Get In Shape And Improve Your Physical Condition Working Out With Nintendo Wii
Nintendo Wii Fitness, Sports and Dance games are great cardiovascular workouts. The aerobic exercises are good for building strength and stamina. Cardio exercise is a vital part of a weight loss and healthy exercise regime. Proven to reduce the risk of heart disease, some cancers, help reduce stress, increase energy levels and build lung capacity, this is one type of exercise you can’t afford to miss out on.
Many exercises can have a positive impact on your health. However exercise, especially if you aren’t used to it, can be one of those good habits that’s all too easy to break. There’s a high dropout rate at gyms and even simple exercise like walking can seem not all that much fun. Active gaming eliminates the ‘boredom’ factor of exercise regimes. Fun and sociable it hardly seems like real exercise – but shares all of the benefits.
The yoga exercises are great for relieving stress and as a general fitness exercise. The balance games are known to have many health benefits also. They work to improve your motor coordination, general muscle fitness, therapy and other kinds of personal development. They are excellent for injury prevention and rehabilitation. In fact, doctors from the University of Melbourne are using the Wii Balance Board to asses patients balance capabilities. They found that the Nintendo Wii accessory is as accurate and cheaper than regular methods.
Workingout with Nintendo Wii has all the benefits of cardio exercises, yoga, and balance practice, and it's so much fun! It's also interactive and convenient, and has a low drop out rate. This is why some of the most important Medical institution are reconizing its value for the national health.
The AHA estimates that 70% of Americans are not getting enough physical exercise. This is a frightening figure when you consider that 'enough' according to recommendations is only 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day and 20 minutes of high-intensity exercise 4 times per week.
The lack of perceived fun in exercising is one of the barriers to healthy living that both the American Heart Association (AHA) and Nintendo have identified. They joined forces to encourage the use of Active Gaming, to promote exercise and healthy living. As part of the health aware promotion, the AHA heart logo can be seen in the Wii system, Wii Fit and Sports Resort games.
The American Heart Association and Nintendo believe that ‘Exergaming’ offers an exciting, fun and easy route into exercise. Focussing on the benefits of the games for people who feel that exercising cannot easily be fit into their normal routines and who perceive exercise as anything but fun! To promote the games the Association is including the chance for people to try them out at it’s ‘Start! Heart Walk’ events throughout fall 2010. The prospect of a major health organisation and a video games manufacturer working together to promote healthy living would have raised a few eyebrows, only a matter of years ago. As the Wii revolution continues it seems this trend is only going to grow.
In January 2009 the UK’s National Health Service launched the ‘Change4Life’ campaign aimed at encouraging the public to eat more healthily and exercise more. Amid growing fears relating to obesity related illness and mortality in the UK, the NHS campaign was particularly targeted at children. One of it’s early TV adverts which depicted children playing a video game – inferring that this was unhealthy – soon came to the attention of Nintendo and other manufacturers of video games.
With good reason too. Nintendo pointed out that it’s latest generation of games includes the Wii Fit range, or also known as Wii Fitness games. These games are increasing in popularity as both games and a method of encourgaging healthy exercise. The Department of Health, to their credit, took the point and in an unusual about-turn have not only agreed with Nintendo but endorsed the Wii Fit Plus, allowing the manufacturer to use the ‘Change4Life’ slogan in their advertising campaigns.
A Department of Health spokesman stated – “Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving.”
The games popularity was already well established, but in becoming the first video game to be publicly endorsed by a Government Department, it’s sales have continued to rocket. Currently it’s estimated that one in four households in the UK are using Wii, not just as a game, but as a way to get the exercise they need. The games include skiing, hula-hooping and yoga positions; while players can develop a plan to target specific areas of their body or specific goals.
Some physiotherapy departments are also considering the use of Wii, believing that it will help patients to recover mobility and get a healthy dose of exercise during the recovery process.
The NHS’s acknowledgement of the benefits of exercising while gaming has seen for the first time a public acceptance that Active Gaming or Exergaming can have a positive outcome on peoples lives. The benefits of being able to plan a routine that suits the individual and which can be completed at home – whatever the weather might just mean that Gaming manufacturers will encourage just the sort of ‘Change4Life’ that the UK government wants to see.
Though it took until 2009 for the UK’s National Health Service to acknowledge the benefits of video games such as Nintendo’s Wii, the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) has been appropriately ahead of the game for some time. Internationally recognised the ISSA has been providing certification for fitness instructors since 1988.
In 2007 the organisation recognized the health benefits of Nintendo Wii. Taking a realistic view of those who don’t regularly take exercise Dr Josh Trout pointed out that those who have chosen to lead a sedentary lifestyle will be unlikely to change their habits. However, with one of the biggest target markets for video games still being children and teens Dr Tosh recognized that Nintendo Wii and other games were “an excellent way for getting kids hooked on physical activity, producing good exercise habits that can last their lifetime.”
The institute also found that everybody can benefit from this type of game, as even playing the games sat down; there is a level of movement involved that will burn calories. Nicole Snow an ISSA registered fitness instructor said that the best part is that it’s just fun – for everyone. “De-conditioned and obese individuals will find it fun to play and gain aerobic movement out of the games. Seniors can enjoy gentle movements of bowling and golfing. Youth become a part of the game and don’t just turn into vegetables in front of the TV”. Snow added that everyone can burn calories through using Wii and argued that it also encourages ‘good health’ habits. A fellow registered fitness instructor, Al Grant, adds that – “Video games sometimes serve as a springboard to the real sports, and believe it or not, it was actually recommended by my son's football coach that he play Madden 2007 to learn the plays that they want to implement in the coming season.”
It seems that apart from the obvious health benefits of burning calories and regular exercise, the latter point seems to be a common factor in the growing number of endorsements Wii is gaining. The current levels of obesity amongst children and teens have been blamed on the lifestyles of the last thirty years or so. In the UK, the current generation is the first to have a life expectancy lower than their parents’ generation, and until now video games have been seen as one of the factors in this trend. In encouraging healthy exercise, many health bodies now see that Wii, amongst others, is finally changing the game! .
