Wii Fit

For years I have periodically tried some new way to get exercise only to abandon it within a few weeks. I am now over 3 months into using the Wii Fit and I am still using it nearly every day. Best of all - I never dread doing the exercise. I am far more flexible and stronger that I was three months ago and I could not be more pleased with the system.

Wi Fit is by far the best thing we have ever purchased! Great for kids to move around and exercise, as well as my husband and I. I exercise for at least an hour everyday. The kids use it alot, and we could not have invested in anything else that is absolutely a wonderful product!
Robin Foti
Breaux Bridge, LA

This product is extremely enjoyable and a great tool towards weight improvement, increasing activity and shedding the title of couch potato.

It would be greatly enhanced with minor changes, like new activity unlock; clearer instructions for body tests and less "oh" sound effects when the participants stands on the board.

Overall, I am happy with my purchase.

I am a fairly active(although, no organized exercise routine) 41 yrs. old female. I used the wii fit yesterday and much to my suprise I am totally sore... you know... the kind of sore I haven't been since doing high-school sports. I "played" on it for around an hour and now I moan and then giggle when I sit or stand. Yes, I will continue to play on this and I highly recommend this for people who just cant stand the thought of tradional exercise!!! Be forwarned an hour for me on the first day was to much!

The Fit is a great game. The only things that are lame are the 3 running activities. Running in place in my living room is boring, no matter if it is on a game system or not. I love the rest, even the games I am not good at.

Got the Wii Fit for my family and it has turned out to be a great tool to get them off the couch and up and moving. Though we have only had it a short time I can see it keeping my kids attention. I wasn't really expecting all that much...I had read several reviews prior to purchase, but I must say the interaction is great. Setting goals and reaching them is another great reinforcement tool Wii Fit uses. I believe the product to be a good value for the dollar.

This program is pretty fun, it gets you up off the couch and moving and you can get your heart rate up. My problem with it is that each activity, say, yoga poses or hula hoops, are a minute to 3 minutes long. Then you have to stand there waiting through all the comments about your performance, seeing your standing based on the points you acquired for the activity, then clicking through the screens again to repeat the activity or move on. The program tells me how long I "worked out", but I know that for my 30 minute workout I probably spent 15 of that standing and clicking the A button. I'd like to be able to string several activities together to have a real workout and keep my heart rate up.

On the plus side, I love that my son is willing to step away from the computer and give this a few minutes periodically! The balance games are quite challenging and it's fun to watch the program make a drawing at the end of how your center of balance moved during the activity. All in all a great start for Wii and I can definitely see there being upgrades to this, hopefully soon!

The Wii fit craze is an innovative method of exercise. You start out with establishing a profile giving your Wii fit age and Body mass index. It was funny seeing my Mii change from a small guy to a big plump Mii. So even though my body fat is low, the Body Mass Index is high. There is a caveat to just assessing body composition by one parameter.

There are 4 different methods of exercise. Strength training, yoga, aerobics and balance exercise. I never thought that a video game system would actually wear me out like an exercise video would but this can and will challenge you physically. As you continue your fitness pursuit, you can track your progress.

Of the games, I feel that the Ski slalom and snowboard slalom to be the most fun of the group, with the tightrope as a distant 3rd.

However, the best value of this package is the versatility of the balance board to use in other games. As more and more games are developed to take advantage of this peripheral, it will become a must have in your Nintendo Wii system.

I highly recommend this system not only for the Wii fit disk but also for the balance board which really adds to the allure of such a versatile gaming system. Once you sync the board to your system, you are set. However, I strongly recommend rechargeable batteries since it appears to drain through batteries faster than other Wii remotes. The board is solid in construction and wide enough for most individuals. It is surprisingly heavy and sturdy, too.

CAVEAT: There is a stated limit of 300 lbs for users. I would personally go 10% under that limit if you want to be safe.

Wii Fit is a fun activity for the Wii. I specify "activity" because it's not really much of a game. It's enjoyable, there are challenges, and occasionally you will rack up some points, but it's not really a game. It's marketed as a game that happens to be exercise, but in reality it's just exercise that feels like a game. The difference is important because if you decide to create a Wii Fit regimen in the hopes that you can play an hour of games a day and exercise at the same time, you'll probably be disappointed. If you hate exercising already, the Wii Fit won't make it enjoyable, it will make it bearable.

The reason Wii Fit makes exercising bearable is because it sets small goals (you might exercise for an hour a day, but it's broken up into a series of three or five minute segments), it gives you rewards (in the form of unlocking new activities or other game features), and it's even fun sometimes (particularly the balance games portion). Essentially, it takes your mind off of the fact that you're sweating and possibly miserable.

In short, I love Wii Fit. I like the ability to tailor a workout to your strengths (or, conversely, work on your weaknesses) by being able to mix up a variety of activities from yoga, strength training, and aerobics. Despite my love of it, however, it has a one major flaw: it is extremely judgmental for being a friendly-looking video game. If I wanted someone to make me feel bad about myself, I could call my mother up, thanks.

First of all, it relies heavily on BMI, which is not an accurate standard. It's a good starting point for judging health, but it is by no means comprehensive. People with high muscle mass (myself included) can seem overweight. Also, BMI is a horrible indicator for children, who tend to plump out before a growth spurt or become slightly underweight immediately after one.

Secondly, this game will judge every ounce you gain. It doesn't give a crap if you're putting on muscle mass, are wearing a heavy sweatshirt, have indigestion, or just ate. Normal bodies will fluctuate in weight -- up to one or two percent -- for almost no reason at all. This is normal. Wii Fit, however, will ask you WHY you gained that quarter of a pound and ask you to choose from a list of reasons. Even if you non-committally answer with, "I don't know." The game will tell you to watch what you eat. If you dare to answer "Indigestion" twice in a row, it says something along the lines of "Indigestion AGAIN, eh?" And then implies that you're probably fibbing. All of the game's ribbing is relatively good natured, but the fact remains that any weight gain is looked down on. Conversely, even though it shames you for gaining half a pound, it doesn't congratulate you for losing half a pound. So until you reach a pre-set goal, you usually hear mostly chiding comments.

Being shamed by a video game isn't really one of my life's concerns, however, so I don't let that deter me from enjoying Wii Fit. However, if you are sensitive about your weight and/or are recovering from an eating disorder, it might be best to skip this one. Otherwise, have fun with it and don't take the talking balance board personally.

I bought this WII FIT at a local store on October 5th, and I have lost 4 lbs since then. I love how it encourages you to come back and to keep trying. With the games on Wii Fit, you think that you are just playing simple games, but after you get done playing for however long you play, you are sore and you know that you were using muscles you don't use that much. This item is a big self esteem booster. I would encourage anyone that doesn't like working out on a daily basis to try this thing out, this thing is the greatest!! Its great for Family's too, my mother and sister get on there and switch on and off to see who can do better and its great family time together and your getting a workout at the same time!!

This thing is amazing! My boyfriend and I got it a week ago, and I've already lost 2 pounds! It's fun to have someone else doing this with you, because it's turned into something of a competition for us. You get points in every game you play, and it's fun to try to beat someone elses score. Your Mii looks thin/overweight according to your BMI, so that's modivation too, 'cause I want my person to be thinner than my boyfriend's! Everyday she gets a little thinner!

You don't feel like you are working out, you are to busy focusing on the game. The balance games are fun, like the hula-hoop, which is a favorite of my boyfriend's. You have to hula-hoop, while others throw more hoops at you, and you have to lean to catch them, and have up to, I believe it's 6 hoops, spinning on you at a time.

I was skeptical of the Streingth training ones, but they actually are really great! I have no arm muscles, so I don't like those much, but I love the torso twists! My boyfriend does a lot of the lunges and puch up activities.

The more time you are working out overall, you unlock more games, and new levles. I love the aerobics game of boxing. It's different from teh regular Wii version, where you are punching a bag in different sequences, and have to step forward, or back, to do the punches. I'm not very coordinated, but this is helping me get there, 'cause you have to be to get good at this! I've unlocked Expert level, and love it, 10 straight minutes of it!

I give this 5/5 staris in every department, this thing is so great! You get so into the game, you forget you are wokring out!! I reccomend this to people who don't have the time or energy to work out, even if you just don't like to work out (like me!). I love to just get 15 minutes in before bed, if that's all I have time for, it goes by quick!!!!

I love this "game". It's a mixture of games that requires you to keep very good balance on the board, with yoga, stretching and aerobic exercises.

Of the games, my favorites are the head butting soccer ball game, the penguin fish game.
Of the exercises, I love the step - the harder one - just enough to be barely like Guitar Hero or DDR, but not too hard, cuz otherwise you give up :)

well this was a wedding gift. it is ok, it is not a ton of fun. it is exercise. if you want to work out- a bit, work on your balance, then this may be for you. if you would like a game to play for fun... DON'T BUY THIS.

The Wii Fit intrigued me as someone who doesn't get enough exercise and needs to drop a few pounds. But would it really deliver? I mean it's 90 bucks, so I didn't want to buy it if it wasn't worth it. What tipped the balance for me was reading an article on The Ninformant.

I bought the game because of the review and was not disappointed. I've only been playing for a few weeks, but can already tell that I'm getting stronger. The game gets you up off the couch, gets you moving, and makes weighing yourself a tolerable experience!

The Wii Fit is amazing. The interactive Yoga and the balance board bring a new level of excitement to video games. I can't wait for more games involving snowboarding and skateboarding using the balance board. My girlfriend bought these Yoga pants for her workouts, Authentic Pigment 9 oz Ladies' Pigment-Dyed Stretch Yoga Pants 1960 and Bella Ladies 7.5 oz. Cotton Fleece Straight Leg Sweatpant, and these tops in various colors, Bella 2x1 Ribbed Tank Top 4000 and Bella Tank 1080.

First off, I haven't been dedicated to working out in SO long that it shows. Just couldn't seem to work up enough interest to any healthful workouts when I could be reading a great book or watching a really good DVD instead. Bought this Wii Fit and now I can Not Wait to work out!

If you're like me and out of shape, don't feel badly, even when your Mii person takes on your proportions during your fitness set-up. ( humbling and funny ) There's also a wonderful password feature that does not allow others to see your weight / body fat percentage, which is really nice.

The wide variety of choices-do you feel like doing strength training? How about Aerobics? What about Yoga? Maybe some balance exercises? Maybe you wanna mix it all up and get a great all around workout. You can also earn points which open up new games / challenges for you to try.

You can choose to have a male or femaale trainer to help explain certain workouts and cheer you on.

I have to admit that I didn't mind being reminded that I am overweight, cause the system does it in a kind way and doesn't really belittle you. It's such a great feeling though when you complete a course / task / challenge and get rated ( one through four stars )that you just wanna improve yourself and get more of those darn rating stars and get more new games / challenges too.

After 30 minutes of having a good time while working out, I was sweating ( and drinking a lot of water ). I look forward to the day when after 60 minutes of working out I Finally start to break a sweat.

Can't wait to work out later today and THAT itself is worth the price of this Fit. To look forward to exercise....priceless.

PLEASE DEONT BE FOOLED AND PURCHASE YOUR WII FIT ONLINE WHEN THEY ARE IN STORE FOR 80.00 PEOPLE ARE SCALPING THEM FOR TWICE THEIR PRICE!!! WII FIT ISGOOD BUT PLEASE DONT BE FOOLED INTO PAYING MORE THAN ITS WORTH

My entire family enjoys this game. Even my 13 year old son is having a blast. My son, my husband, and my daughters ALL do yoga on the Wii fit as well. Why? Because they want to all be first on the rankings!

This is a great 'fitness' game that allows us to all compete with each other. Yes, most of the games are single player, but that does not diminish the fun.

My husband was against buying this game as he thought it would be cheesy, and not much fun. He admits he was wrong.

As for the game, I believe that the basic premise it to work on your balance and strength. My children's balance (and therefore their posture) are all improving daily. I never realize how important balance was to body health.

Ok here I am, over forty and not liking the changes. Where I live there are two seasons, winter and summer. Summer, which we are coming to the end of feels like an Amazonian heat wave. Making outdoor exercise impossible.

Go the the gym? LOL!!! I am a self employed contractor who works about 12 hours a day between driving my kid 30 miles to schoool, getting dinner on and cleaning up afterwards. I don't have an additional two hours to dedicate to a gym.

I started the WiiFit just this past Sunday. Of course since I used to be military and prime shape, the beginning exercises seemed elementary, even with my sedentary lifestyle and my rating of 'Obese' that the Wii gave me. When I did my first sets of exercises I was disappointed, that is until I started unlocking new levels.

Can you say 'Feel the burn'? My favorite is the Hula Hoop which is an aerobic exercise. It's only as hard as you make it. MY idea was to get to the 4 star level. That means twirling faster and faster to get the maixmum number a spins and catching thrown hoops at the same time. Right now I am telling my kid 'Please don't make me laugh, my sides hurt.' I usually do the regular Hula nad the Advanced Hula back to back for 15 mins of my aerboic exercise.

Once I unlocked free step,I found that I can do this while working or during the evening news and if I pump up the pace, 15 mins leaves me quite sweaty. Working on 30 but remember I have only had the thing a few days.

When I logged on and the board told me I was out of balance, that became my mission. Yoga, balance games, strength training and I usually couple them as the game instructs. Still can't do the danged tree pose worth a fudge but I am much better at it than I was four days ago.

This game is perfect for me and my arthritic kness. It only starts telling on me after marathon Hula Hooping and free step. One reason I haven't taken it past 15 mins for step or done much with the running.

I hear a lot of complaints about the strength training, I find thAT using a two pound weight for many of the exercises, pumps them up a notch, such as the rowing, tricep and plank (keep one on either side for the upside of the plank). Once I get better with the knees may even add them to the step.

It is easy to unlock additional levels, my thing is the promise to myself not to proceed until I have at least 3 stars at whatever activity I am currently doing, no matter how tempting it may be.

My two regrets about buying the Wii Fit? getting so involved in the balance games that on day two I stayed on the thing for two hours straight... felt that the next morning. Not getting it sooner.

The two things I love about the Wii Fit? Finally finding 'me time' for something I had been wanting to do even if it came out of a little box and seeing the look on my teenager's face who never tires of saying things like 'Thats not exercise' getting no better score on the balance game than I. Gotta luv it!!!

I try to get in 30-60 mins a day even if that means the first half is put in at 6 a.m.

I love this game! Its so much fun and I actually lost weight playing it.

I had preordered the Wii FIT before it came out and was so excited when it arrived and have used it weekly since. It actually is really fun. As you use Wii FIT more and more, you will also gain access to additional features.
My main complaint is how it uses data on the "age determination" stage. It has rated me as 23 in one week and then 54 the next week (I'm in my 30s). Obviously, not too accurate. Still, it works out muscles that I generally don't get to in my usual daily workout.

This really is a great product. We purchased this to try and get a little exercise (while having fun) during our busy schedules. It's fun, but remember, it's like any other piece of exercise equipment--if you just let it sit there, it's not doing any good! :)

Seriously though, it's a really convenient and fun way to sneak in a little exercise. I don't regret our purchase at all and I would not hesitate to recommend this item to others.

I LOVE my Wii Fit. I can't stand exercise - walking is boring, and I'm not willing to pay for a gym membership I know I won't use. For me, then, the Wii Fit is perfect. It's convenient and I actually enjoy it! There are some times when I think "I'll just hop on for 10 minutes, I don't feel like exercising" and before I know it I've done half an hour because I'm having too much fun to stop.

I love the fact that it keeps track of all your scores. If I do badly in an exercise, I'll almost always go back and try it again to try to get a high score. I guess it's strange to be competitive against yourself, but that's what I'm doing with it!

As other people have said, there are downsides to the game, too. The only one that really bothers me is the amount of clicks you have to make to complete a workout. I'd love to be able to put together various 10-minute exercise programs to get an effective workout without having to keep sorting through menus. It would be good, also, to be able to do (for example) an 'arm muscle workout' rather than having to go through the menus trying to remember which exercises are the best for certain areas.

Also, if you're super-fit already this won't really make much of a difference for you. For the people like me, who don't do much exercise at all and need a kick-start to tone up and get moving, it's perfect. Can't wait till I hit my weight loss goal!

The Wii Fit is really great. I get a good workout going by doing either all of the yoga poses or all of the strength training poses after doing a hula hoop and advanced step warm up. The more you use it, the more exercises and reps you unlock. I hope they will come up with some more games for it in the future.

This is a fun game - you can work up a sweat if you put forth the effort. The only drawback is the repetitive nature of the "encouragement" provided by the virtual trainers. After you've been working with the game for a couple of weeks, it is frustrating to wait for them to provide comments. I only use it when I don't have time to make it to the gym; I still prefer the gym for my cardio - I like to work little more intensively than the Wii Fit can accommodate. My husband and kids like it, too. It was worth the price!

You still hsve to work at it but it provides a diversion to the fact that you are exercising. Far better than watching TV on a treadmill.

I just got the Wii Fit last week; in 7 days, I have lost 6 pounds so far! The game is so motivational; my kids (10 and 17) love it, too, and have been using it daily as well, challenging themselves to beat me. So far, I have obtained results far beyond my expectations, and would highly recommend it to other middle-aged folks like myself, who want to lose weight and feel better all around!

First things first: I'm a PC game player almost exclusively. I haven't owned a console and put it to serious use since, well, the Atari 2600. I bought the Wii for two reasons: to get my wife into gaming and for the Wii Fit. So far, the Wii Fit has been a very satisfying success.

There are four main sections to the game: yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Yoga and strength training are the most legitimate exercises, with fifteen different types of exercise each. These two groups have a personal trainer (male or female) explaining and demonstrating the moves for you before letting you do them yourself. The aerobics and balance sections are more game-like, although the aerobics activities definitely get your heart pumping and the sweat flowing. These two sections also make heavy use of the Mii characters, which is entertaining in and of itself. The balance games are the most entertaining and accessible, but probably the least likely to get you in shape.

You begin with only a handful of exercises and activities available, but as you start putting time into working out, you unlock more positions and moves. It's a great motivator, since you'll want to keep working out to see what else is available. The activities seem to increase in difficulty and intensity at a nice steady pace, as you unlock more challenging moves and the option to do more reps for previously opened ones.

The balance board peripheral is able to sense how well you're balanced for all the activities, and is remarkably sensitive. The designers did a great job thinking out how all the activities would work out in practice, and the game can tell a lot about how you're doing based on your center of gravity. In fact, on one occasion, I was doing something, lost my balance, and had to put my foot on the ground to regain it. The game immediately called me out: "You put your leg down, didn't you?" I had to chuckle at that. It's great to be able to get continuous feedback about how you're doing, instead of doing it alone and hoping you've got it right.

As many have said, you can cheat on most of the activities if you want to, but if you are, you're a pretty pathetic person, and wasting your time and money pointlessly.

The graphics in the yoga and strength training sections are pretty basic, but more than sufficient to understand the poses and exercises. The aerobics and balance section have pretty whimsical graphics, but they look nice as well.

The sound is decent, with verbal instruction for the yoga and strength portions, and silly and catchy tunes for the aerobics and balance sections.

It is true, the Wii Fit system isn't perfect, since you can't program a series of activities continuously, and must instead select them one by one, stopping in between each to move on to the next. Still, the delays are minimal, and you can do quite well if you're focused.

One of the best parts of the entire system is the ability to do daily body tests, which tell you how much you weigh, your BMI, and your Wii Fit age. The most useful part of this is the graph, which shows your progress towards goals of your choosing. I'm always making goals like this, and wanting to keep track, but being able to have it up on a TV screen, all neat and organized, motivates me like nothing else. The fact that you can also record out-of-game activities on your exercise chart is also great motivation to actually DO other physical fitness activities outside of the game. I have been on and off into yoga for almost a decade, and this provides great motivation to do it and add the time to my daily workout chart. This might not motivate everyone, but for a guy who's been keeping virtual score for decades, this is the just the thing.

Overall, the Wii Fit is as useful as you make it. If you're just looking to goof off, you can certainly do that, but if you're serious, this will definitely be a key component of your exercise regime. I will make one other note. As someone with a lot of experience with yoga, I found most the yoga and strength training exercises familiar, and understood what they were trying to achieve. For someone with little or no experience in those areas, it might be well advised to look some things up online to familiarize yourself with them before diving into this "game." Still, I can heartily recommend the Wii Fit for anyone that has a strong desire to get into shape.

My wife is addicted to the Wii. She has a scheduled routine and has added cardio to her Wii work out.

My husband and I got the Wii Fit to help us get into shape. I thought it was great. It makes working out fun. My husband on the other hand cannot use it since he is to heavy. The game resets itself when he steps on the board after telling him he is to heavy. The max weight for the board is 330 lbs. My husband weighs 345 (looking back, I did not see this limitation on any off the information on this product). He does need to loose some weight but he is also naturally a big guy. I contacted nintendo about this. I asked if they were going to come out with a different board for those above the current weight limit and was given an empty answer. I do enjoy the game but beware if you are 330 lbs or more.

Great game. It keeps myself and my husband motivated to stay fit. We can already begin to see changes. Great, great, great game! Easy to use!

I'm 25, married, put a lot (too much sometimes!) of importance on my looks, love video games... but HATE to exercise. I love biking, tennis, basketball... but put me on a treadmill, an eliptical or stick me in a group yoga class and I'll not be a fun person to hang out with.

I have been dying to get a Wii Fit ever since I heard about it a month before it was released. Surely, for this avid gamer and competitive chick, this could be exercise I can get into! I just prayed my high hopes weren't unrealistic. After all, I saw a lot of reviews out there saying that this thing "is definitley exercise" and not to expect "to have fun." I started to get worried.

Our Wii Fit arrived in the mail three days ago. I popped it in the next day and hopped on the balance board... and didn't get off for an hour and a half! It was a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!! For someone who likes only "hidden" exercise (outside enjoying the sun, kicking someone's butt at a sport), this is what I've been looking for!!!

It's competitive. Sure, you're "competing" against your own high scores, but man did I want to kick my own butt, "playing" exercises over and over until I did them perfectly, or at the very least, successfully. I was sweating by the end. I wasn't sore the next day... or the day after that, because I played another hour and a half last night... but I can tell a change in my overall "balance".

The "games" all focus around improving your center of balance. I had no idea the health problems that can be caused by not centering your balance properly! I notice myself... after just two days... paying close attention to my posture, and not being so "stiff" after a day at the office.

Among my favorite activities:

Skiing- I've never been, but I felt almost like I could hop on some skiis tonight. Challenging, and puts you there on that mountain.

"Marbles"- Um, I can't remember the real name of this game, but you'll recognize it in the balance games when you see it. You move the board on the screen around, trying to drop the marbles into the holes. Too much to explain here... just know that it's really challenging and addictive. I played the beginner and advanced levels until I beat them both. But even when you beat it... the challenge is never over.

Yoga- I never tried yoga before. Truthfully, I always thought it looked stupid, and was a ridiculous excuse for exercising. Come on, standing there like a "tree", when I'm out there, whipping butt in tennis? But let me tell you, this is like having a personal yoga instructor, and you can TELL that it's tough, and rewarding.

Snowboarding- This was the most frusterating, but once I made it down the mountain and made every checkpoint after trying about 20 times (FOR REAL). I was quite thrilled with myself.

Step- This one is pretty hilarious. Think of a classic aerobic stepping class. There's also advanced step, which is ridiculously tough... and I can't wait to beat it!

Running- No balance board here. Just stick the remote in your pocked and run in place. I was DYING, not being a runner, and killing myself to get a 117% caloric burn rate in three minutes. You "chase" a Mii or a dog, and have to keep up with them. My husband, who used to run and is trying to get back into it, is pretty excited about this one.

There are tons of other games, but those are the highlights. If you need to get back into exercising, GET THIS!!!!!!! It's my new favorite "toy".

The wife and I were very happy with our recent Wii purchase and quite content with the few games we had. "We don't need anymore," she always said. Then I saw WiiFit on the Nintendo Channel (Wii) and was floored. I had to have it. Couldn't get it online. Finally got it at a special invitation only shopping event at Best Buy. As of today, we've both completed two days of workouts, so there may be more to come.

My initial worries:
1) I have carpet, not hardwood
2) I have an old TV, not flatpanel
3) Does this thing take batteries?
4) I don't know Yoga
5) Is this gonna take 10 years to set up?
6) Will the wife like it?


So, right out of the box, I notice it comes with little adapter knobbies to add if you have "thick carpet." We don't have thick carpet, but oh well, let's throw them on anyway. So bam! And it works just fine. We're too chicken to see if it still works without the knobbies.

The TV issue. I will admit this still takes a bit to get used to. As a kid, there's some formula I remember about distance from the TV. It's really hard with this WiiFit. You're moving back and forth. Sometimes I was right on the thing. Maybe I need to mount something to the wall, to give me that extra two feet in my living room?

Batteries. I've noticed my Wii remotes suck batteries. The Wii Fit Balance Board takes 4 AA batteries. It comes with 4 batteries, which is a nice gift from Nintendo (also came with the Wii Remotes) and saved me from storming the junk drawer or performing operations on the various electronics of the house at 10PM. Only two days down, so no word on how much the balance board sucks up batteries.

I don't know Yoga. I prefer the strength training and aerobics. The run in place game is even fun. Yeah, it's run in place, but if you got a problem, the door is right there. This thing won't do everything for you. That's what "outside" is for. This is a great supplement to my daily requirement. And as one who does push-ups for a living, this thing is great because it can catch you cheating! Wow.
So yoga, yeah, it's not all yoga. But the yoga isn't bad. I tried it this morning, after I made sure every blind in the house was closed. Not bad, eh...

The set-up is really quick. It uses your established Miis and all you really need to know is how tall you are in feet and inches and what year you were born. If you're in a hurry, or have friends over, there are "trial profiles" that allow you to quickly try things out without all the slow paced build up of actually starting an individual program.

And she loves it. It's fun and she can beat me in many events, so of course she loves it. And if she loves it, all is happy in the home.

Wii Fit, like all Nintendo Wii (and DS) products, is polished and immaculately presented. Its very approachable and friendly. The Balance Board is a tremendous piece of kit - rock solid and absolutely excellent at what its supposed to do.

As a product dedicated to fitness, though, its pretty lacking. Now, don't get me wrong - it is far better than doing nothing (what I am used to doing), and actually has some nice perks to keep you going (like score tracking and an unlock mechanic). But it doesn't let you customize a workout, and progression advice is minimal. It literally just lets you do whatever activities at any time. Now, I could go to the gym and do exactly the same thing, but I still would want to get some advice from someone or something. Wii Fit doesn't do it!

Another problem is that between activities, you have to stop and navigate menus. It'd be much better if there was a flowchart like menu for setting up workouts so you can go one after the other, keeping the heart rate up. This is a very serious deficiency and I wonder why Nintendo didn't put it in.

All in all, as an introduction to fitness, its pretty good, and at $90 its really pretty affordable if you have a Wii already. but I really hope some other company comes out with a good fitness videogame using the balance board, with more workout and eating tips. That would really be a great thing.

Even though I'm a health professional (and so should know better), after multiple attempts in 40 years I've never stuck with an exercise program longer than a week or two...until now. If you've had the same problem, seriously consider Wii Fit.

With other regimens, I could never detect enough significant improvement to keep me motivated over time. I couldn't even persuade myself to do 15 minutes of yoga a day. Wii Fit overcame this inertia by allowing me to see tiny incremental improvements, day by day. A higher score. A tad better balance. Then I started noticing I could do more reps...I wasn't breathing as hard...I was sleeping better...my weight was even creeping down (and I noticed, because Wii Fit measures down to tenths of a pound--most bathroom scales aren't capable of that sensitivity). My Wii Fit age dropped from 52 to 33 over 3 weeks. I got little improvements, little reinforcements, every day...and that's the best way to train any living animal, whether it's a lab rat, a dolphin or a person.

And, as mentioned, it's kind of fun. I don't avoid exercising now. I've averaged an hour a day for 3 weeks now, and it's not because I have a will of iron, let me tell you (the 3 week mark is important--studies have shown that's the length of time you need to internalize a daily habit; now it's much more likely I'll continue to stick with it). The variety of activities is nice; aerobics provide a nice warm-up, then yoga and strength, and I save some balance games for "dessert" once I finish the other exercises.

Of course, there are little flaws. The coaching phrases get pretty repetitive after 3 weeks (but this might be intentional--they may be trying to influence your subconscious, in which case simplicity and repetition are the keys..."You're doing great!" "Feel your spine stretching..." "You've got excellent balance!"). And how I wish we could do yoga in one of the pretty game settings from "Zelda: Twilight Princess", for a change. The ability to turn off the music (so you could play your own) would also be a nice feature. But for me, it accomplished my main desire handily: it helped me develop the exercise habit, as nothing had before.

It's not THE perfect exercise program--but the best exercise program is the one you actually DO. This one might actually provide the motivation you need to make exercise a regular part of your routine. And even if it doesn't, resale values are high, so you won't be out the money for long. If Amazon doesn't have it in stock for $90, make yourself another habit...and call your local game store every day before leaving work. It's likely you'll land one in a week or two, and you can begin your own experiment in the art of motivation. Good luck and good health!

Well I got Wii fit for my birthday. Now I used to be a avid runner, in great shape. Over the years, I stopped and put on some pounds. Lately I just have not been motivated to work out, by anything. Even after purchasing a excercise bike.

BUT THIS MAKES ME WANT TO WORK OUT! It is fairly easy, and if you want, you can do 30 minutes at one time. I usually do the run, and look hilarious running around the house, but it does WORK!. I have lost 10 pounds since I have started.

Sure there are some little annoyances, like the fact you have to listen to the trainers talk, and after each work out wait a few seconds for it to score you. Other then that it is pretty interesting and fun.

GREAT IDEA for someone who is not that fit, to someone who is fit.

I would recommend this for anyone who has had trouble sticking to excercise. If I can do it, and lord knows I hated excercising before this game.

BUY IT!! It is so worth it.

I have a job where I sit all day. After a long day at work I really don't feel like going to the gym and busting myself for any more amount of time. Call it laziness, because I'm sure that's what it is. I'll admit it. I'm lazy. I don't like gyms. I don't like long hikes and bicycle rides in the muggy hot sun during the dog days of summer.

So here's the reason I gave Wii Fit four stars. Do I trust it to be a substitute for an actual gym? No. Do I think a programmed CGI instructor knows more than a flesh and blood trainer? No. Do I trust a computer to accurately tell me my BMI by simply taking my weight? No,

But one thing Wii Fit has managed to do is get me off the couch and doing *something* that approaches the qualifications of being healthy for me. This is the first day I've owned it and I've already done more excercising in this one day than I've done in...well...way too long. It's fun. I've learned something new. I never thought I'd be doing Yoga. But here I am doing yoga.

You can spend 10 minutes excercising. You could spend an hour excercising (much more than that may be pushing it). You can do what you want for as long as you want.

It may not be a gym. It may not be a bike ride or jogging around the neighborhood. But it is fun and if that's what it takes to get you off the couch, then maybe you should take a look at it.

I have found this to be a nice addition to our nightly activity. With both the wife and I work 4 11's to 4 13's, there is not alot of time for much exercise, especially having a two year old running arround wanting your attenion. One thing I really like is the fact that it brings you to reality when it talks about your BMI,Weight and age. I was told by the machine that with the BMI that i had, i was actually 11 years older then my true age. WOW reality check. We have been lazy over the years and we are going to give this a go. Nintendo was really thinking of Americans when they built this. It comes with a 330 lb weight limit and i am happy to say im well under that but its nice to know if you are near that range then you are ok up to 330. Although i have only had it for under a week, I find myself paying attenion to my center of balance. I can allready feel a difference in my knees and my dogs are not bark'n (feet are not hurting). Priced right, for what it is. If you want an expensive machine buy one. If you want an inexpensive machine buy the FIT. Lastly... The easiest thing about losing weight or exerciseing is getting OFF track. The hardest is to stay ON track and stick with a program. Allthough I dont think this was meant for people to lose weight, its a good start to long heathy disease free life that you really want. You owe it to your family and friends to be arround longer, not a ROUND longer. :) :)

I love this!!! Should have bought it sooner but i was skeptical. When I first got this i started using it right away. I've been using it for about 2hrs and i didnt even notice how long i've been using it. THe stars that that you get at the end of each workout, motivated me more and more to do better each time. I've been using it for a month and lost 6 lbs already. THats alot for me. IT also graphs your weight so it also motivates you not to make it go up.

I'm 38 and my back had been bothering me. I remembered hearing that core strengthening exercises are supposed to be helpful in countering back pain. Since the wii fit advertised its focus on core development, I asked for one for father's day, and my family came through for me. :)

The pleasantly surprising news is that the wii fit has come through for me as well--after an initially unpleasant wake-up call. My first body test made my "mii" (a cartoon version of me) fat. Then, it told me that my wii fit age was 51, based on my balance test performance. Yikes!

I didn't really expect to hear either piece of the above news.

I weathered the appraisal, and started doing the wii fit exercises for 30 minutes a day. True to my hopes, after about two weeks, my stomach got firmer, and my back pain decreased. The surprising part was that I felt myself getting stronger, and I started losing weight. In the 2.5 months since my family bought the wii fit, I have dropped 15 lbs!

The secret is not merely the exercises, which are generally taxing, but not usually rigorous. Instead, I think the real strength of the wii fit is that it holds you very accountable.

The wii keeps perfect track of you. It measures your weight, it knows how long and frequently you work out. If you have a weight gain, it asks you to tell it what happened to cause it (multiple choice).

If you haven't worked out for a couple of days, the next time you start the program, it mentions that you've been away.

The truth is that when I eat now, I know that an extra helping means that the wii be disappointed in me.

Aside from the accountability, the beauty of all of this tracking is that I have a much better gauge of how much I can eat without gaining weight, and I know how much exercise I need to augment my more disciplined diet.

I feel like I'm learning more about my body while my body gets fitter.

In the end, you won't become a body builder doing wii fit--there are no weights involved. And, you won't develop killer cardio--it generally makes you take breaks after 15 minutes of work. But, you will get stronger, fitter, and firmer, and you'll do in an entertaining way.

Only downside: The cartoon wii fit board on the TV does a lot of chatting, and the wii trainers want to demonstrated new exercises when you first try them. Also, you have to sort through which exercises you want to do next--it is not an automatic process. All of this activity means that 30 minutes of actual exercise takes close to an hour of clock time at first. But, as you get more experienced, you can skip the demos, and you learn to speed through the board's messages. Now it takes me about 45 minutes to get 30 minutes of work-out time.

If I could recommend one item to Nintendo, it would be to add a circuit training component to the wii fit program, where the trainer would choose a 30 minute work-out without pauses.

Still, overall, it is a "game" that has changed my physical health for the better. I get up at 4:00 AM every morning to work-out before going to work, and I feel good about it. By the way, I dropped my wii fit age from 51 to 23...Pretty cool huh?

I wasn't sure what to expect with this but have to say it has lived up to my expectations. If you think this will work you out as hard as a personal trainer - it will not. But I would say that for couch potatoes or those wanting to keep a bit active on days off from the gym this does the job. I also think that for those over 60 it is an incredible tool - without a doubt it will keep seniors active and having fun. I would add that having it work as a scale and weight/BMI monitor and being able to set goals makes it even more worthwhile. My two favs are the yoga - talks you thru each pose and monitors your center of balance and the most funb is the balance section. This is def worth the price and I think almost any family would benefit from it.

I was lucky to have pre purchased this product through Amazon months ago, but waited to really try it for a prolonged period before reviewing. There are a lot of pros as well as a few cons. Let me begin by saying that my two teenagers and their friends use this as well and the balance board holds up beautifully. Now to the pros:

1st..fun, easy to use
2nd...quick workouts for quick weight loss
3rd...use whenever...you're at home..use it naked if you want!
4th...no gym fees
5th...did I mention FUN!
**There are many more pros, but I am sure you get the jist.

Cons:
1st..and it's a biggie!...SHUT UP WII PERSON!
the computer is to talkative..heaven forbid you are gone on vacation and don't use for bit. I don't care if I haven't worked out for week...I was on vacation!

2nd...another biggie...my idea of overweight and Wii's idea are two different things! I really don't like how it calculates weight. My husband is a twig and he is overweight? My son, 6 feet is obese? Please. I work in the medical profession, I know weight...this bugs me.

Overall, I do use this. The kids and their friends use it and have fun, which is what it is meant to do, but I could really live without the little WII voice. I would like to jump on the balance board, choose my activities and be off on the road of fitness without traffic lights.

We love our Wii Fit. Initially I wasn't very interested in getting one, it seemed like it wouldn't really provide much in the way of a workout. However, I was wrong and have been using this to augment other exercise routines.
Yoga and balance in particular were areas I didn't address in my regular routine, but the Wii Fit made those interesting and fun.

This is totally fun. My husband was able to make my "Mii" look just like me! It's a riot, fun and challenging too! It makes the prospect of exercise both entertaining, challenging and worthwhile! It's the best as far as I'm concerned!

I am not a gym person. I get bored. But I love my Wii Fit because I wanted to incorporate some exercise into my life. First, it's fun. You start out with it taking your weight, balance and then you can choose from a lot of different types of exercises from yoga, strength, aerobics, etc. I like that I can as much or little as I feel like in a given day. There are some game-like things in here that are meant to improve your balance. The exercises range from pretty easy to a real workout. You can work with it to do as much or little as you'd like. You can pick a male or female trainer to work with. There's probably not a lot "new" here in terms of the exercises. The yoga moves, or strenth training are pretty much things I already know. But I like the way the board judges how well you're doing them. It knows if you're standing up straight, etc. I learned how off balanced I am. The cardio things are fun, there's a hula hoop workout and a running one that really gets my heart pumping. There's a lame step aerobic thing that's more like dance dance revolution. But the more you work with it, more activities unlock. I still have a lot still locked so I'm sure more fun stuff will come along. But overall, I think this is worth it, even if you only do it once in awhile. And the best part is that the scale has me about 3-4 pounds lower than I really am, so who can beat that!

Wii Fit was a birthday present. It weighed and measured me, told me my physical age after testing was 74. In 3 days I was 51. While this is great I do question my rapid weight loss on the Wii Fit. I attend Weight Watchers, have always eaten healthy but my metabolic rate leaves something to be desired...like one that burns! According to Wii, I am unbalanced in the balance games but am stellar in my balance when doing the Yoga. Pretty clumsy dancing because going off and on the board is difficult for whatever age I really am (mid 60's is a valid guess). So I need to know is this my true weight? Is Wii smarter than the doc's scale, the Weight Watcher Leader's scale and even my scale. I sure would like to believe it is. My posture in 3 days has really improved. The arthritic spine is not as painful and I START EVERY DAY WITH Wii and an enormous smile, often giggling as I slalom down the slopes, unbalanced, ride in a bubble down the river, dodging the sides - each time, improving. Wii stays here-the hardest part is for me to push all the right buttons on the TV when setting it up! THANK YOU Wii for helping me.

My family is LOVING this. Not only are we spending more time together laughing and playing, we are exercising and sweating!! So I can't quite whip the yoga instructor like my hard as rock abs 9 year old can but it is pretty funny watching me try! wii makes tv watching a thing of the past. They only reason we turn it on now is to have fun together while exercising.

The Wii fit is great indoor fun. Takes video gaming to a whole new level. I love the balance games!

What more can I say that others have not? Not much. The Wii Fit is a fun interactive game that really moves you and forces you to take a look at how fit you are physically. I wouldn't say it's going to replace your gym membership if you have one, however it will give a good workout on those days you don't feel like going to the gym, yet you still want to get some form of daily movement or on your off day and you still want to do some light cardio or strength training.

Yoga - Great for posture and stretching. I could feel how stiff my body was the next morning. I haven't felt like that even after I've gone to the gym. It is helping to relax.

Strength - This is the hardest area for me. I'm using my own body weight as resistance it isn't easy. Be prepared!

Aerobics - The Hula Hoop is great, I really don't care for the jogging - but how does get your heart rate up - I used my Mio Motiva HR watch to see if I could hit my HR target and I did. I love the Step dance thingy! You really have to watch what you're doing.

Balance - The Balance games are probably the most fun. I like the Ski Jump the best.

In all, I think if your plan your workout with Aerobics first to raise your heart rate, then move to the Strength training and then Yoga and lastly to the Balance games to bring your HR down, you'll get a complete workout in 30 minutes. (WiiFit credits keep track of your time)

My kids and I are now in a competition to see who can do it better! It is definitely something the entire family can enjoy!

My parents recently purchased one of these & I tried it out over a three-day weekend. I'm already in fairly good shape, so most of the exercises weren't particularly challenging. The balance games are where the Wii Fit stands out. They're fun & they make you much more aware of your balance. Yoga is good for this as well. I wasn't impressed by the strength training exercises. First of all, you can't use weights. Also, the nature of the board only allows for certain kinds of exercises. So you're severely limited in which muscles you can work, etc. My mother has torn her ACL in both knees and has had multiple knee surgeries, so she has to avoid a lot of the exercises on here. There are ways she could work her legs without injuring her knees, but they can't be found on the Fit.

Having you unlock new activities by spending more time exercising is a nice way of motivating you. But more could have been done with the programming, especially with strength training. For example, you don't want to work the same muscle groups every day because those muscles will need to rest. It would have been simple to set up programs where you work certain muscles on alternating days. Also, it would have been nice to set up programs where you could warm up, do some aerobic exercise, then cool down.

Another issue I had was with the BMI calculator. Naturally, it can't take into account certain body types. A muscular male friend who used the Fit was classified as obese because he's relatively short compared to his weight. My sister is also short & muscular & was judged as being on the high end of normal, almost obese. I'm somewhat muscular with a fair amount of body fat on a petite frame and was classified as underweight. I have a pretty fast metabolism & I'd probably have to become a protein-junkie bodybuilder to gain the muscle mass that would put me in the Fit's normal range. BMI estimators in general can paint a very inaccurate picture. If you have no muscle mass whatsoever, the Fit's BMI calculator might work for you. Otherwise, get a professional to figure out your BMI & listen to their opinion on your fitness goals.

That said, if you never work out because you can't be motivated or can't find the time, you could definitely benefit from purchasing one of these. I use it mostly to improve my balance & occasionally my aerobic fitness or just for fun (I love the hula hoop game). Many people seem to use this for yoga, but I think they'd be better off with a video.