The Wii Workout

Looking to play games without becoming a couch potato? These classic Wii library games make getting fit virtually a reality.

by Nate Millado

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WII FIT

Usually, the only thing you work out while playing video games is your thumbs. Not with Nintendo's Wii Fit. Using a pressure-sensitive balance board, you can transform your living room into a fitness center. Wii Fit calculates your body mass index, then gives you a personalized weight-loss (or weight-gain) plan to help you attain your ideal BMI. There are more than 40 types of training activities, including muscle conditioning, quick cardio, and inventive balance games.

Our fave: ski jumping. To perform the classic winter sport, crouch down and forward on the balance board to pick up speed down the ramp, spring up slightly at the end to gain height, then bend back down to avoid wiping out. Improve your flexibility with the yoga feature. Adopt poses like the half moon and sideways twist, then fi nd out how well you maintained those poses in a postgame evaluation. Do 20 minutes each of cardio, "ski jumping," and yoga, and you'll burn as much as 436 calories in an hour. Available 2008.

WII SPORTS

Swing the Wiimote like a racket to ace tennis balls, or grip the controller like a bat to swat homers out of the park. The most physically challenging of the fi ve sports is boxing: Use the Wiimote and the Nunchuk attachment as boxing gloves to dodge, weave, and K.O. opponents. Play a "pentathlon"— 12 minutes each of baseball, bowling, boxing, golf, and tennis—for a 433-cal-burning workout. Bundled with the Wii.

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION HOTTEST PARTY

Step onto the mat, pick a jam, then "dance" by hitting the arrow directions as they rise to the top of the screen. Konami takes full advantage of the Wiimote and Nunchuk by adding upper-body combos. "Workout" mode keeps track of all calories burned based on your height and weight. You'll easily kill 400 cals in an hour, and you might even hone a few new moves for the club. Available now.

ACTIVE LIFE: ATHLETIC WORLD

Namco Bandai updates the old-school "Power Pad" for this fitness-oriented title. Up to two players can use the same motion-sensing mat to control the on-screen action. Get a full-body workout simulating such activities as whitewater rafting, mine racing, and rope climbing. Available 2008.