Nintendo`s Wii Fit - Variety, the Spice of Exercise
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There are 40 different challenges currently in Wii Fit. These challenges range over a wide variety of exercises. There are 15 different exercises in strength training including push-ups, single arm stands, triceps extensions, and leg extensions. There are even push-up contests to encourage you to reach your peak. The strength exercises will challenge you, especially if you are a beginner.
Wii Fit also comes complete with yoga exercises for those who wish to clear their minds and improve flexibility. The yoga portion of Wii Fit features 15 different exercises as well, including spinal twists, breathing exercises, and shoulder stands. For those that do not already know, yoga is an excellent exercise for both men and women and is great for improving flexibility, strength, posture, and overall well being.
Aerobic exercises on Wii Fit include jogging, step aerobics, and rhythm boxing. In addition to the strength training and yoga exercises, Wii Fit also has a series of mini games that incorporate the Balance Board, such as skiing, a tightrope walk, and heading soccer balls, which may be the most fun of them all.
Perhaps the biggest flaw with Wii Fit is how it measures a player's body mass index, or BMI. Wii Fit uses your BMI to measure your fitness level, or more appropriately in Wii terms, your Wii Fit age. BMI can be a very misleading measurement because it only takes into account one's height and weight. For example, if someone is 5'10 and 150lbs they have a BMI in the "normal" range. However, if another person is an avid weightlifter and is 5'10 and 190lbs, they have a BMI that is in the "overweight" range.
Since BMI does not take into account factors such as muscle mass it quite often places people into the wrong categories when it comes to obesity and health. Nintendo should have allowed users to input more data such as body type or maybe even body fat percentages taken by calipers to give its players a more accurate assessment of their bodies. A person that is already in shape and gains muscle mass could be put off when their Wii Fit tells them that their BMI has gone up.
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