Wii Exercise and the Seniors
Citizen
You are probably getting
tired of hearing that you have to get off your duff and exercise more, but isn’t
it encouraging knowing that games are being designed to make exercising
fun? It wasn’t that many years ago that
we were yelling at our kids to go outside and play instead of sitting in front
of the television playing video games.
Guess what? Video games aren’t just
for kids any more.
The good news is that there
is a new video game system that actually counts as exercise. An article in the AARP magazine (September/October
2007) by Jeffrey R. Young says that people 50 and over make up 25% of video
gamers.
You can bowl, golf, box, and
play tennis or baseball all in front of your television. Wow! That sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Nintendo’s Wii Sports, a video game, is
popping up in retirement communities and senior centers, as well as in living
rooms all over the county. People,
according to an article called “Fit to a Wii” by Gina Roberts-Grey (Arthritis
Today, July/August 2008), including some with arthritis or other joint issues,
started playing for fun and then found that it was quite a workout too. You need to stand up and actually control the
actions by swinging your arms (simulating a real tennis game, or bowling or
golf. All of that swinging of the
virtual golf club, tennis racket and bowling ball may actually have some
cardiovascular benefits for older folks who can’t cut the real courts and links
any more.
A more serious model called
the Wii Fit is designed to give you a workout.
Instead of the hand held controllers it comes with a pressure sensitive
Balance Board that tests your balance as well as your body mass index. You can do strength training, aerobics, and
yoga that will improve your range of motion, strength and overall fitness.
Follow the same precautions
as any other fitness program; start slowly and modify any parts of the program
that isn’t right for you. You don’t burn
as many calories as when doing gym work or regular walking sessions but if you
have been a couch potato this is a good place to start. The experience is fun. The soccer, for example is pure fun but the
strength training program is hard. Suzanne Vranica for The Wall Street Journal,
April 23, 2008 talks about the appeal of the system and tells why it can challenge
everyone in the household.