Working Out with Wii Fit: Day 1

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.27.2008

This is our first of a 5 part series where I get down with Nintendo's Wii Fit. I'll dissect the activities and update you on how things are coming along. Now come check out part 1!


Wii Fit in all its glory.

When I got my hands on Wii Fit over the weekend, I put a lot of thought into how I would go about reviewing this thing. I could just use it over the course of a few days and come up with a final review but then I thought that would be kind of boring. So what I decided on was a set of feature articles where I'll give you guys my impressions and stat updates for my Wii Fit profile as I break down my usage with the various workouts and then give you my final impressions with a review score.

That being said, it was time for Day 1 with Wii Fit. I unboxed this thing carefully as I wasn't sure what would spit out of the box but everything was packaged in nicely. The balance board was wrapped in plastic while the batteries, manual and Wii Fit software came packaged in separate sections. As I popped the disc on the Wii and got it going, I was first asked to synchronize the balance board with the Wii – simple enough. Next up was getting this thing fired up and being greeted by the balance board on-screen. I was given a break down of the importance of good posture and balance as well as the meaning of BMI (Body Mass Index) which is supposed to measure your body fat given your height and weight.

Once I chose my Mii character to represent my profile, I was asked to enter my age and weight. Next up was my first Basic Balance Test as this was the first time using the software. In the BBT, I was asked to balance myself by leaning on each foot or staying completely balanced while meters on the screen reflected how I was doing. The board seemed to be taking into account how much weight I was putting on each leg quite nicely. I did pretty well on the test though I couldn't finish the final test in time as it ran out so I had a crappy score overall. Afterwards, I was given my Wii Fit Age which ended up at 29; only two years older than my real age and my Body Mass Index (BMI) was a decent 22.77. It shows you what they consider to be normal and overweight to name a few statuses and I fell right into the normal area though I was told I should shoot for a BMI of 22.00 so it asked me to set a goal for myself and to get it down to 22, I should loose about 5-pounds. I set my goal for 2 weeks so let's see if I can get it done. You can also make password if you want to have your information be private so no one else can see it. I figured I didn't need it since I wasn't overweight! You can also look at your weight too and you can switch between that and BMI on the results screen.


Be realistic with your goals.

Now that I had the BBT out of the way it was time to get into some activities. The game includes four types of training activities: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balance Games. Before I got started however, I was asked to choose either a male or female trainer each with their own voice overs. I was also given a Fit Bank which looks like a piggy bank and takes count of how many minutes you've been doing activities on Wii Fit and gives you a coin for each one. You can use those coins/credits to unlock new activities.

For my first day, I thought I'd something that I haven't done before: Yoga. I've heard much of this type of workout and I was pretty curious to try it out for myself. From the start there were four types of Yoga activities to choose from: Deep Breathing, Half Moon Pose, Warrior Posse and the Tree pose. I thought I'd start right from the beginning and did some deep breathing. The activity is meant to improve metabolism according to the trainer. I went through the paces a couple of times and got 3 out of 5 stars and 86 out of 100 points for the breathing. I was told I have really good balance and on my second attempt I got 88 points. I found the breathing to be very relaxing and I'll have to keep tabs on how much it helps me improve my metabolism if I do this one frequently. Next up was the Half Moon pose which asks you to keep your feet close together and your hands over your head. You then hold your hands and bend to the side to create a half moon or 'C' shape. I managed to stretch out pretty far and then I had to take deep breaths, following along with the display on the screen that helped me time my breathing. I didn't keep count of how long I held myself in this position but I'll tell you that I really felt my sides stretch out hard. I also had to keep an eye out for my balance to get a maximum workout and score. I did this for each side a couple of minutes and various attempts at this workout, my sides were definitely aching. I felt like I had done some sit-ups so it felt pretty good. I'll definitely be sure to keep this one on my regular routine.

Alright with that one out of the way, I was feeling pretty good so I threw on the Warrior Pose. This pose helps to tone thighs and stretch your hip flexors and I was game. This one's kind of tough to explain but basically you keep one foot on the board while you step back with the other foot and position it perpendicular to your front foot. So you've got your feet in like a 90 degree pose so that the heels are aligned. You then lean forward onto your foot that's on the board and hold it for a certain amount of time while balancing yourself according to the meter on the screen. You then hold your arms out and take deep breaths. This one also gave me a decent workout and I felt my thighs tighten up. Since I was holding my arms out too, I got a good workout on my shoulders even though that wasn't mentioned by my trainer as areas that would get some work. My highest score was 86 points.


She's much easier on the eyes than the male trainer.

The Tree Pose was the last one on the list and I purposely held off on this one till the end. See, you have to balance yourself on one foot while keeping the other one resting on your inner thigh and then you hold you arms up high. Man, this one was a pretty tough especially on my first go around. I managed to do OK when balancing myself on my right foot but sucked pretty bad when on my left foot. I only managed to pull off 40 points – 32 for my right food and a measly 8 points for my left. Talk about being unbalanced! This workout is supposed to help you focus on balance, and also works your back since you are supposed to be stretching it out. My legs got a workout too of course as I fumbled all around the board to keep balance. I was told that I could also hold on to something to stay perfectly balanced but I thought that would defeat the purpose so I said the hell with that. I tried a few more times and I ended up with a high score of 55 points...pathetic I know. I should also point out that after every activity, your score goes up on a leaderboard so you can keep track of who kicks who's ass on Wii Fit.


Stretch damn you!

After a solid workout, I managed to unlock a new Yoga exercise so I thought I may as well get on it since I was focusing on Yoga today. This workout was called the Sun Salutation where I bring my arms up and stretch all the way down until I touch my toes. I had to make sure I remained balanced as well and I got a pretty damn good stretch on my thighs and on my back. After I stretch down though I have to bend my knees and hold that pose while holding my arms in the air. Good stuff on this one. My trainer also told me I did exceptionally well and I was awarded with 95 points. All in all, I got a pretty nice workout with the Yoga that I just learned and I can only imagine things will get tougher as I unlock new training regiments. There's some games that I can play as well but I'll hold those off for the final review. In the meantime, I'm going to stick to working out. I think I did pretty well for day 1 and I hope that day 2 will go even better. Next up will be Strength Training so stay tuned for that!

Now it's time to sit my ass on the couch and play Mario Kart.

Screenshots
All 10 WiiFit Screenshots

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