Fitness & Exercise

Wii Fit Rides the Virtual Exercise Wave

Calorie Burners

First came Dance, Dance Revolution, a video arcade game where wannabe dancers follow on-screen visual cues as they step on a sensor pad to the beat of popular tunes. Dance, Dance Revolution -- or DDR -- is sort of a twist on the classic board game Twister, replete with several levels to match a person's dancing skills.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) conducted a study of this game on 24 people aged 12 to 25. All participants showed a marked increase in exercise intensity and burned a similar number of calories as they would if they were participating in other forms of aerobic activity.

"We found that Dance, Dance Revolution does burn a comparable amount of calories as other aerobic workouts," says ACE spokesman Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist in San Diego.

Games like Dance, Dance Revoultion and Wii Fit System put the fun back in exercise, and that is what has been missing, he tells WebMD. "So many people became disengaged because exercise seems to be work and not a pleasant experience. [Virtual exercise] has touched on a cord that is important in fitness and that is to make things fun."

The mantra, Comana says, is "let's keep them distracted so they stay engaged and do their workouts and don't think about sweating." While there are some downsides to virtual fitness, the benefits do outweigh any negatives, he says.

One potential downside is that these games are really just Band-aids, he says. "If I distract you with television to tolerate a workout, what happens if there is nothing to distract you? If we take away the balance pad or the iPod, you will go back to saying, 'I hate this.'"

But "if it gets a family at home doing something, we'll take it," he says. That said, Wii Fit probably won't appeal to true fitness buffs. "We will do it to try it, but it will not be part of our daily training modality."

Wii Fit and the balance board retails for $89.99. It is now available exclusively at the Nintendo World Store. The system will be available at retail stores across the country on May 21.