The Great Wii Fit-Off: Gamer vs. Trainer

Yoga

It was tough tell which of us were less excited about the yoga exercises. It’s not something he teaches and my only exposure is staring fondly through a glass window at absurdly flexible spandex-clad women. I did hope my lanky unmuscular build might actually provide some benefit. Sadly, it didn’t. The score awarded appears to be based on your ability to maintain balance through the pose which we both found accurate and worthwhile (a little red dot tracks your COB). The trainer offers some decent advice according to Behnken, complete with encouragement to visualize the pose. “All I’m visualizing is falling over,” said Behnken. You and me both my friend. Behnken 2, Zarda 0.

Behnken | Zarda
Warrior Pose: 97 points (yoga master)| 73 (yoga trainer)
Tree Pose: 68 points (yoga novice) | 69 (yoga novice)
Total: 165 | 142

Strength

Without going Tanya Harding, my only prayer in this was that Wii Fit wasn’t accurate enough to notice his guns and my twigs. We started with push-ups and side planks. Lucky for me newcomers are limited to just six reps. Behnken made it look a lot easier (and likely wasn’t sore the next day), but I got mine done. He noted that hands have to be extremely close together when pushing on the board, which would work out your arms but do little for your chest. He also liked that the trainer kept you at a nice steady pace. We weren’t sure how the board was scoring this but we tied, so I didn’t care.

Lunges were up next. One foot was kept on the board and the system accurately measured the force pushing down. Behnken liked the advice of the trainer regarding technique but noted that bad form actually increased your score.

“It’s saying to keep your front leg at 90 degrees which is correct, but if you do it improperly you can get a higher score because when your knee comes forward you put more weight on it. But, that’s not the right way to do it,” said Behnken.

Despite my attempts to cheat, Behnken still took me down. This is getting embarrassing. Behnken 3, Zarda 0.

Behnken | Zarda
Pushups: 91 (bodybuilder) | 91 (bodybuilder)
Lunges: 95 (bodybuilder) | 65 (exercise novice)
Total: 186 | 156

Cardio

We started with Basic Step. It was appropriately named to say the least.

“This is like senior citizen type stuff. If this step were two feet high this would be a good cardio exercise. Right now, it’s like a weak version of Dance Dance Revolution. It all depends on how coordinated you are. I played Dance Dance Revolution and I was done in ten seconds,” said Behnken.

No excuses Behnken. I don’t play Dance Dance either and I’ve never taken ballroom lessons but this one was all mine. The system checks when you step on and off and how synchronized you are with the prompts. Neither of us felt much of a hike in heart rate, but I’ll take what I can.

Next was a hula-hoop competition (less the actual hula hoop). Essentially it gets you to shake your hips while monitoring your rhythm in swaying left to right. I won a hula-hoop competition when I was eight, so even a personal trainer didn’t stand a chance. Neither of us were gasping for breath, but who cares, I’m on the board. Behnken 3, Zarda 1.

Behnken | Zarda
Basic Step: 160 (calorie roaster) | 233 (calorie roaster)
Hula Hoop: 64 (calorie burner) | 77 (calorie burner)
Total: 224 | 310