Can You Lose Fat With A Nintendo Wii or Wii Fit?

The brilliant marketers at Nintendo have decided to jump into the huge business that is America’s obesity/inactivity epidemic.   

It’s a smart move on their part, but does it really work?   Can you really lose fat and keep it off by doing a Nintendo Wii workout (say that out loud and tell me it doesn’t sound funny)? 

First let’s look at what the Nintendo Wii has over its competition. 

It gets the user off his/her butt and makes them actually move around while playing a video game.   This is fantastic.   There are far too many kids (and more adults) who do nothing but sit on their butts all day long playing video games and this one actually gets you moving.   So it gets points for that. 

In the few times I’ve played tennis or some other sports game on the Wii I have actually worked up a sweat, which is nice when I’m playing a video game.   It means my heart rate was elevated because I was moving around. 

Does that mean I really was losing fat, though?   Sure, but not much unless you’re going to play it non-stop for an hour or so.   Wildly moving your arms back and forth, while it may make you breathe a little harder and work up a slight sweat, does not increase your fat burning all that much. 

Next up, let’s discuss the injury risk. 

Do you remember when home fat loss workouts like Tae-Bo© were all the rage a few years ago? 

One thing you probably didn’t hear about was the increased incidence of joint injury while people were doing those home fat loss workouts. 

I’ve spoken with a few orthopedic surgeons who told me they saw a large jump in business from injuries to the elbows and knees because people didn’t really know what they were doing, didn’t have anyone there to guide them along with these complex movements and went a little too hard and heavy and then hurt themselves. 

I can foresee the same things happening with the Nintendo Wii.   You get overzealous adults flailing their arms and legs around trying to win a game or do some running workout and they hurt themselves. 

Maybe you’re one of those people? 

Let’s move the regular video games aside and move onto Wii Fit. 

Wii Fit is an answer to a fat gamer’s prayers.   It’s a way to still play video games and lose fat…or is it. 

I’ve messed around with Wii fit a little bit and found it to be a decent fat burning workout. 

Not great, but OK.   It’s got some balance work, yoga, strength training and aerobics. 

Again, does it burn fat and is it better than doing nothing?   Yes, but there are fat better options…and far cheaper options also. 

You don’t have to stand in line at Target to buy a Wii fit to get a great fat burning workout that you can do from home. 

There are plenty of quick and easy options that in my Fat Loss To Go program that give you a great fat burning workout from home and will have you burning a lot more fat than a Wii Fit or Nintendo Wii will (that sounds funny when you say it too). 

So if you’re looking to lose fat and you think a Nintendo Wii or Wii Fit are the way to go, please re-consider.   Save your money and keep shopping.    You’ll thank me in the end. 

By: Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT, LMT

author, Fat Loss To Go - 10 Minute Fat Loss Workout Program Designed For Busy Moms and Dads

www.fatlosstogo.com

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