fit. There are new exercises, balance board games, and strength and yoga activities, as well as targeted exercise routines for things like reducing tummy fat and toning your figure. A great improvement is the addition of a calorie counter - after you complete each exercise the game tells you how many calories you've burned.

To hear about the other two games, continue reading.

Calories Burned Playing Wii Fit Games

FitSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0700

I'm in full support of anything that gets you off the couch and moving, so I'm a fan of the Wii Fit. Although many say that exercising with the Balance Board may not compare to a real workout, anything is better than nothing, right?

To find out how many calories you'll burn working out with the Wii Fit, read more.

I used our Calorie Burner Counter Calculator to calculate the calories burned based on a 130-pound woman. I couldn't find calculations for specific Wii games, so I used calculations based on similar activities and intensity levels. Just like with any type of fitness, the more active and intense, the more calories you'll burn.

Activity:	Calories burned per 30 minutes:
Skate It	85
Gold's Gym Cardio Workout	100
All Star Cheer Squad	177
We Ski	118
Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum	100
EA Sports Active	89
Don King Boxing	180
Ski and Shoot	118
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 (using the Dance Mat)	207
Yoga	118
Tennis	170
Bowling	39
Baseball	95
Golf	75

Do you play any of the Wii games regularly? Do you wear your heart rate monitor when doing so? If so, I am curious how many calories you burn - tell me in the comments section below.

Nintendo Wii Wiimotes Get Weighty

FitSugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0700

I'm a big fan of keeping hand weights by the TV for impromptu lifting sessions, and for all you Wii Fit devotees, the Riiflex Wiimote weights have a similar appeal. These snap-on weights affix to your Wii Remote and Nunchuck accessories to make workouts (or play) more challenging.

Available as a set of two 2-pound weights ($35) or two 4-pound weights ($40), the brightly colored dumbbells look comfy to hold and let you access the Wii's assorted buttons and triggers. Even if you don't have a Wii Fit, you can snap them on your Wiimote to make any Wii game work a little harder.

Interested? The Riiflex weights are available for pre-order, so grab yours now.

Jillian Michaels Moves You With Wii Fit

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0700

I'm a huge fan of celebrity trainer, Jillian Michaels; she is so hardcore. Not only does she push her clients physically, she pushes them emotionally as well. And they're stronger because of it. To have one hour with her, I'd give my perfectly broken-in pair of sneaks and my favorite wicking sports bra. Since that's probably not going to happen, I guess I will settle for the next best thing – her videogame workout.

Jillian is teaming up with the Wii Fit to bring you Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009. The workout utilizes the motion-based Wii system and the Balance Board to combine play with fitness. Chances are high that the game is probably more fitness than play. The game is expected to release just in time for the holidays next year. She's incredibly excited about it since she knows that gaming and technology are bigger than big now, and it's a great way to combat childhood obesity before it becomes adult obesity. I cannot wait to get my hands on this and get my booty kicked.

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Wii Counts For Something, Just Not Everything

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:00:00 -0800

You're lucky if you've been getting some good use out of your brand new Nintendo Wii that Santa left under the tree, but don't think that hours of bowling and playing tennis virtually will replace real time spent at the gym.

A new study has found that those who play sports video games on the Wii burn more calories than they would playing regular video games, but not as many as if they played the actual sports. So enjoy that Wii, but be sure to make some time for some good old fashion exercise.

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Jessica Alba Goes Wii

FitSugar — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:30:00 -0700

Jessica Alba has one of the most wanted bodies in Hollywood. Jessica's been reported to be strict on portion control, water consumption and cardio but it seems she may have added another aspect to her get fit routine: The Wii.

Here's more:

"I just got the Wii and that's fun. I play all of the Wii Sports games, like bowling, tennis, and baseball. That's a lot of fun."

"I think the physicality of the Wii gets people off the couch. Sometimes you can just sit there playing a video game for hours and never move and you're brain is just zapped from playing the game. With the Wii, you're up on your feet and moving around. The physical aspect of it is great, especially for kids. They actually call it the Wii Diet, since active players can burn calories!

Hey, whatever works. Obesity is ridiculous with kids today in our country. Anything that helps is great. You know, West Virginia is using Dance Dance Revolution in all schools as part of P.E. I know a lot of public school programs don't even have P.E. these days. That's crazy. It wasn't even an option when I was a kid. What the heck! I remember climbing up the rope, doing the mile run and all of that stuff."

Want to get fit with your own Wii workout? Then Check out the Balance Board for Wii.

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Get Wii Fit with the Balance Board

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Nintendo is out to prove that video games and fitness are not mutually exclusive. They recently unveiled the Balance Board, a Wii video game accessory for their soon to be released Wii Fit games. I have to say geeksugar and I are super excited about this new development.

The Balance Board looks somewhat like a scale but it is really a gaming controller. When you stand on the board it senses your motions so you can interact with the video game playing on your TV. The range of games will satisfy fitness enthusiasts of all kinds with Wii Fit games like yoga and soccer, as well as hula hooping and something close to Dance Dance Revolution. It looks like many of the games will activate and work your core.

The balance board will also take measurements of your body and plot your fitness level over time. If you are feeling extra competitive you can compare your progress with other members of your household. Sometimes a little friendly competition is in order.

Interested in seeing the Balance Board in action? Then read more

There is more to see. You should also check out this cool video geeksugar found showing what Nintendo's Shigero Miyamoto had to say about the Balance Board.

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Wii-itis IS The New Nintendinitis

FitSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:00:00 -0700

Sports injuries are a serious bummer, not only do they disrupt well planned training schedules, they are also painful. As luck would have it, "sports" injuries sustained during long sessions of Wii sports video games are painful as well.

A recent letter in "The New England Journal of Medicine details the first documented case of acute “Wiiitis” caused by extended play on Wii tennis. Yep, hours on the virtual court can lead to over use injuries, just like in reality. Well not quite...the Wii games can captivate a player for hours and "unlike in the real sports, physical strength and endurance are not limiting factors," according to the diagnosing physician. I would add to that list weather conditions (sun?) and other players waiting to get some court time can force a game wisely to end.

According to geeksugar, this is not the first Wii related injury. Seems there were some strap malfunctions in some early models. It is also interesting to note, "Nintendinitis" (love the play on words here) became part of the medical vernacular in the 1990s when a doctor used the word to characterize thumb pain brought on by five hours of uninterrupted Nintendo play, by a 35 year female patient.

Once again, it seems like the moral of the tale is one of moderation. So if Wii is your only form of exercise (please say it ain't so, especially with this gorgeous weather) you should treat it like any other form of exercise and warm up! Or at least take some Gatorade breaks to "replenish" your athletic self.

Source

Wii and Weight Loss - It's Official

FitSugar — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 02:00:00 -0800

Well, the research is in. Kids who regularly play Wii games burn up a significantly larger amount of calories than kids who play other game consoles, or spend their time passively watching TV.

Not really surprising news for anyone who has ever played Wii Sports. After a night of Wii bowling, the next day my arm was really sore and I knew that I had worked it!!!

Professor Tim Cable headed the study at Liverpool John Moores University, where they measured the impact of playing Wii versus playing a traditional non-motion-controlled console on 5 girls and 7 boys, between the ages of 13 and 15 years.

15 minutes of gaming using a traditional controller increased the subject’s energy expenditure above resting values by an average of 60%. With a Wii controller this was increased to a whopping 156%.

Heart rates also increased to 130 beats per minute while playing Wii, compared with 85 beats per minute with a traditional console.

Most kids who are serious gamers, average about 12.2 hours of playing video games a week. At 150 calories an hour, in a week they'll burn 1,830 using the Wii, which works out to be 40% more than your average video game.

Wow that's great news, but too bad it's next to impossible to get your hands on a Wii right now.