Fitness for Every Body - O.K., Avatar, Work With Me

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Fitness for Every Body - O.K., Avatar, Work With Me

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/fashion/15fitness.html?

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Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

When Nintendo released the Wii 18 months ago, it upended the notion

of what video games could be. Moving beyond the sunlight-deprived

young men at gaming's core, Nintendo appealed to the rest of the

world with an intuitive, family-friendly entertainment experience.

" Women, parents, even nursing-home residents have been drawn to the

Wii's simple evocations of games such as tennis and bowling. The Wii

has become the best-selling game machine of the current generation,

selling more than 25 million worldwide, and remains scarce on store

shelves across the nation.

Now Nintendo's latest brainchild, Wii Fit, could send similar ripples

through the home-fitness market. Scheduled to be released in North

America next week, Wii Fit is not meant to replace a gym. But in a

world of $3,000 elliptical machines and $150-an-hour personal

trainers, it has at least a chance of becoming a global, affordable,

mass-market interactive home-fitness system. (On its overseas debut

last month, it became one of the fastest-selling games ever in

Britain.)

Exercising with Wii Fit is like having a Bob Harper or a

Austin who talks back — gently cajoling you through exercises,

praising, nudging, even reminding you to eat a banana once in a

while. It also lets you see how you stack up against friends or

family members; each user creates a cartoony avatar called a " Mii. "

The system costs $90, plus $250 for the basic Wii console. It uses a

television and a sensitive " balance board " placed on the floor to

present a few dozen activities, from push-ups to yoga, to more

entertaining challenges like balance games and aerobic contests.

Nintendo is not aiming Wii Fit at people with a serious exercise

regimen. Rather, it is meant to appeal to the person busy with work

and family who just wants to have fun getting a little toned at home.

Believe me, I could use some help. As a video game journalist, I live

in a world where Buffalo wings, potato chips and jalapeño poppers are

considered food groups. The closest I get to serious exercise is

flopping around at concerts like a lumpy, overeducated flounder.

Then again, most Americans aren't really in great shape either. So I

felt I could reasonably reflect the broad mass market (if you will)

in testing whether a silicon coach has the potential to rescue

millions of Americans from decrepitude.

To help me evaluate the system, Thursday Styles recruited two fitness

professionals, an avid exerciser and one work-at-home parent to try

Wii Fit at the Chelsea Piers sports complex in Manhattan. Here is

what we thought:

THE MULTITASKER

Shira Weiss, a 33-year-old mother of two who works out of her home in

Teaneck, N.J., as a publicist for small businesses, wants Wii Fit

because it fits both her lifestyle and her doorway. " Before having

the kids, I used to work out every day — I belonged to a gym — but

now it's really only when I have a chance, " she said. " Let me put it

this way: I clean with vigor. I like aerobic exercise and would like

a treadmill. But we tried to get one, and the door of our house was

too narrow. It just wouldn't fit, and my husband was like, `Forget

the treadmill.' "

She eyed the 12 " by 20 " Wii Fit board. " But this could work, " she

said.

Wii Fit's almost 50 exercises are divided among four categories:

strength training, aerobics, balance games and yoga. Each user

creates a personal profile, including a potential weight loss (or

gain) goal. The system tracks a user's weight and body-mass index as

well as their performance on individual exercises. To help prevent

novices from overextending or frustrating themselves, only a few

exercises are initially available in each category; more advanced

activities are unlocked only after completing simpler options.

Ms. Weiss found her groove in Wii Fit's aerobics section. She proved

a quick study with the hula hoop game (gyrating in circles), before

finding her long-sought treadmill replicated in the running game. In

Wii Fit, running does not use the board. Rather, the user puts the TV-

remote-size Wii controller in her pocket or hand and runs in place

while the motion-sensitive controller serves as a pedometer. On

screen, the user runs through a bucolic park while a pacesetter

beckons the player onward. For longer runs, users can watch

television while the Wii tracks their progress.

" I enjoyed it, " Ms. Weiss said. " It's more interesting than running

on a treadmill because it gives you something to look at. It's like

an interactive exercise game. In some ways, it's like playing

Nintendo, but with your body. "

Wii Fit could be the right choice for exercise amateurs trying to get

in shape in the living room.

THE SWEAT HOUND

Luke McCambley, 18, knows he is an anomaly.

" You don't find many art-school gym rats, but I guess I qualify, " he

said.

Mr. McCambley, a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York,

was the only Wii Fit tester who actually owns a Wii. But he also

belongs to a Crunch downtown, works out six days a week, and is

studying to become a personal trainer.

So it wasn't surprising he had little problem with various strength

exercises like push-ups and leg twists. He aced balance games like

skiing and heading soccer balls, and looked like he could punch

through the screen in his aerobic boxing session.

" I go to the gym, so I don't need this, but for someone who doesn't

want to leave the living room it would be great, " he said. " Over all,

I liked it a lot. It seems really well-designed for the people it's

for. I worked up a sweat with a couple of the exercises. "

He added: " If you really committed to the strength exercises, you

could actually get some results. That said, if you're really looking

to get fit, join a gym. But this would be great for mothers, or if

they want their kids to get a little more in shape. "

Serious athletes don't need Wii Fit, but you (or your children) might

like it.

THE YOGA MASTER

Wii Fit is not, however, the right choice if you want to impress

Cyndi Lee, 54, the founder of Om Yoga in New York.

Before trying the system, she eyed the board and declared, " It's too

small. " Nonetheless, she sailed through a progression of Wii Fit's

yoga poses, including the half-moon, warrior, tree and sun

salutation. For each pose, at least one of the user's feet or hands

is usually on the board.

Afterward, her main concern seemed to be that Wii Fit reduces yoga to

a collection of physical exercises rather than presenting yoga as a

comprehensive approach to physical, mental and emotional wellness.

" This is a little dumbed down and they are teaching more from a

fitness or gym perspective, " she said. " They're saying things

like, `Tighten your glutes,' which we would never say in yoga. "

Ms. Lee also spied what she called incorrect elements within some

poses. " Like with the warrior pose they show the knee going past the

foot, which is a big no-no, " she said.

Wii Fit will not make you a yogi.

THE FITNESS PROFESSIONAL

Sharone Huey, 51, an exercise physiologist at the Sports Center at

Chelsea Piers, spent the most time with Wii Fit. Over two days, she

watched most other sessions and spent at least two and a half hours

with the system herself.

Her initial skepticism evolved into a somewhat surprised admiration.

" Actually I think it's pretty good, " she said. " You can definitely

get a workout. When I started doing it, I realized all the activities

were pretty much on point. There were some things I didn't like, like

the alignment in a couple of places. But over all, I thought they did

a good job and this will be a good tool for people who can't make it

to the gym. "

" I can see this in a seniors center or senior community and it would

be very interesting to be able to set up a whole class of people on

boards, tracking their progress, " said Ms. Huey, who reigned supreme

as the week's hula-hoop champion.

" The big thing is so many people buy a treadmill or some other

exercise machine and in two weeks it becomes an expensive clothes

rack, " she said. " This makes exercise fun and I think it will help to

motivate a lot of lazy folks. "

Among them, potentially other members of the Huey family. " I'll get

this for my lazy sisters, " she said.

THE COUCH POTATO

And what about Mr. Lumpy Flounder himself? Around this time last

year, I went to West Virginia to write about a plan there to install

the aerobic video game Dance Dance Revolution in every school in the

state. When I got back I thought, " O.K. let's see if I'll exercise

regularly at home on D.D.R. "

I lasted a week. The problem was there were days when I just didn't

want to dance to electronic house music for half an hour. Wii Fit

just might be different (though more than one tester commented on Wii

Fit's somewhat cheesy music). For me, the key is that one can

approach Wii Fit like a game. In its sheer variety of activities, you

can always find something to do. It beckons me to unlock the

different exercises, to get four stars in snowboarding, to get

through six more jackknife crunches.

I've spent about seven hours with Wii Fit recently and I'm still

doing it. The step exercises remain my strong suit, though I'm still

trying to figure out how to use my balance to navigate my floating

bubble through the canyon without popping. I'm even running a little.

But I realize that in an exercise program no manner of electronic

frippery (or fancy workout clothes) can make up for old-fashioned

motivation. If I stop using Wii Fit, it won't be because the graphics

or the sound were bad. It will just mean I got tired of exercising,

and no mere product will be at fault. Will I achieve the modest

weight loss goal I've set? I can only hope so.

And no, I won't tell you what it is.