Cardio Boxing: Nintendo Wii Style

I've had my Nintendo Wii for a little over six months now. I've probably played the system for about three of those months. If you've read some of my previous posts, the main reason for playing the Wii was to get some additional exercise (and have some fun) for myself and my mom.

In the time I've had the system, I've primarily played Wii Sports (the game that comes with the system). I love Wii Sports and got the hang of the baseball, bowling, tennis and golf games. Yet, for some reason I stayed away from boxing. Perhaps it was due to some tough early experiences playing the game because I just didn't know how to play.

In the past month or so, I finally gave in and started playing the boxing game. It took a little while (and some reading) to get the hang of the game. Now that I have gotten the hang of the game, I LOVE it. Unlike the other four sports, boxing requires some effort and forces you to expend a lot of energy while playing. I find that using the three boxing training games and the main boxing game itself gives me a decent workout.

Recently, I got a copy of EA Sports Active for the Wii. I've loving EA Sports Active due to the great number of activities in the game. Among my favorites? If you guessed boxing you would be correct!

While I won't be participating in real boxing anytime soon, I actually thought about getting a punching bag or something similar. It would be nice to do some real boxing work rather than just using the Wii.

Nintendo Wii Update / Mental Health Benefits

I usually don't blog twice in a day, but I thought this would be interesting. I wrote in a previous blog post about my Nintendo Wii as an exercise alternative. See the article linked below (or on the left nav bar in August):

http://www.throughabceyes.com/2009/08/nintendo-wii-as-exercise-alternative.html

Since I wrote the post, I've personally played the Wii quite a bit. I use it as an exercise alternative on those days I don't get much physical activity. I've even used the Wii recently to supplement any other exercise I've done during the day. I currently only have Wii Sports to play with but it's been good enough thus far.

I also mentioned that my mom's doctor recommended she get more exercise. While walking should be my mom's primary form of exercise, I introduced my mom to the Wii to get her some additional exercise as well. I initially planned to just have my mom do the Wii Fitness portion of the Wii Sports package. Alas, that plan didn't work out. My mom struggled with the speed of the baseball and tennis games as her reaction time wasn't good. Given time and practice, she probably would have gotten the hang of it.

However, I wanted something she could learn more quickly. After exploring, I found that the bowling and golf target practice games worked well. Both games required only simple button pushing and arm movements to play. I should note that I taught my mom to simulate the action bowling a real ball and swing a golf club instead of flicking the write like some people do. I figured that would get her more exercise (I do this myself as well). It took my mom a relatively short amount of time to learn how to play both games. In fact, my mom torched me in one round of the golf target game 495 points (!!?!?!) to 255 points.

Admittedly, the physical benefits of playing these games aren't huge unless we play it for hours. However, burning off even a few calories is beneficial for someone her age. One unexpected benefit may be for my mom's mental health. My mom got a great deal of joy scoring 495 points on the golf target game (I don't think she cared about beating me). I underestimated how the sense of accomplishment could make someone feel better.

There are many studies on how the Nintendo Wii has helped various segments of society. While I don't have any scientific proof to back what I see, I definitely see the Wii has had a positive impact on my mom. I didn't expect how much she would like playing with the system but I am not complaining!

Nintendo Wii as an exercise alternative

Around the early part of June, I was surprised AND fortunate to win a Nintendo Wii in a raffle run by a basketball league I play in. I'm sure I disappointed the many kids who also play in our league who wanted the grand prize of the raffle.

While I like video games, I wasn't overly excited about winning the Wii. After all, I'd had a Playstation 2 for years but hadn't played any games on it in a long time. I was actually playing more online games (poker, Mafia Wars, etc) and eighties video games (Pac-Man, Galaga, etc) than more recent games.

However, after thinking about it, winning the Wii was a blessing in disguise:

Reason #1
My mom used to play video games on our old Atari 5200. As she's gotten older and video games have gotten more complicated, she stopped playing. However, from playing Wii Sports with my friends, I knew the games were something she could learn to play. An added benefit was the games could get her a little exercise since the Wii Sports games require the player to move around a little bit. For multiple reasons, the doctor has told my mom to get more exercise so I always encourage my mom to walk more. Unfortunately, she doesn't walk as much as she should. However, I think the Wii can serve as an alternative on days my mom doesn't walk. I don't think the Wii can replace any exercise program completely. However, my opinion is that any exercise is better than nothing.

Reason #2
This reason probably applies to me and my mom. As we all know, weather affects people's moods and thus their motivation to exercise. Generally, San Francisco had mild weather but the temperatures have been in the 90's most of today. Because of the hot weather, I've decided to stay at home today (a benefit of being unemployed). I may go out to the East Bay to play basketball later tonight. However, with the warm weather, it could be a challenge to play.

For those days where the weather (hot or cold) is keeping you from getting exercise, the Wii can fill in. I've already played about 30 minutes worth of Wii Sports today. For someone who's in reasonably good shape, I know I'm not going to work up a huge sweat, build big muscles or get in aerobic shape just by playing the Wii. However, I think just getting up and burning a few calories is always beneficial.