Do Fitness Games like Wii Fit really work?

Q

"Hello!

Do Fitness Games like Wii Fit really work? I've heard a lot of positive and negative reviews about them and I am curious as to whether its worth trying."

- Jake G.

A

Hello Jake!

Fitness games are a big trend right now both in the fitness industry and in the video game industry, so there is going to be a lot of confusing reviews / testimonials out there aimed at selling Wii Fit and video game workouts.

 

There are some benefits to using such gaming equipment to improve your fitness levels, especially if you try the yoga and lower body strength exercises, but some of the exercises use very little motion and thus barely count as an exercise.

Some games like Dance Dance Revolution will get you sweating, and games like Just Dance 2 (JD2) are fun and fast paced, and some people swear by Wii Tennis as a good cardio exercise, but overall such games are pretty hit and miss.

 

Wii Archery for example has no exercise component at all, whereas real archery is more like weightlifting because it uses resistance training, balance and you need stamina to hold the bow steady.

For beginners, you will definitely get a good workout if you really get into the more active exercises available on such game consoles. For intermediates and advanced exercise enthusiasts, playing for 30 minutes a week could be a great supplement to an already existing exercise regimen. 

 

Such games have been proven to keep seniors more active and many homes for the elderly have invested in such game consoles. Don't expect to "lose 100 lbs playing Wii Fit" like some of the reviews you will find online. To get that kind of results you would need to be playing it 10 to 15 hours per week for a year and be doing the really active exercises.

 

Thus if you're lazy about your approach to these games and you play the games which require less movement, then you won't really see much benefit. So it really does depend on how often you play it and which exercises you choose to do.

Another fitness trend you will be seeing more of is the iPhone and iPad is fitness applications, podcast workouts and health/diet organizers. Examples include: Fitness Pro, Lose It, Fitness Builder, iTreadmill and GYM Goal ABC. Downloading podcasts with full workouts or informational seminars is free and easy. Plus you can also pick out any number of fitness/diet journals, calorie counters, grocery list creators and recipe apps.

Normally advancements in technology would make us lazy. Devices that do the exact opposite is proving to be unexpectedly cool.

Bust Firming Exercises

Many female celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe (see Marilyn Monroe's Diet and Exercise Routine) are fans of bust firming exercises.

The bust also goes by the names "breasts", "chest" and a variety of derogatory slang words like "boobies". Regardless of what you choose to call them, they are an area on the body that a majority of women would like to firm up so they look more perky and less saggy. The way to do this is through some exercises that involve a variety of weightlifting and body weight exercises.

Note: Men who want larger pecs (pectoral muscles) can also benefit from these exercises.

Bust Firming Misconceptions and Myths

The breasts themselves cannot be made larger through exercise, because they consist of glands and are 80% fatty tissue - hence why obese women (and sometimes men) have larger breasts. But there are muscles underneath the breasts and above them that can be targeted - the pectorals. Working these muscles might not increase the size of your bust, but they can make your breasts firmer and more perky. Even men can benefit from these exercises by building larger chest muscles - "pecs".

Bust-firming exercises often involve body weight exercises and the weight lifting items like dumbbells, kettlebells and possibly an adjustable bench. The exercises can be done from the comfort of your own home, provided you have the tools and the space, or in the gym. Many of these exercises are very easy to learn.

BUST FIRMING EXERCISES

For best results repeat the exercises below three times a week on alternating days. Do 10 to 15 reps and 5 sets of each exercise. 

#1. Push-ups

Push-ups are a popular body weight exercise that anyone can do - and they are an excellent breast-firming exercise. To do these, lie on your stomach on the floor with your hands directly under your shoulders. Push your body straight up in the air until your arms are locked. Keep your back straight and lower yourself to the floor until your chest is about a fist-width away. Push yourself back up and repeat. If this is too difficult, you can place you knees on the floor.

If bored try doing a variety of other push-up style exercises that target the pectorals.

#2. Incline Press or Bench Press

Doing incline presses or bench presses are two bust-firming exercises that targets the upper chest muscles. It can be accomplished using either dumbbells or barbells.

To do an incline press, adjust your bench to 45 degrees. Hold on to the dumbbells, lie back on the bench and place your hands at chest level with your palms facing forward. Push the weights straight up in the air and bring them toward each other until they are about an inch away. Lower them back down by bending your elbows and repeat.

#3. Chest Flyes

Chest flyes can also be done with the bench, and you can do them at an incline position or flat. Lie on the bench with your arms straight up and your palms facing each other. Slightly bend your elbows and maintain the bend. Lower your arms to your sides until they are about parallel to the floor then bring them back up. To do chest flyes, you will need to use lighter weights.

#4. Chest Squeezes

A Swiss ball is a functional training tool that is often used to work the abs. However you can also use it to do a chest exercise called a "chest squeeze". To do this exercise lift the ball up with your hands or forearms placed right in the center. Squeeze it as hard as you can for 20 to 30 seconds and release. If you don't have a Swiss ball you could also use a football, basketball, etc.

Three Exercise and Dietary Myths

Time to do some Myth Busting!

There are quite a few common misconceptions in the health and fitness industry. Here are three common fitness / diet myths that need to be debunked.

1. Eat a lot of protein to gain muscle = Myth

Protein is the muscle's building block, but its not the only thing muscles need. Protein helps to repair torn muscle tissue. You also need vitamins and nutrients from eating a balanced diet. Too much protein in a diet can cause dehydration, overwhelm the kidneys and stress the heart. Plus a high meat diet will make you feel plain crappy due to all the bacteria in meat, and won't give you the energy required for intense lifting sessions. Instead, aim for a balance of all healthy food groups.

2. Sweating means you are working out harder = Myth

Not true. Sweat is a mechanism used to cool the body, it doesn't burn much calories. The amount of work you can do DECREASES when your body is using some of your energy to produce sweat. Furthermore, energy is lost by sweating because it causes the blood supply to rush toward the skin and away from the muscles - resulting in more muscle fatigue. The heart responds by pumping harder, to replace the blood from the muscles. Too much sweating can also cause dehydration, heat stroke or collapse. Don't induce sweat. It really makes no contribution to fitness.

3. Eating food at night is more fattening = Myth

Your body doesn't tell the time. It doesn't care if you eat after 9 PM. This common myth comes from the idea that you won't have time to burn off food before bed. However, recent studies show that it's not the time you eat but how much is consumed in a 24 hour period. If you're eating within your caloric range, typically 1,800 to 2,000, then you are fine! Skipping meals and binging before you sleep leads to weight gain but if you can't eat a good meal until after work, it won't make you store any more fat than the people who eat their biggest meal for lunch. Besides, we burn fat all of the time, even when we sleep.

Sleeping burns 69 calories per hour. It is not a lot, but its handy to know.

Sitting and doing a minor task is approx 60 calories per hour.

Walking at 2 mph is 175 calories per hour.

Sleeping for 8 hours = 552 calories burned.
Sitting for 12 hours = 720 calories burned.
Walking for 4 hours = 700 calories burned.

Total 1,972

Note: All calorie estimates based on someone who weighs 155 lbs.

Thus it is possible that if you eat healthy and just walk 4 hours every day as part of your routine that you can maintain your weight. However many people don't actually walk for 4 hours per day unless its part of their job. Many people in North America walk less than 2 hours per day and spend most of their time sitting behind a desk, in front of a TV or computer, or behind the wheel of a car.

And if they're binging on food then their waistline will be ever expanding.

Just a single hour of intense exercising, only 4% of your day, however can make a huge difference. An hour long swim for example will burn approx. 450 calories alone.

Mind Body Fitness Vs Zen Exercising

There is a new trend in the fitness industry called "mind-body fitness" (or various other names) which combine tough physical workouts with lighter and less stressful components for what some personal trainers are calling "a total mind-body solution".

In reality mind-body is a misnomer. People like to use the words mind-body (or mind-body-soul) whenever they want something to sound New Age in an effort to appeal to people's more religious/spiritual sentimentalities.

Now there is nothing wrong with being spiritual and trying to look for moral guidance. Moral guidance can teach you to be less lazy, less gluttonous, more proactive, more patient about your goals... more virtuous and less sinful = More Exercise and a Better Diet. So nothing wrong with trying to be moral and virtuous, especially when it comes to exercise.

However just because something says "Mind Body" doesn't mean you should buy it. If anything you should instantly recognize it as a slogan / catchphrase, the same as "Authentic", "Traditional", "Old School", or anything else that screams "New and Improved".

Take for example Yoga: Traditional Yoga sounds pretty good, doesn't it? So does Mind-Body Yoga. New and Improved Yoga just sounds like the person is trying too hard.

Mind Body Fitness really is a bit like Interval Training... except Interval Training alternates the difficult and easy exercises multiple times instead of just one each. One Stressful, One Less Stressful. But if you repeat them both 5+ times then it IS Interval Training.

Anywho, back to my main topic: Some examples of this more stressful/less stressful so-called 'mind-body' trend include:

1. Cy-Yo-One hour workout that combines spinning with yoga.
2. YogaFit-Stength, cardio and yoga merged into one.
3. Pilates-Yoga - The core strengthening benefits of Pilates combined with the full body + relaxation of yoga.
4. Extended Stretch Sequence - Personal trainers may leave the last 10-15 minutes of every few sessions for a good, thorough (and more than likely, much needed) stretch.
5. Jock Yoga - It's challenging enough for athletes but involves the relaxation that active people need to stay physically healthy.

So when you think of it you can basically combine any light exercise with any heavy exercise to make a combined 'Mind-Body' workout.

Examples:

• Weightlifting followed by Yoga
• Cycling or Spin Class followed by Stretching 
• Running followed by Surfing or Wind-Surfing.
• Helping Your Friends Move all their Furniture... followed by tossing around a frisbee or football.

So really, pretty darn easy to do these things. But do they really engage your mind? Not really. The latter component is really just more physically relaxing compared to the previous activity.

How to Add Less-Stressful Exercises into Your Workout

Easy. Think of a really physical stressful activity that you don't like doing, but you know you should do (eg. intense cardio for 45 minutes). Then add an activity you enjoy doing which is more relaxing but still keeps you moving (eg. 30 minutes of archery).

So anyone can do this on their own if they choose to. It takes only a little effort to add it your daily regimen and what you will discover is that the enjoyable exercises make the whole thing worthwhile and enjoyable.

What is ZEN EXERCISING?

Well Zen is the idea of really focusing on what you are doing. You avoid thinking about other things (distractions) and your goal is to get really into the activity you are doing to the exclusion of everything else. Doing this will result in a more intense workout, create better harmony between mind and body (and better hand-eye control and reflexes.

So Zen Exercising therefore is a very different thing from Mind Body Fitness (which is really more about stressful / non-stressful exercises) because Zen Exercising really gets more into your mental state while exercising.

Some people like to exercise when they're angry. The adrenaline rush from their anger makes them stronger and more energetic. However if you only exercise when angry you probably won't be exercising very often unless you have some serious anger management problems.

HOWEVER!

Some exercises are really good for developing your mental abilities. Examples:

#1. Zen Archery. Archery combines physical strength and balance with your ability to aim and concentrate on the target. Even your breathing comes into play because if you breathe into your chest and move your shoulders your aim will be knocked off, so you need to concentrate on breathing into your stomach.

#2. Tight-Rope Walking. If you're not paying attention to what you are doing you WILL fall.

#3. Acrobatics / Gymnastics / Figure Skating. Many balance oriented exercises (like surfing) require full concentration.

#4. Yogic Breathing. Concentrating on your breathing patterns is more difficult than you think.

Thus someone wanting to add Zen to their exercise routine needs to be adding things which will cause you to concentrate on your balance, aim and breathing.

Three Ways to get rid of Cellulite

First what exactly is cellulite?

It's actually just fat.

It is just fat that is arranged differently than the other fat on our bodies. Fat is separated by connective tissue and on a woman's body some of those tissues are honeycombed shaped. An excess amount of fat in these areas will bulge out and that is the cause of cellulite.

However contrary to popular belief, it is not caused by poor circulation, or toxins in the body, although
lack of exercise certainly is part of the problem. With age, women put on more weight and their skin becomes thinner and they exercise less. This causes an increased appearance and occurrence of cellulite.

But can it be "cured" naturally? Not really (because there is no cure for fat), but like all fat cellulite can be reduced. There is no miracle exercise or diet, just old fashioned fat burning to reduce the excess fat that is being stored, and weight training, to build muscle and tone the area. You really want full body exercises that cut down on all your extra fat stores and this will, with time and effort, reduce your cellulite. (Or prevent it altogether by exercising regularly.)

Tips to Reduce or Prevent Cellulite

1. Exercises that target the lower body
 

Squats (try with a side leg raise)

Lunges (try one foot on a chair)

Lying inner and outer thigh raises

Step Ups

Standing Leg Curls
2. Diet Changes to Reduce Cellulite
 

Cut out Junk food, eat more healthy greens

Clean up the diet to reduce the chance of unhealthy weight gain. Cut out fried and fatty food.

Drink more water
3. Add more Cardio plus a dash of weight lifting

Cardiovascular exercise burns fat in large amounts. A reduction in overall body fat will decrease the appearance of cellulite and prevent more from developing. Any exercise that can be maintained for 20 or more minutes and elevate the heart rate will achieve this result. It can be walking, cycling, dancing, rowing, boxing, power yoga, etc. You have to do this daily to get the benefits.

Add a dash (5 to 10 minutes daily) of weight lifting and you will also maintain your muscle tone and maximize your fat loss.

For many women cellulite has always been a problem, but don't stress about it. You can work our butts off and eat as healthy as possible, but ultimately self-acceptance, loving your bodies and noticing all of the positive attributes that you have to offer is more important than a little bit of weird looking fat!

Does Exercise Stunt your Growth?

A commonly asked question that people have when they see an image like the one on the right here (a boy who clearly does weightlifting) is how does this effect his physical growth?

Does exercising stunt his growth?

This, as it turns out, is actually a myth. Exercising actually does the opposite. It actually INCREASES growth by triggering the brain to release Human Growth Hormone...

Children who exercise and eat healthy grow up to be "big and strong". Its an old concept similar to Popeye's "I'm strong to the finish because I eat my spinach!"

Exercising, any exercising, causes the brain to release more Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which in turns triggers the body to both regenerate existing tissue, but also triggers growth spurts in children, and in adults HGH works to hinder diseases like cancer and keeps the body feeling younger.

It is one of the reasons why people who exercise are typically taller and also appear younger than counterparts in their same age group. (I am frequently told I look to be approx. 25 years old and almost no one ever guesses I am 33. That is the result of exercise and healthy eating.)

For children who are growing regular exercise needs to be part of their regular routine. Lack of exercise and unhealthy eating will result in children growing up to be "short and stout". Exercise, vitamins, calcium and a balanced diet make a big difference in a growing body.

If children excel at a particular sport, for example competitive weightlifting, it isn't going to stunt their growth and will actually make them taller. Look at the weightlifters at the Olympics. A lot of them are hovering around 6 feet tall or over. That is the result of exercise and eating their proverbial spinach.

Now lets pretend you don't believe me or don't believe in the science behind HGH.

Go ahead and ask some pro-weightlifters when they started exercising and how tall they are. The majority of them will say they started weightlifting around 11 or 12 years old and say they are between 5'9" and 6'6" tall. No shortage of tall people amongst weightlifters.

But they will also stress the importance of proper diet. Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand when it comes to growing both taller and bigger physically.