The Great Wii Fit-Off: Gamer vs. Trainer

Initial Assessment

Users begin by building their Mii and entering their age, height, and an estimate of the weight of their attire. At the heart of Wii Fit is the board’s ability to independently measure the force applied to the left and right side of the board. The initial evaluation quantifies your weight and then asks you to stand completely still while it calculates whether you tend to lean in any direction by measuring your Center of Balance (COB). The weight and height are then used to calculate your Body Mass Index and categorize you as underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. This branding has sparked uproar amongst parents not happy about their kid getting labeled obese by a machine. Your Wii Fit Age is then magically determined from an unknown combination of all these factors (complete with a drum roll). In the tale of the tape, we find our first questionable result. The system suggests Behnken has the fitness level or a 43 year old and that I have the fitness level of a 42 year old (you decide which is less likely).

Behnken | Zarda
Age: 30 | 28
Height: 5’ 11 | 6’ 1
Weight: 191 | 190
BMI: 28.31 | 25.24
COB: R: 50.8, L: 49.2 | R: 49.7, L: 50.3
Wii Fit Age: 43 (+13) | 42 (+14)

Behnken wasn’t excited about the reliance on BMI either (and not because mine was lower). The measure is merely equal to your weight divided by your height squared (so don’t lie about your height) and doesn’t take age, muscle mass or sex into account.

“If you look at an individual you can’t use BMI. If you’re looking at comparing populations it’s okay but it’s statistically insignificant for an individual,” said Behnken. “It’s the oldest thing in the book. If you have a body builder they’re going to be obese according to BMI. It doesn’t take into account muscle mass at all.”

There’s also a lengthy introduction about posture and balance that Behnken enjoyed more.

“That’s definitely the current thing in fitness. Just focusing on pushups and squats is old, so now it’s all about focusing on posture. We’re sitting down a lot more and so you get an imbalance that affects all the muscles in the body. You’re body is a big chain and if you have a weak link, it’s a problem. Ten years from now it will be something else but that’s what’s selling right now,” said Behnken.

With the assessment done the system prompts you to set a weight loss goal in pounds and weeks. Submitting anything tougher than three pounds per week receives a warning about “rebound”.

“I like the fact that they add that,” said Behnken. “The rebound effect is a big problem with people. They lose the weight and gain it back. It’s good that it tells you that you can’t lose 50 lbs in a week. The American College of Sports Medicine says you should aim for one to two pounds per week, so that’s close.”

With the goals set (I’ll need to lose 20 pounds to get to my so-called ideal weight), the system lets you pick a male or female trainer to talk you through the exercises. “Typical trainer,” laughs Behnken. “Same guy you’d see in a 24-hour fitness club brochure.”

Before exiting the initial assessment users play a quick balance game where participants must apply more or less weight to each foot and try to keep a red bar inside a blue area. Each ‘round’ the target area decreases in size making it more difficult. While both of us successfully reached the same round, Behnken did so in less time so I’ll reluctantly concede the win. Behnken 1, Zarda 0

Benhken | Zarda
Round 1: 5.84 s | 6.01 s
Round 2: 5.56 s | 5.85 s
Round 3: 6.74 s | 6.25 s
Round 4: 7.21 s | 8.04 s
Round 5: did not finish | did not finish
Total: 25.35 s | 26.15 s