Does anybody use the Wii?

__Fatty2Fitty__

what does it entail too burn calories on it? Is it literally just standing up and using the Wii remote? Or do you have too move around alot? As I know while playing tennis the character moves them self you just have too hit the ball... Any input would be greatly appreciated please!

sanfromny

You have to move in order for the characters to move. so if it's tennis you keep the Wii controller in your hand and tennis swing. If it's running, the Wii controller will detect if you are running in place or not

__Fatty2Fitty__

But I mean you don't have too move side too side with tennis it does that automatically you just swing if that makes sense is that what the calorie count is for... just the swinging of the arm?

lilithsrose

I'm posting to following this because I'm curious as well. I'll be getting a Wii U soon and I'm hoping to use it to encourage myself to exercise a bit.

hellobirdie_xo

I used to have a wii fit, which was activities like hula hoop etc. where you were doing (all be it minimal) movement... if you're talking about things like tennis, I don't think you'd really class it as exercise as from my experience, it's literally just waving your arms about (no running side to side)!

xepherax

If you're aiming to exercise through active videogaming, I'd strongly recommend you look into Dance Dance Revolution and/or any of the motion sensor dance games such as Dance Central/Just Dance/Dance Evolution. DDR is available on the Wii and requires a dance mat controller, but is probably the best choice of game for cardio fitness. I've dropped from 111kg to 74kg in 8 months, with DDR almost exclusively my only form of exercise.

Most Wii motion control games don't burn much in the way of calories and mainly consist of small arm waves, whereas the dance games can definitely be burning upwards of 400 calories/hour if you're playing them at the highest difficulty levels. It doesn't take that long to get pretty good at them too, and if you're enjoying it, you're so focused on how well you're playing you often forget how much you're working out.

brightsideofpink

I supplement my other workouts with the occasional Wii workout. I have a Zumba game which is pretty good and keeps me moving, as well as a few other dance games. I also have the biggest loser which I like for some of the flexibility routines and the kickboxing. What I like about them is that I can do them at home, and with the kids. The tricky part though is to keep that heart rate up between songs, and to figure out the calorie burn. I have been doing it long enough now where I can get a decent estimate based on steps (read via fitbit) for the dance games. I never use the calorie estimates from the games. They seem very high to me.

_Waffle_

Personally, I think it's a gimmick. It does make you move some but I wouldn't go so far as to call it an exercise program.

The boxing will give you sore arms the first few times.

kuroshii

I've been using EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, for going on three years now. It came with sensors that strap on to one arm and one leg. The arm sensor has a heart rate monitor, the same two-green-LED kind that's now in trackers like fitbit's Charge HR. So my heart rate is up in the corner of the screen the whole time.
Unlike the game that comes with the Wii Fit, you can program routines including cardio and resistance together. So I've basically made a bunch of HIIT workouts that I cycle between. Two minutes of running in place, a set of bicep curls, a set of forward lunges, two minutes of foot fires, a set of lateral raises, a set of squats...and the way I've programmed the routines, my heart rate never goes below the "heart" zone so the workouts count as 45min sustained cardio as well.
I love it.

SonyaCele

DDR is one of my most favorite cardio exercises, i could play DDR on the wii every night for hours, if it didn't annoy all the people in my house. I dont know about wii fit, i imagine the workout is only as good as the effort you put into it.

julesbey

I have lots of exercise/workout games for the Wii & love to use them!

NewMeSM75

I have all of the just dance series. They're fun and burn calories

yayamom3

I think it all depends on what programs you use. I have a Jillian Michaels/Biggest Loser Wii game. It's an incredibly hard workout.

TeaBea

TheCurvyBride wrote: »

what does it entail too burn calories on it? Is it literally just standing up and using the Wii remote? Or do you have too move around alot? As I know while playing tennis the character moves them self you just have too hit the ball... Any input would be greatly appreciated please!

There are Wii FITNESS games designed to make you move. But the Wii Sports games - not so much. I have a cousin who scores crazy high points on the boxing with little movement (hands, wrist....maybe some elbow...nothing else moves).

Wii Walk It Out is designed for you to walk. Some songs are fast, some songs are slow. But you can control what songs you hear. I turned off the slow ones. This is not a big calorie burner but it can help you reach 10,000 steps a day.

Wii Dance games are designed to make you move. Look for shops that rent these. You can test drive a couple and see if they're for you. Wii active may use dumbbells, and aerobic step, a yoga mat, etc....these are designed to make you move.

LittleAppleAndBean

You HAVE to MOVE I like wii boxing and tennis. I want wii fit for my birthday in august and I would also like the horse racing game. The boxing is a great calorie burner if you move as if your boxing per game instructions. Same with the tennis. Im all over the living room with the tennis lol

Kimberly_Harper

I use the Wii for Dance Dance Revolution, Just Dance, Zumba, etc. The controllers work with the console as you move. It's a great fun workout when you want to change things up a bit.

gam3rguy

I started with this! it'll get the sweat going. use two "Wii-Motes" so you don't smack yourself with the wire.

Kimberly_Harper

SonyaCele wrote: »

DDR is one of my most favorite cardio exercises, i could play DDR on the wii every night for hours, if it didn't annoy all the people in my house. I dont know about wii fit, i imagine the workout is only as good as the effort you put into it.

We seriously need DDR to come up with new disks. Unless someone knows something different, ever since Wii U was introduced, they have discontinued DDR and I'm getting tired of the same old music (and I have all of the disks). Let's start a petition!! LOL

brandiuntz

I used my Wii (Wii Fit and EA Active 2) a lot when I first started seriously working out. Depending on your current fitness, it can get you started on your journey. As said, you have to put the effort into it, just like any other exercise.

sanfromny

Yes you have to move. I don't really see how you could do a tennis swing without movementfrom the waist down anyway... I have quite a few. Some make you run. I have one that is like step class so not only do i have to step on a off the Wii board but I have to step with the correct foot as well. My daughter loves the Dance ones. I do them with her sometimes. the difficluty of the dances vary from basic two step to...yeah right..lol

LHWhite903

Kimberly_Harper wrote: »

SonyaCele wrote: »

DDR is one of my most favorite cardio exercises, i could play DDR on the wii every night for hours, if it didn't annoy all the people in my house. I dont know about wii fit, i imagine the workout is only as good as the effort you put into it.

We seriously need DDR to come up with new disks. Unless someone knows something different, ever since Wii U was introduced, they have discontinued DDR and I'm getting tired of the same old music (and I have all of the disks). Let's start a petition!! LOL

Indeed! I have a bunch of them on my PS2 and I play with them every now and then so I will join you in your quest!

__Fatty2Fitty__

I can't do too much you see as I havent been walking long after having too learn too walk again after an awful accident so the Wii is the most I can do at the moment in all honesty I thought it might help as the calories are listed as being burned off when you use the Wii

vraesgame

I use Just Dance to workout with my kids. I can burn as many calories doing that as I can taking a long walk. While my 6 year old picks a song I'll do some push ups, squats, lunges, etc, and get my cardio in while dancing. I've also used gold gym cardio workout. I have more fun doing the dancing with my kids though.

__Fatty2Fitty__

LittleAppleAndBean wrote: »

You HAVE to MOVE I like wii boxing and tennis. I want wii fit for my birthday in august and I would also like the horse racing game. The boxing is a great calorie burner if you move as if your boxing per game instructions. Same with the tennis. Im all over the living room with the tennis lol

I do use my whole body with both tennis and boxing as well as I can I'll hopefully get more active as I get stronger (hopefully) although professionals have said I'll be "crippled" for life

suwala2t

LHWhite903 wrote: »

Kimberly_Harper wrote: »

SonyaCele wrote: »

DDR is one of my most favorite cardio exercises, i could play DDR on the wii every night for hours, if it didn't annoy all the people in my house. I dont know about wii fit, i imagine the workout is only as good as the effort you put into it.

We seriously need DDR to come up with new disks. Unless someone knows something different, ever since Wii U was introduced, they have discontinued DDR and I'm getting tired of the same old music (and I have all of the disks). Let's start a petition!! LOL

Indeed! I have a bunch of them on my PS2 and I play with them every now and then so I will join you in your quest!

Kimberly_Harper wrote: »

SonyaCele wrote: »

DDR is one of my most favorite cardio exercises, i could play DDR on the wii every night for hours, if it didn't annoy all the people in my house. I dont know about wii fit, i imagine the workout is only as good as the effort you put into it.

We seriously need DDR to come up with new disks. Unless someone knows something different, ever since Wii U was introduced, they have discontinued DDR and I'm getting tired of the same old music (and I have all of the disks). Let's start a petition!! LOL

There is a program you can download called StepMania. It literally has ALOT of songs on it. However, you will need a dance mat with a USB connector to your laptop/computer to play it. I've been a bit interested in it in the past, but didn't find a cheap dance mat with USB to a computer so never went through with it.

WifiresGettingFit

I have the Wii Fit Plus and I love it. I use it about 4-5 times a week. I mostly do the Free Run, Free Step, and Super Hula. I also enjoy the Yoga and Strength Training section along with some of the Balance games but there are quite a lot of other activities that are available but those 5 are my main ones. I wouldn't consider it high intensity, but I have broken a sweat and it serves it's purpose. It gets me moving and burns some calories.

__Fatty2Fitty__

WifiresGettingFit wrote: »

I have the Wii Fit Plus and I love it. I use it about 4-5 times a week. I mostly do the Free Run, Free Step, and Super Hula. I also enjoy the Yoga and Strength Training section along with some of the Balance games but there are quite a lot of other activities that are available but those 5 are my main ones. I wouldn't consider it high intensity, but I have broken a sweat and it serves it's purpose. It gets me moving and burns some calories.

Do you reckon the calories burnt section on here is correct for the Wii sports then?

chaoticdreams

I have a Wii, but I use Just Dance on the Xbox one, along with Zumba world fitness. OMG, so much fun and I work up a sweat easily. The game and MFP says 30 min is 220 calories, but I am not totally sure about that. It feels like it LOL.

WifiresGettingFit

TheCurvyBride wrote: »

Do you reckon the calories burnt section on here is correct for the Wii sports then?

When I enter my calories burned from the Wii (It tells me the estimated burn after each exercise) into the MFP database, the Wii's is usually higher and I go by the Wii. There is definitely room for error on all counts but I don't eat back my exercise calories.

On the Wii Fit, calorie burn is done by using METS (Metabolic Equivalent Task). Each activity has a METS # which is the intensity of the workout. For instance running is considered MET# 5.

To calculate you would take the METS# x (Your Weight) x (Hours) x 0.48 = Calories Burned

According to this article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19997034, I would say Wii Sport Tennis is MET#2-3 so you could use the above formula to calculate how many calories you would burn.

TeaBea

TheCurvyBride wrote: »

WifiresGettingFit wrote: »

I have the Wii Fit Plus and I love it. I use it about 4-5 times a week. I mostly do the Free Run, Free Step, and Super Hula. I also enjoy the Yoga and Strength Training section along with some of the Balance games but there are quite a lot of other activities that are available but those 5 are my main ones. I wouldn't consider it high intensity, but I have broken a sweat and it serves it's purpose. It gets me moving and burns some calories.

Do you reckon the calories burnt section on here is correct for the Wii sports then?

Calorie burns in MFP are general estimates. A lot of calorie burns are pretty generous. Start by using 50% of the calorie burn amount. Then see how your weight loss correlates. You can tweak the numbers up or down based on your actual experience.

JulesAtkinson1

I use it. I have the WiiFit Plus, the Wii Active, the Wii Active 2 and a couple of Just Dance games. I wear a heart rate monitor so I can see where I'm at in between activities in order to keep my HR in an aerobic state. There are some people who just basically go through the arm motions, although the Wii Active has an arm and a leg sensor, but I'm not sure why a person who's interested in using these for physical fitness would simply stand in one spot and move their arm that has the controller in it anyway.
Like everything else, you get out of it what you put into it. I can easily burn up to 400 calories after an hour of Just Dance, IF I actually go hard at it and keep my heart rate up between songs by jogging in place, jumping jacks, etc. I use this in cold and inclement weather to keep me motivated or if I end up working late. After the initial startup costs, it's cheaper and more convenient than a gym membership. It can get monotonous if you do the same over again, so keep changing up the ones you really like in order to stay focused and energetic. If you get bored, alternate the games with a bike ride or a walk. You may not burn as much as say, a spin class or a Nordic Trak, but if you put an all out effort into the steps and movements, you can really burn some calories. It's really up to you.