Wii Health!!
In the fall of 2006, a new video game system called the Nintendo Wii was introduced to the public eye. It became an instant hit and is now a full-fledged craze, selling more than 11 million units in the United States from its release to now. At first glance, this would seem like another loss on the battle between fit and fat, but luckily the Wii is actually an exergame. To describe this, it’s a video game that requires players to use actual physical movements to carry out the action. Employing a wireless handheld controller (about the size of a TV remote, ironically) with acceleration sensors and an infrared camera built into the console, the Wii senses players’ motions and converts them to movements on the screen. For example, in Wii Tennis you swing the controller like a racket; for Wii Golf, the controller is your club. When you play the game you are actually moving like how you would if you weren’t doing it in your living room. But really how much exercising are you doing? That very question is what motivated Schmidt and others to study the exercise benefits of Wii.
To test the potential fitness benefits of playing Wii, a team of exercise scientists at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program, led by John Porcari, Ph.D., and Schmidt, recruited 16 volunteers, eight men, eight women, all between the ages of 20 to 29 years old. First, all volunteers were given an exercise test on a motorized treadmill to determine each subject’s maximal heart rate and maximal oxygen uptake.
Once that fitness baseline was established, the subjects were given a quick demonstration on how to use the video game system. Researchers used the standard Nintendo Wii bundled with Wii Sports, which includes baseball, boxing, bowling, golf and tennis games. Previous Wii experience was not required as subjects were given 15 minutes of practice time for each of the five sports and allowed to continue practicing until they were comfortable with the skills needed to play each one successfully. Though it’s possible to carry out the onscreen players using minimal body movement, researchers instructed the subjects to simulate the body movements used in each actual sport. They were told to move their bodies how it would naturally move if they were playing the sports.
Actual testing on the Wii was conducted on a later date. On this day subjects played each of the five sports randomly. Each game lasted 10 minutes and researchers recorded heart rate and maximum oxygen uptake at one-minute intervals. Researchers also interviewed the subjects during the final minute of each sport to determine their perceived exertion levels using the Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE). A five-minute break was given between each game to return the subjects’ heart rates to within 10 beats of their normal resting heart rate prior to beginning testing for the next game.
When the subjects played the games, they felt as thought they were doing the actual movements. They were breathing heavily and actually breaking a sweat. In fact, in addition to burning the most calories, boxing was the only Wii game tested that would be considered intense enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
Researchers compared the calories burned from playing the Wii to the actual sports. Compared to golfing at a driving range (3.9 calories per minute), playing Wii Golf burned 0.8 calories less per minute. Actual bowling burns nearly twice as much (7.2 calories per minute) as Wii Bowling, while baseball burns 7.3 calories per minute and Wii Baseball burns 2.8 calories per minute less. Similarly, Wii Tennis burns 2.8 calories per minute less than the actual game (8.1 calories per minute). Finally, Wii Boxing burns about 3.0 calories per minute less than conventional sparring at 10.2 calories per minute.
The take-home message is that it’s better than sitting around. While not as good as playing the real sport, the Wii certainly does burn more calories and gets your energy expenditure up compared to sitting around playing a sedentary video game. Of course participating in the actual sports themselves provides more cardiovascular and strength benefits than Wii because you’re moving your entire body and swinging things with more weight like baseball bats, tennis racquets and golf clubs. Even so, Wii can be a great alternative workout and a great option for people who can’t find the time or motivation to get out of the house and exercise. For instance, playing 30 minutes of Wii Boxing burns 216 calories, which is 51 calories more than walking, while a 30-minute Wii Tennis match burns a impressive 159 calories. Some people may also find that the natural competitiveness that comes with playing Wii against an opponent can help with their motivation and, thus, their ability to stick with a regular exercise regime. The convenience of exercising in one’s own living room may also improve exercise adherence. Wii can provide some fitness benefits and help with weight management, but the key comes down to simulating the movements used in the actual sports. If you want to get as good a workout as you can with Wii Sports, you really need to mimic the real movements as closely as possible. Too often people look at regular exercise as a chore. The hope is that new exergames like Wii will induce people to get up off the couch and realize that fitness can, in fact, be fun.
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