When you wreak Wii Tennis , it ’s unmanageable to not swing the wireless controller with the same ferocity that you would on the Margaret Court . Many a thespian has experienced the resulting nuisance of the " Wii elbow joint " or the flying Wii remote that smashes into wall . In fact , it is n’t too difficult to work up a sweat with theNintendo Wii , specially if you ’re playing tennis orboxing . So what if you replace your gym membership with a Wii ? Would you see outcome ?

information processing system programmer Mickey DeLorenzo did . DeLorenzo put himself on a Wii seaworthiness regimen for six weeks in December 2006 , dubbing it the " Wii Sports Experiment . " Tracking his results online , DeLorenzo reported that he lost 9 pounds ( 4 kilograms ) and 3 inches from his waist just by incorporate a half time of day of Wii activity every day – nodietingor additional utilisation included . During these physical exertion , DeLorenzo emphasizes that he swung or punched , depending on the game , as hard as possible to maximise his resultant role . According to his deliberation using acaloriemeasurement tool made by BioTrainer , he burn :

­­A small field of 13 children conducted by a prof at Liverpool John Moores University in Britain in February 2007 find that player burn about 150 kilocalorie per minute play Wii [ source : BBC ] . Although this kilogram calorie count is lo­wer than DeLorenzo ’s , it may be attributable to DeLorenzo ’s conscious movement to expand his motion . Nevertheless , the study also highlighted that with an middling hebdomadal playing meter of 12.2 hours , child could cauterize a maximum of 1,830 supererogatory calories per week .

Given these results , the upcoming Wii Fit biz , set for a U.S. release on May 19 , 2008 , bear hope for hoi polloi hoping to exuviate pound through " exergaming . " The Wii Fit uses a equilibrium circuit board that measures players ' weight andbody mass index , and the Wii controller has a retinue of games that pore on aerobic exercise , yoga , balance and muscle conditioning . To learn more about the Wii Fit , readHow the Wii Works .

Is exergaming the wave of the hereafter ? Will people soon trade in their wearisome treadmills for Wii consoles ? Let ’s value how the Wii put up up to other active picture game and – gasp – existent drill .

Using Wii for Exercise

A study that was , ironically , fund by Nintendo ’s U.K.marketingarm , erupt the house of cards of many people who were placing all their fitness bollock in theWiibasket . Entitled " Comparison of energy spending in adolescents play raw generation computer game , " the sketch revealed that while Wii Sports games resulted in greater vigor expenditures compared to inactive picture plot , the overall differences were negligible [ beginning : Neale ] . The weekly nutritionist’s calorie burned on the Wii were only 2 percent higher than with the stationary Xbox 360 plot " Project Gotham Racing . " In accession , energy spend during the fighting video play did not touch physical physical fitness criterion established for adolescents .

In 2006 , before the Wii console release , the Mayo Clinic found that other video games that require strong-arm body process also combust more calorie than sedentary 1 . Mayo Clinic researchers examined heart rates of youth sitting down while playing video games with the heart charge per unit of younker toy Dance Dance Revolution and EyeToy video recording games , which both want vigorous movement . For those two dynamic game , participants exhausted 68 percent and 40 percent more vim , severally , above rest heart rate [ source : Lannigham - Foster ] . That transform to three to five time morecaloriesburned than sitting watchingtelevisionor wreak a stationary picture biz .

Ben Kuchera , writer for the gamingWeb siteArsTechnica , created his own video biz experimentation , fiddle Dance Dance Revolution , EyeToy , Yourself Fitness and Wii video games . Using a combining of the four games for a half - hr a day , along with improved feeding habits , Kuchera drop 20 pounds in two months . Interestingly , Kuchera find that the Wii was n’t as conducive to vigorous exercise because unless you really want a physical exercise , the controller will work with gentle picture show of the wrist [ informant : Kuchera ] .

Games aside , how does the Wii match up to really give out outside to a lawn tennis court or hopping into a packing ring ? Can the video recording game ignore it against live sport ?

In short , no . According to calorie estimate from the Mayo Clinic , you incinerate about twice the calories in tennis , boxingandgolfwhen you do it the real world . Bowling , however , almost matches DeLorenzo ’s calorie enumeration , with around 208 nutritionist’s calorie burned in an hour of Wii bowling and 219 calories at the bowling alley . Also , considering that people burn around 60 gram calorie per hour pillow and 100 kilocalorie per hour typing , the 150 kilogram calorie used with an hour of Wii play , as found with the Liverpool study , is n’t much of a boost .

Nevertheless , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge a " temperate amount of daily forcible activity , " whether that ’s briskwalkingor jogging . Against this criterion , putting your all into Wii Sports boxing or lawn tennis for 20 transactions or so likely fit the broadside . Just like any exercise program , you get out what you put in . And since more than half of American adult do n’t get enough physical action [ source : Centers for Disease Control ] , the Wii could hold more possible than some study suggest .

For other ways to get fit and exert ahealthy life style , go to the connection on the next pageboy .

Lots More Information

Sources :