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What Wii Fit Doesn't Tell You

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What Wii Fit Doesn't Tell You

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

ii Fit Cash Type Exercise Unlocked
10 mins Yoga Sun Salutation
Muscle Rowing Squat, One Leg Swing
15 mins Balance Game Tightrope Tension
30 mins Aerobics Basic Step
45 mins Yoga Standing Knee
1 hour Balance Game Balance Bubble
1 hour 10 mins Muscle Sideways Leg-Life
1 hour 20 mins Yoga Palm Tree
1 hour 30 mins Balance Game Penguin Slide
1 hour 40 mins Aerobics Rhythm Boxing
1 hour 50 mins Muscle Parallel Stretch
2 hours Balance Game Snowboard Slalom
2 hours 15 mins Yoga Chair
2 hours 30 mins Muscle Tricep Extension
2 hours 40 mins Muscle Arm and Leg Lift
2 hours 50 mins Yoga Triangle
3 hours Balance Game Zazen
3 hours 10 mins Yoga Downward-facing Dog
3 hours 20 mins Yoga King of the Dance
3 hours 30 mins Yoga Cobra
3 hours 40 mins Yoga Bridge
3 hours 50 mins Muscle Single Arm Stand
4 hours Yoga Crocodile Twist
4 hours 10 mins Yoga Shoulder Stand

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.

Course Type When to Run Quickly Details of route.
Short 1st time you see it. Normal route
Don't run after. Jog by houses.
Long Course 1st time you see it. Jog by the Turbine Hills.
2nd time you see it. Jog through Wifitty City.
3rd time you see it. Jog by White Sand Beach.
Don't run after. Jog by the river.
Whole Island 1st time you see it. Jog on bridge by Thrilling Falls..
1st and 2nd time. Jog through Mountain Tunnel.
1st, 2nd and 3rd time. Through city and Seagull Point.
Only on the 2nd time. Falls, Tunnel, Camel Rock
Only on the 2nd and 3rd time. Falls up to Rocky Peak.
Don't run after. Mountain Tunnel

Fit Piggy Colours & Stamps

nlockable How to Unlock
Bronze Piggy Spend 10 hours on Wii Fit .
Silver Piggy Spend 20 hours on Wii Fit.
Gold Piggy Spend 40 hours on Wii Fit.
OK Stamp Must have done 2 Body Tests.
Star Stamp Must have done 4 Body Tests.
Heart Stamp Must have done 7 Body Tests.
Flower Stamp Must have done 10 Body Tests.
Smiley Face Stamp Must have done 14 Body Tests.
Mii Stamp Must have done 30 Body Tests.

Why not take a break?

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#1

Azz1628


Thanks, was wondering about all the different jogging routes and stamps. xD

Reply

#2

Maku tama


my god! didn't I notice that XD sorry! ;;;
yeah I mean underweight! if it is overweight.. should exercise more!! XD

Reply

#3

Xcomp Author


@Maku
Thanks...

You mean, "underweight" right? Yes... I wrote how much more one needs to eat but, if you don't want to gain flab, you'll want to workout too. That's why it's recommended to have a day in between workout days to let the muscles recover and build.

@Diego
To be honest, all the exercises can be done without Wii Fit. I just use it because of the incentives that I mentioned before which is better than say, keeping your of your results on a spreadsheet up to date manually. But yeah, it's hard to get a hold of here too even now... Slightly higher prices on Ebay unsurprisingly.

There hasn't been any tests from research organisations as far as I am aware. There have been a lot of blogs and newspaper coverage saying it works for losing weight, though... Run a search and you'll find a lot about it.

Workout instructors on the other hand, say the muscle exercises are useful but, a real workout in the gym would be much better.

Reply

#4

Diego


I've added this post to my Favourites list. It should come in handy if I ever decide to get a Wii Fit of my own (although I'm not even sure if it's still available locally).

Have any reliable tests been conducted to determine the Wii Fit's effectiveness?

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#5

Maku tama


hmm..shouldn't people overweight eat more food? o_o
doesn't exercise only makes you lose more weight? XD;;
anyway~ good luck on your exercise on gaining more muscles and weight!

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