Loading...
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. 404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 The Citizen Lots of Spring reading is available at... Spring Gardening Books COMPLETE HYDRANGEAS More than 140 pages, with 180 colour photos of this versatile, hardy plant. A history of their cultivation, growth requirements, and how to get the best colours by manipulating soil acidity and landscaping potential. $24.95 CARROTS LOVE TOMATOES Gardening can be made more successful just by which plants you put near each other. This classic companion planting guide has taught a generation of gardeners how to use plants’ natural partnerships.$19.95 DEERPROOFING YOUR YARD AND GARDEN Deer are beautiful creatures but they can be destructive in your yard and garden. This book provides nearly 200 pages of information including plants that deer truly hate, innovative fencing and homemade deterrents. $16.95 FRUITS AND BERRIES FOR THE HOME GARDEN More than 250 pages of information on choosing fruits and nuts, planting them, pruning, controlling disease and pests, and harvesting fruit. Even instructions on reproducing your trees & bushes. $27.95 GARDEN PATHS: Inspiring Designs and Practical Projects Garden paths can add so much interest to your yard. This 240- page book shows beautiful, colour photos of examples, then gives instructions on how to build them. Sure to inspire your imagination. $26.00 THE ORGANIC LAWN CARE MANUAL The coming ban on pesticide use on lawns doesn’t mean you can’t have a good-looking lawn. This 270-page manual provides information on how to have a healthy lawn, identify pests and control them. $26.95 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen