Winter Workout

Snow and rain everywhere make it difficult to get out of the house during winter. Then, what about workout and exercise? Whole winter we tend to add few more pounds and increase belly fat.  Small exercises at home can in deed help in reaching our daily exercise goals.

Doctors do advise one hour of physical exercise per day apart from work and house hold chores. In spring and summer we can get out of the house for walking, but during fall and winter it is risky for outdoor walking or jogging. We can subscribe to a gym if feasible. Else, working out at home itself is the only alternate option.

Wii

The popular video game Wii offers an opportunity to exercise apart from fun. The Wii balance board, Wii Fiit Plus, Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort are the basic games available in the package. The games suggest appropriate exercises based on your weight and age. You can customize the games and choose from a range of aerobic and balance sports. If you can couple the exercise routine with your family member, it can be even more fun. 🙂

Yoga

Originated in India, Yoga is a traditional and popular method worldwide for exercises and healthy practices.  You can learn yoga through videos or take a formal training lessons from a learned guru in your local area. Initially, it is better to get yoga training from an expert rather than experimenting. Yoga postures help  improve body and mind and offer a large variety of ‘aasanas’ according to your needs.

Fitness Equipment

Treadmills, home gyms, ellipticals, bikes, rowers, and so on are the different fitness equipment which you can install at your home. You can buy them new or used or check out the craigslist. Once installed, it is suggested to know the equipment thoroughly before using it. The weights and other lifting accessories are good for building muscles. Most equipment have a video guide apart from the user manual.

You can set up a fixed time for the workout routine. It is better to start with small intervals and increase the intensity and time going forward. Do not overdo any thing and strain yourself. Let me know if you have any other winter workout methods and tips and watch your weight before you take any junk food. 🙂

AHA endorses Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort – Go video games for healthy hearts

Coming summer the American Heart Association (AHA) is going to embed its logo on Wii. The American Heart Association endorsed the Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort packages. Let’s look at the reason behind this endorsement while exploring the features and benefits of Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort.


Physical Activity

The amount of physical activity your family is involved depends up on the life style. Apart from daily chores at home and at work, every individual requires certain physical activity to stay fit and healthy. Even children in modern times are adopting sedentary life style.

Engaging in outdoor sports depends on the infrastructure facilities available in your community. Further, weather plays a crucial role to play outdoor games. Areas with continental climate conditions limit the chance of outdoor sports or any other outdoor physical activity.

Other alternative gym, proves to be costly and sometimes upsetting the normal body condition of a person. The lack of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and improper diet increases the chances of heart attack even at a much younger age!

Video games

Video games are condemned originally for their tendency to promote laziness in children and young adults. At an average, modern kid spends around ten hours of their free time with electronic gadgets. These include TV, laptop, ipad, iphone, Nintendo, Video games, listening to music and so on.  Thus limiting their ability to communicate face-to-face and personally.


Wii

When Wii was introduced in 2006, its competitors were Microsoft’s XBox and Sony’s Play Station 3. Nintendo’s Wii revolutionized video games by increasing the physical activity through the games. The video game has a console along with a Nunchuck and Remote. Within your living room, you can play tennis, base ball, boxing, bowling and golf. Wii Sports comprises these five games.

The next version of Wii Sports is Wii Fit, which has a Balance Board along with the console, Nunchuck and  Remote. It comprises forty games in four categories. The main areas are yoga, balance games, aerobics and strength training. The software in the game allows an individual to record the Body Mass Index (BMI) based on the person’s details.

Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports

Wii Fit Plus is an advance version of Wii Fit. It has additional games along with calorie tracker, personlized training routine, creating profiles for children and pets. In addition, certain games have been added in Training Plus. You cn check your body status and balance every day, weekly or after a pre-determined time.

Wii Sports Resort has more games such as Swordplay, Wakeboarding, Frisbee, Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Power Cruising, Canoeing, Cycling and Air Sports.

Active-Play and Fun

Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort have games which encourage active-play instead of sitting at one place and playing with buttons. You have to physically move and involve to play these games and get better. That is the reason The AHA has endorsed these products. You can play alone or play in groups with friends and family taking turns. Its always a competition in sports as to who is performing better in any given sport.

My personal favorites are yoga, aerobics and free run. I am the best in my family in hula hooping. While my son is good at Snow ball fight that improves planning ahead, my husband’s best is Lotus Focus, a game that improves your concentration! Its time for my Wii Fit Plus and personal  training session to reach my weight loss target. 🙂