Serious about what? Paying membership fees? Last time I checked, running could still be done in the out of doors, as opposed to on a treadmill. Push-up variations that change resistance still don’t require a car trip to a gym. Activities like roller blading, which will give you spring-steel legs, aren’t done in a gym at all. I also hear there are bicycles that actually go somewhere when you peddle them. If belonging to a gym works for you, that’s just swell; but it isn’t the only option nor is it the sine qua non for being in good, even excellent, shape.
Your level of physical conditioning is determined by your personal drive, not by whether or not you belong to a gym. My personal experience,ftr, is that gyms tend to be rather full of fat-asses. Gym owners and managers love fat-asses who buy memberships and then make minimal use of the facilities. Pure profit.
Let me guess, you’re playing on carpet, right? Any kind of soft material (particular thick carpet) will screw with the balance board, much like any household scale. However, Wii Fit does come with four little leg extensions which can be added to improve the accuracy on carpet, in lieu of using hardwood floors.
For what it’s worth, by applying MMORPG grinding concepts, I’ve lost 30 pounds this year and also (by applying it financially) tripled my modest savings account as well. 
Ah, so your vendetta against gyms is purely contrived in your head. Gotcha.
Nope. As a matter of fact, I belong to a gym and go several times a week. I simply don’t share your irrational conviction that fitness would be impossible without it.
A certain level of fitness is impossible without it. You’re not going to run a triathalon after working with Wii Fit. It’s good for obese people that need to get started. Wii Fit has its limits.
I read the article and can’t agree with the conclusions it draws. First off, Dr. Stern states that she has not seen proof that Wii Fit ‘works’. Of course she hadn’t because it hadn’t even been released yet. I agree with her that BMI is not the end all and be all of fitness, but to say that exercising will not reduce it? That strikes me as a little odd.
To say that you never tell a kid that they are overweight seems like a stretch to me. There are plenty of kids that are overweight and do need to be aware of it so they can change it. My brother was severely overweight as a young teen (about 5’5" and somewhere around 200 pounds) and needed to do something about it. On the other hand, if you believe that kids shouldn’t be told that, then don’t let your fat kid use the Wii Fit.
So if it can’t turn you into an athlete, it’s not worth pursuing?
Sure. And a certain level of ambiguity keeps you clear from exact meaning because a “certain level of fitness” could be anything.
Neither does going to a gym. I’ve been going to a gym for 15 years (and was a manager at a free weight gym for 2 of those years). I’m not a triathlon person and have not trained to be one. No one is claiming that this is what the WiiFit is for so it’s a hugely moot point. I don’t do free weights and expect to run a marathon or hop on the stairs for 30 minutes and know that I’ll be swimming a mile. I do this to get “fit”. The WiiFit has been a great supplement to my standard and almost methodical 1 hour workout 3-4 times a week. Those with loftier goals aren’t going to have them met with WiiFit nor is that what it’s designed to do.
And it’s good for those of us who like variety and the WiiFit gets us out of the routine as well. I have a lot of gyms I can go to as part of my membership, I do vary them from time to time as I get a bit sick of feeling that work out is just work. After a while, it’s just not enjoyable. While the 6 minutes of aerobics from the advanced step on the Wii is far from the 60 minute Friday step class I take at the club, there’s a huge difference. I’m really enjoying do the step class at home, with immediate feedback and a bit of progress show in a subjective manner.
To each their own, some folks wander around the gym with the pencil and list of exercises that they check off and fill in. I’ve done that too.
That whole article was a load of crap. Sorry.
I agree. It’s misleading to say that if you exercise for 30 minutes a day with the Wii Fit - as it recommends - that you will see no weight loss. That just doesn’t make sense.
Is it less intense than going to the gym? Of course. But it’s not intended to take the place of going to the gym. It’s intended to take the place of playing other video games.
Frankly, I think telling people that there’s no point to being more active unless they exercise “an awful lot” and totally change their diet is irresponsible and damaging.
It is a bit off to use BMI as the main measure of fitness. I start with a perhaps higher level of muscle than an average person, and the machine seems to think that I am significantly overweight, but I know that I am very close to a healthy body type in terms of fat percentage. If I were to work out harder than usual, and gain muscle, the Wii Fit would interpret that as backsliding- unless I am reading this incorrectly.
However, it looks like, in general, BMI tracks fat percentage pretty closely. I’d say if you use Wii Fit to measure the progress of a fat loss regimen, it will do a pretty good job.
I am hoping that I can improve my posture and general grace with the yoga and balance exercises on the Wii fit. I am keeping my fat-burning and strength training in the gym.
I agree with this 100%.
I just got this yesterday from my mother and dad, preordered for my birthday (which isn’t until June 7, but I got an email to “OPEN IT RIGHT NOW!!”).
I am having so much FUN!
I am a master at the Super Hula Hoop! Woohoo!
Again, it depends on your goals. For me, then yes. My ex is 94 pounds. She’s been playing it. She doesn’t need Wii Fit. She needs a gym. She needs weights.
This is also a problem with it. If you have any muscles to begin with, BMI interprets them as fat. It’s certainly not for me.
So far as a “certain level of fitness”, Wii Fit has nothing for weight training.
It’s amazing how much exercise elitism this game has spawned on the internets.
I found a copy yesterday, and I’m impressed. I really can’t see how you’d not shed a few pounds playing this on a regular basis, as some of the exercises are pretty killer. I’m not in decent shape by any estimation, but I can normally do a few pushups pretty easily. For whatever reason, the push up exercise in the game is murder on me - I think because my hands are closer together than they would be otherwise.
The yoga is a lot more interesting than I thought it’d be. I don’t realize how much I’m stretching myself doing some of the poses until I relax back to standing position and suddenly feel like the most comfortable person in the whole world.
Overall, I’m definitely impressed. I’m going to try and keep at it every day, and along with a few other small steps toward eating better and getting more activity in my routine, hopefully I’ll see some results.
I got my copy today and am absolutely loving it so far. 30 minutes flew by!
Has anyone beaten the Ultimate Balance Test? Okay it’s only my first day, but man is it ever difficult. I’m surprised at how easily even really slight movement and position will change my balance significantly, and it’s difficult to control to the degree necessary to pass that challenge. Someday!
Also, I re-did my Body Test after playing for a half hour (I figured my fitness age would go down since I knew how to use the board a little better) and got an Agility test where you have to move a point through blue squares by moving on the board – so much fun! That might be my fave activity so far. I hope it can be unlocked at some point.
Which brings up another thing, I can’t wait to see what game developers do using the balance board as a controller! Here’s hoping that starts to happen in less time than it took for WiiWare to launch 
I imagine as for DS games it’ll take a while before really imaginative uses of the controller appear, but I’m intrigued by the possibilities!
RABBIDS!
Also, snowboarding, skateboarding, and cheerleading.
Weight training is not the be-all and end-all of fitness, though it is apparently the centerpiece of your personal regimen. It is one way to achieve a particular aspect of fitness. It is not the only way to achieve that end nor does it equate to total fitness.
As my old high school wrestling coach used to say “Being able to bench press a lot of weight doesn’t mean you’re strong.” He favored gymnastic exercises as they built not only strength but agility and balance. You’ve nattered on about the necessity of a gym, by which you apparently mean weight training. How many hand-stand push-ups can you do? How far can you walk on your hands? How long can you hold an L-sit? Can you turn a cartwheel, a front roll, a back roll, or a back flip? Can you do more on a trampoline than just bounce up and down? Can you get across a balance beam with anything resembling style and grace?
I’m a former weight lifting and wrestling coach, myself. Weight training is a tool that you adjust to suit what your overall goal is. Upthread, you mentioned triathlon. Do *you * compete in triathlon? If so, your weight lifting routine should be, if you have any plans on winning, different from that of a boxer which should be different fom that of a pole vaulter.
Again, fitness is a function of personal drive, not apparatus. A person who wants to be fit will be fit through calisthenics and running if s/he has nothing else available. A lazy fat-ass can join the best equipped gym in town and remain a fat-ass as s/he plods through a routine with no drive or enthusiasm.
With that, I’m done discussing this particular topic with you as we’ve both said everything we have to say on the topic, IMO.
It’s the speed of it. Rather than just pounding up and down, the timing the Wii uses for push ups makes you go down slowly, hold the flex at the bottom, and then go slowly up. Add in the side pike motion, and after 10, your body parts are feeling like you’ve done a whole lot more than a normal, rapid down-up-down-up push up motion.
This works the triceps more than the chest. Most people’s chests are stronger than their triceps.