“Wii Fit”
is the only game I can think of that’s ever made my muscles burn, yet a research study finds that the popular game and its wireless balance board yield “underwhelming results” when it comes to burning calories.Gamasutra (via Kotaku) reports that researchers with the American Council on Exercise and the University of Wisconsin took a group of men and women aged 20-24 and put them through their paces with Wii Fit’s “most aerobically challenging activities,” including Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Advanced Step, Super Hula Hoop, and Rhythm Boxing.
The results? According to the study, anyway, the test subjects got the best results while sweating through Free Run and Island Run, burning through about 165 calories in half an hour. After that came Rhythm Boxing, with players burning about 114 calories in 30 minutes, followed by Super Hula Hoop (111 calories), Advanced Step (108 calories), and Free Step (99).
That’s pretty good compared to a “sedentary video game,” the researchers say in the Gamasutra article. That said, you’ll burn “significantly higher” calories by getting up and going to the gym than you will taking a crack at Wii Fit’s “virtual approximation” of the various exercise, according to the study—a conclusion that’ll likely provoke either a “no duh!” or “say what?” reaction, depending on your expectations for the game (which Nintendo markets as “a fun way for you and your family to stay active together”).
The study even goes a step further, calling the tennis, boxing, golf, and bowling minigames in Wii Sports a “better option” than Wii Fit for “helping consumer meet minimum intensity guidelines for exercise.”
Should it come as a big surprise that a 30-minute spin class with a “take-no-prisoners” trainer makes for a tougher workout than taking a whirl with Wii Fit’s virtual hula hoop? Not really, although I am a bit surprised that the American Council on Exercise researchers think you’ll burn more calories playing Wii Sports than you will with Wii Fit, especially given the pain I experienced during my (brief) workout with Wii Fit’s yoga program.
So I ask you, Wii Fit gamers: Happy with the results you’re getting from Wii Fit? Did you buy the game thinking that it would replace or merely supplement “regular” exercise, such as running around the park or kickboxing at the gym? How would you compare your Wii Fit workout to a round of Wii Sports? And would you call the results of this study a case of “no duh!” or “say what”?
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