If you’re in England now, you’d be part of a tiny minority to not have heard about the latest craze to sweep the home health and fitness industry. The Wii Fit – a personal training program designed to increase your health and fitness at home.

I’m a gadget man and a Personal Trainer so of course I had to try it out and what better day to do this then on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The Wii Fit comes with a pressure sensitive mat, DVD software and uses the original wireless controller.

So with the raining coming down my partner and I decided to put the Wii Fit to the test. After a touch of a clunky start while we got used to the way it interrogated with us we were off … Wii Fit is made up of 4 core components Yoga, Strength, Aerobics and Balance and as we got better and spent longer on it more exercises we added.

I was surprised by my Wii Age, it was 52 (my actually age is 34), although it didn’t really know anything more then my height, weight and age when it made that judgement. But I guess it gives me something to work on. Lol.

Firstly we were presented with a balance challenge and score, then tutored about the benefits of even balance and distribution of weight throughout the body, this was great however both Stu and I picked up on the poor posture of the male personal trainer though some of the workouts – he stands exactly how we’re told not to …. Just an observation I guess.

I tried a few exercises from each of the components and found it generally more fun then hard work but the press-up exercise caught me by surprise – it was tricky and I was rated “Couch Potato” (in my defence it was the first component I tried – honest!) and the Jack-knife surprisingly effective (my confidence soon restored by my “Body Builder” rating for that one – lucky!)

Yoga is fantastic; it really shows how to distribute pressure and balance. Plus the moves are great. You can even take a breathing lesson if you want it :)

Aerobics was more fun then fitness, of course I had to take the running program and the hardest part was jogging (on the spot) slow enough. I guess over time it might get harder but it didn’t even raise my heart rate. Hula Hoops however, was great fun (I felt so stupid doing it but hey) and I loved it, Stu blitzed me on that one, and thinking about it, it’s a crown I’m happy for him to hold.

Balance showed me I needed more, a lot more. Balance Rope threatened to challenge anyone with Vertigo to a phobic response while standing 2 inches off the ground.

The Pros

Me: Wii Fit is a great game for rainy days; it’s positive and offers loads of motivational support along the way. It’s better then watching TV and just might give people new to exercise the confidence to venture to the gym at a later date. You set personal goals at the beginning and your progress is mapped. It’s easy to use and there’s loads of help along the way. It’s a great game to compliment a normal fitness program designed by a fitness professional.

Stu: The Wii board is a novel way of controlling a game, and is particularly good at making you focus on posture and balance. I liked the variety of activities it offers, and hope that as more options are unlocked the new ones are challenging in different ways. I think I’ll get most benefit from the balance and yoga tasks as that’s something I don’t do otherwise. It’s also a fun activity you can do with others.

The Cons

Me: While Wii Fit was fun, it wasn’t cardio or strength challenging. It’s marketed as a quick fix solution to heath and fitness and I’m concerned players may think they are working out when they are using it. Fitness is more then just activity, it includes diet and flexibility which are not covered (flexibility is a little I guess) so it may be a little disappointing if the goals are not reached.

Stu: There’s a limit to the range of activities you can do with the board, particularly in the muscle toning categories. You’ll also need plenty of room to use the board - some of the activities are tough if you’re not facing the screen. The graphics are typically simple, and I can’t see the cardio jogging competing with a run outside on a nice day. Plus the price of the board might put some people off.