It's been a while since I purchased Wii Fit and while I know most have given it up, I've now spent a total of 41 hours on it before the included "Panasonic Industrial Alkaline" batteries ran out. This was spread out over a period of 2 months while keeping up my own morning jog. Pretty much given up on all the other stuff such as yoga in Wii Fit now and only doing the muscle workouts.

So did all this Wii Fit training work? Well, I'm underweight so the software recommended I tried to gain some "muscular weight" to compensate but, while I have seemed to built up the muscles, I haven't really gained much weight since I started. I was skeptical one can gain much weight just by building up their muscles anyway.

On the other hand, I've read various articles that it seems to be working for those who are overweight.

I've also been reading up more about working out and nutrition lately so, here's a few interesting things I dug up that I think Wii Fit should have pointed out. Would have been much more useful than the current tips!

Working Out

• You only need to exercise every other day so that you give your muscles a rest, i.e. exercise a day, workout a day. Working out two to three times a week is enough.
• As a rough guide, your maximum heart rate is 220bpm - Your Age. The workouts should make you reach 70% of that rate. Athletes go up to 80%.
• Quality over quantity. It doesn't matter how many you can do if you can't do the reps right. Doing them slowly and concentrating on the form for each rep is more effective than doing them quickly so that you can make sure your muscles are feeling the right amount of strain.

Warm Up & Cool Down

• Be sure to stretch properly before you start working out. Stretching after you exercise will help your muscles recover faster and lower the chance of them aching.

Muscles

• Everyone has a "six pack" set of abdominal muscles to show only they're hidden under a pile of fat. No matter how many sit-ups or jack knives you do, it won't show unless you cut down on your in-take of fat such as chips and burgers.
• Women produce less testosterone than men, one of the main hormones that increase muscle size so, there should be no need worry about building big bulky muscles by working them out.

Nutrition

• To prevent muscles from weakening, you need at least (2 x Your Body Weight (kg)) g of protein per day. e.g. If you weigh around 65kg, you'll want to have 130g of protein daily. Protein can come from food such as cheese, milk, fish and meat.
• Carbohydrates help keep you on the move. This can come from bread, rice, potatoes, wheat and corn. If there is not enough glucose in your carbohydrates in-take, your concentration can be affected.
• Fibre can't be digested so you don't have to worry about gaining calories from food high in fibre but, it can lower your cholesterol.
• Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) helps convert the protein, carbohydrates and fat into energy. This in turn helps detoxification, your heart function and nervous system. Sources of this vitamin can come from yeast, rice, wholemeal products, peanuts, milk and pork.
• Calcium can come from milk, yoghurt, tofu and seafood. This helps tone the muscles.

Starting to feel like Akihiko from P3 now!

I'll be continuing my current routine, working out every other day and going for a 30 minute jog but, I've gone for a set of dumbbells too because there are some muscles that Wii Fit don't work out quite so well. Oh, and trying to throw in more calories too of course... Usually miss breakfast ^^;

You'll just have to eat more food with high nutrition if you're underweight like me. How much more? Well, according to this guide, one needs 3500 calories to gain one pound which means eating an extra 500 calories per day to gain that little extra weight per week.

So, lets finish this off with a list of Wii Fit unlockables and little "secrets" that can be found within the software for anyone interested.

Wii Fit Unlockables

Alternative Jogging Routes

There are alternative routes you can follow around Wifitty Island. Do you notice a dog running by you now and then? Well, by running quickly ahead of your trainer when it appears at the right times, you can explore other parts of the island! Here's a table of the various routes.

Fit Piggy Colours & Stamps