Is the Wii accurate for calories burned?

redmagpie91 · January 2012

Today, I spent 60 minutes doing various Wii fit exercises. The Wii tells me I burned around 100 calories, but MFP and other Internet sources say for someone my weight it would be around 220. Which would you chose? I'll probably chose 100 so I don't over estimate, but I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks.

PWanks · January 2012

The best way to know for sure is to invest in a heart rate monitor. I bought one a couple weeks ago for the exact same reason. In my experience though, MFP was overestimating my calorie burn. 100 seems like very few for an hour's worth of exercising though. Were you very sweaty and winded or was it just very light exercise?

kagenw · January 2012

MFP is a bit liberal with the calories lost. I agree with the above statement that you should get a Heart Rate Monitor to see.

hollin40 · January 2012

I second a HRM. I did Xbox running and kickboxing today. The Xbox said I burned off 350 calories but my HRM said over 800....I have my stats in the info on my Xbox fitness game but it's just an estimation. The HRM is actually charting your HR and how long you stay "in the zone" and making a calculation based on that. It's much more accurate.

lostsanity137 · January 2012

I would say getting a heart rate monitor is a better idea. I seen people say MFP is too high, low, and just right. It depends on the person. For me personally, since I got my HRM, MFP has been too low! I have been burning way more calories than they say!

INSANITY43 · January 2012

I use Zumba2 for WII as part of my excercise sometimes....I wear an HRM and the calories burned per the WII is usually calculated to be 75-100 MORE than my HRM!

morkiemama · January 2012

I can verify if it is any of the Wii Fit generic games or like the Biggest Loser game it is NOT accurate and actually underestimates (from my experience anyway). I've done a bunch of things with my HRM on and the Wii say I only burned like 10 calories and my HRM can be 5 times that amount if not more. I would go with an average of the MFP and the Wii numbers at least (if you are worried about going over).

jc1229 · January 2012

I would also recommend a hrm. I played the Zumba 2 on the Wii and it told me I burnt 706 calories in 45 min. My hrm on the other hand told me I only burnt 350. That's a huge difference. I haven't used my hrm playing any other Wii yet, since I just got the hrm recently. Even the calories on mfp are quite a bit over estimated for me. Good luck!

JanaB2011 · January 2012

I am thinking about purchasing a HRM. Any suggestions on what is a good one. I have seen ones that look more like a watch and think I would probably wear that more.

JayPeazy · January 2012

As a video game nerd, I have to chime in here. We have both the Biggest Loser game but also the UFC Trainer for xbox 360. Fact is both of them are low as well as some (not all) other fitness "games" out there. They low ball the burn as to not be held accountable for misleading and blah blah blah. Plus for those that DO have a hrm going, they'll feel like they did even better giving them a psychological boost.

Keep playing/working out and get a hrm. Then you too can enjoy the artificially crafted feeling of accomplishment! lol

P.S.
I LOVE these games.

morkiemama · January 2012

I am thinking about purchasing a HRM. Any suggestions on what is a good one. I have seen ones that look more like a watch and think I would probably wear that more.

I recommend a Polar HRM with a chest strap. I have a Polar FT7 and LOVE it! Polar is known to be pretty accurate. Whatever HRM you get should have a chest strap. Ones without chest straps (e.g. ONLY the watch) are known to be wildly inaccurate.

merzback · January 2012

For accuracy I would suggest a fitbit or body bugg!

redmagpie91 · January 2012

Thanks everyone for.the.suggestions, but I cant do that atm. I have been wanting a hrm for a while now, but simply cant afford one. The ones with chest straps are way expensive. That's not even mentioning a bodybug or anything like that!! I was just wondering what everyone else's experiences were with Wii fit.

jc1229 · January 2012

They have crazy good deals at bodytronics.com I have a polar ft 4 that also comes with a chest strap.

lizjames1971 · January 2012

My hrm gives me a lot more than wii does!

ravensfan1 · January 2012

Thanx for the heads up about calories not being accurate. I ordered a fitbit so I will definitely be using that to see how many calories are burned when I Wii Fit

carramel0705 · January 2012

i found when i did my first workout yesterday the calories burned were quite a bit lower then the HRM watch i just got the day before. also the calories listed on my treadmill were a LOT lower then what the HRM was showing. that would explain the 8 pound drop in 2 weeks i was not eating back over more then half of what i had burned.

ahealthy4u · January 2012

For me the WII has been pretty well dead on in what I have been doing or fairly close. I think the WII is set somewhere in the middle to be honest. The best way to be really accurate I would say is one needs to invest the proper equipment to monitair ones progression.