Wii Fit may be more interactive than most video games, but whether it provides superior health benefits than a trip to the gym is yet to be determined.
Danielle Wadsworth, assistant professor of kinesiology, said fitness-related video games cannot replace the benefits from participating in a sport, but have yielded positive results.
"Playing a sport or actually doing it would be better than the video game," Wadsworth said. "What we've found in our lab with the fitness-based games is if you spend 45 minutes doing it, you'll get about 30 minutes that would be equal to if you went and did a typical exercise."
Wadsworth mentioned studies relating the symptoms of prolonged gaming to drug and alcohol addiction.
"If your're spending a large amount of time in front of the screen, you really need to think about how it's going to affect your health," Wadsworth said. "There's been multiple studies that show that cognitive ability, or the ability to think and process information, actually decreases in terms of advanced-level game play."
Vanessa Ocasio, fitness coach and owner of Fitness Together Auburn, believes fitness games, while not for everyone, are beneficial.
"It seems like when they have done the fitness type of games, especially the boxing, that they seem to actually get a workout," Ocasio said. "Now, this is coming from people that maybe you wouldn't consider in shape, but for them they get a workout."
Wii Fit includes four training modes: yoga, balance, strength training and aerobics.
The hands-free Xbox Kinect is another alternative to fitness video games. The Kinect resembles the Wii model of gaming, but uses a sensor to record players' movements rather than a controller.
Kris Dixon, personal trainer at Fitness Together Auburn, believes fitness video games can't accomplish what a disciplined workout in the gym can.
"I don't believe that playing Kinect or Wii would be even close to a good alternative to going to the gym," Dixon said. "I do, however, see it as a supplementary tool for exercise. If you were to do Wii yoga to help with flexibility, or maybe even Wii fitness for the conditioning component of your workout, it would be OK. Not great, just OK."
Dixon said the Wii is insufficient because of its static workout regimen.
"There is no way to increase strength past a certain point with those types of games, and you will plateau in your progress in a few weeks if done without a gym setting," Dixon said.
Casual gaming can impact fitness as well, Ocasio said.
"Anything where you're sitting down for long periods of time, it's unhealthy for you, and unfortunately that includes having a desk job," Ocasio said. "So, if you happen to have a desk job and then go home to play video games, that's a double whammy there."
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