HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-05-28, Page 9It’s not just about lacing up the
running shoes and pounding the
pavement anymore.
Fitness has gone high tech and
interactive. Now, it’s available in
your living room as well with the
new Wii Fit game.
This game for the new Nintendo
Wii system, a largely interactive
system using motion-detecting
controllers, uses a Wii balance board
which can calculate things like body
mass index (BMI), balance and
overall health, simply from
someone’s feet on the board.
Once the basics have been
established, like the user’s BMI,
there are up to 40 activities to try,
including yoga poses, push-ups,
strength training, aerobic and
cardiovascular exercises and many
balance activities, one of the core
fundamentals of physical health.
A height and weight are entered by
the user and the BMI is calculated.
Then there is a goal weight enteredand a plan is calculated to get theuser there.After several evaluation exercises,mostly dealing with balance, thegame calculates the user’s Wii
fitness age, which is essentially the
level of physical health of the user.
This is calculated through a body
test, which takes into account the
user’s age, weight and athletic
ability.
Stephanie Brindley, originally
from Dungannon, says her favourite
part of Wii Fit is the balance
games.
“They’re really fun, but you
definitely get a workout from it,” she
says. “It can get really tough.”
Brindley says she doesn’t use the
game all the time, but when she does
use it, she feels her muscles getting a
workout.
While the technology is
fascinating, Crystal Stewart, a
personal trainer at a local
community centre stresses that Wii
Fit will never take the place of a
personal trainer.
“While it is a great start and it acts
a bit like a personal trainer, if you’re
serious about getting fit, you’re
always going to need that personal
trainer to help you along,” she said.
“It’s nice to get help with someone
there showing you form and making
sure you’re hitting the right
muscles.”
Starting on the Wii balance board,
the system can tell you if you have
problems with your balance or your
stance immediately, simply by
identifying how weight is distributed
through your feet.Wii Fit exercises are divided intofour different categories: yoga,strength training, aerobics andbalance games.The yoga section works on the
user’s balance and flexibility,
incorporating 15 different poses. The
poses include deep breathing, half-
moon, dance, cobra, bridge, spinal
twist, shoulder stand, warrior, sun
salutation, tree, downward-facing
dog, standing knee, palm tree, chair
and triangle.
The strength-training exercises
work to tone muscle. This is an area
where Stewart believes the game
could be better.
She says that with some of the
more complicated motions, such as
a push-up into a side plank,
supervision should be required to
ensure the motion is being done
correctly and that the right muscles
are being targeted.
In addition, some of the
challenges, like the push-up
challenge, the plank challenge and
the jackknife challenge expect a
little too much from the user, citing
that female users may have problems
with a simple push-up without
incorporating her knees or executing
a push-up on a wall.
These are issues that need the
input and common sense of a
personal trainer, she says, rather than
just taking the Wii Fit at face value
throughout the entire workout.
The strength-training exercises
include a single-leg extension, a
sideways leg lift, and arm and leg
lift, a single-arm stand, torso twists,
a rowing squat, a single-leg twist, alunge, a push-up and side plank, ajackknife and a plank and tricepsextension, including theaforementioned challenges.The aerobics exercises begin to
bring more fun into the game with
routines like hula hoop, rhythm
boxing (which incorporates the Wii
hand controllers), basic step,
advanced step, free step as well as
running exercises.
The balance games are where the
game gets fun and competitive, says
Stewart, and it can easily become a
party game to be played with friends
as well as a chance to get active at
the same time.
The balance games include a
soccer heading game, ski jumping,
ski slalom, snowboard slalom, table
tilt, tightrope walking, balance
bubble, penguin slide and the lotus
focus, which is where the player
must remain motionless while
looking at a flame on screen.
Once the game has been played for
a while and the user has accumulated
enough fit credits, new games can be
unlocked.
Stewart says the game is fun and
the competitive nature of some of
the games is a great tool for helping
people to get active without having
their mind on it.
“It’s good if you’re not doing
anything. It’s a great start to get you
off the couch,” she said. “Playing the
balance games are great. They’re
really fun, you play with your
friends and see who does better, plus
you’re being active without even
knowing it.”
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009. PAGE 9.
From Marilyn’s Desk
Wii a fun way to get you on the path to fitness
Continued from page 3
for people with allergies. The dog he
had with him was a black Lab.
They start to train the dogs from five
to 13 months. They are first trained
in the house and that person takes
them everywhere they go, grocery
shopping, to church and the
library.
They are also taught not to bark.
The dog is then sent back to the
training school to be trained as a
guide dog, a special skills dog or
seizure dog. The dog and the person
with whom they are matched attend
a training school to learn to work
together. When the dog is in harness
you are not to pet them unless you
ask the owner first. When they are in
harness they know they are a
working dog.
Seeing eye dogs are trained to hear
noises and let their client know that
something is wrong. Special skilled
dogs trained are for people with
disabilities. They are trained to open
doors and fetch things for their
person. A seizure dog is trained to
watch the person and if they have a
seizure the dog is trained to push the
button of the Life Line system.
Guide dogs are not funded by the
government. It takes about $20,000
to train a dog. They are hoping to
train 120 dogs this year. It takes time
and there is always a list for the
dogs.
The offering was received
followed by a prayer repeated
responsively and the last hymn, God
Whose Almighty Word.
Emily said grace for the lunch
downstairs which was followed by
the benediction and the singing of
The Three-Fold Amen.
Everyone enjoyed a salad lunch
and video of the guide dogs
downstairs.
Balance
Stephanie Brindley, formerly of Dungannon, demonstrates
one of the many yoga poses on the Wii Fit. While it may be
difficult and it isn’t perfect, Wii Fit is a perfect start for
people wanting to get fit, just not knowing where to begin.
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Citizen
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The Citizen