Surprise: Wii Fit won’t actually make you fit

I’ve got some bad news for the Wii-toting “fitness enthusiasts” in living rooms across the nation – Nintendo’s blockbuster, genre-defining Wii Fit doesn’t actually provide a very good workout. An American Council on Fitness (ACE) report (via Joystiq), notes that even the most cardio-heavy exercises paled in comparison to the real-life activities that they mimic.

From the report:

“When played for 30 minutes, Wii Fit’s Free Run and Island Run burned an average of 165 calories–the most out of the six activities tested–and yielded the highest energy expenditures. Rhythm Boxing expended an average of 114 calories, followed by Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step and Free Step at 111, 108 and 99 calories, respectively. In all instances, researchers found that performing the actual activity as opposed to the virtual has a significantly higher caloric expenditure. This is especially evident with conventional step aerobics, which burns almost 12 calories per minute by typically stepping up onto a six-inch high bench, verses Wii Fit’s Free Step and Advanced Step, which burn much less by stepping up onto the one- or one-and-a-half-inch balance pad provided. Similarly, its Rhythm Boxing activity burns just one third of the calories per minute of traditional boxing.”

The silver lining, which Joystiq notes, is that the activities do at least burn double the calories of traditional videogames… but honestly, that’s not saying much. You don’t play an “exercise game” for fun, the way you would a “traditional” game.

Let me direct you to something a bit better – if you really want to break a sweat with your Wii, grab EA Sports Fitness.

Site [American Council on Fitness] Read [Joystiq]