Earlier in the year Core Gaming (Nintendo’s representatives in SA) launched Wii Fit across South Africa. Not content to just see us in action at the Wii Fit launch event, Core Gaming challenged media to participate in the “25 Day Wii Fit Media Challenge.”

Journalists left the event with a Wii and a copy of Wii Fit, which includes the new Wii Balance Board, determined to put the latest health trend to the test. The challenge was simple, improve your fitness and Body Mass Index (BMI) in 25 days, but the rewards were great.

The four media who most improved their Wii Fit Age and their BMI rating would get the chance to donate the Wii review console, a copy of the Wii Fit game and Wii Balance Board to a charity of their choice.

“The plan was to put Wii Fit to the ultimate test,” says Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Group. “We asked journalists to complete their Wii Fit workout, a programme tailored to their individual fitness needs, for the challenge period, and to report back to us with their findings. We were certain the proof would be in their overall fitness improvement.”

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First up apologies for not having kept you up to date on our progress in the Wii Fit Challenge, I was never good at writing in diaries!

As you can see we are well into our Wii Fit Challenge, over halfway in fact. In a way it is going to be disappointing to finish the challenge since it has served as a great motivator to step on to the Wii Balance Board and fit exercise into my busy daily routine. However, with that being said I will admit that it is much easier after a hectic day to start up the Wii and engage in some heart-raising (although it can sometimes be hair-raising as well) activity than head off to the gym in the chill of early winter.

I have been a bit more adventurous of late, trying a few more of the yoga poses and cursing at my wobbly stomach in the process. There are some very interesting names for yoga poses including Palm Tree, Warrior and Downward Facing Dog. The Balance Board keeps on asking me if I am noticing that my tummy is firmer, it really is a bit direct that board, especially when it asks me if I find myself tripping often.

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I am bushed after a session involving Yoga breathing, a muscle workout, Step Plus and Hula-Hoops. The Step Plus sees you stepping on and off the balance board in time with the Miis on the stage. However, in this routine you will not only be going backwards or left and right but things will be mixed up slightly with you having to clap, kick alternating legs forward and even step on to the balance board sideways. The rhythm will even get faster about half way through the routine to shake things up but it’s really fun and is guaranteed to get your heart racing.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this I unlocked new games as well as new difficulty levels for some of my favourites. Oh boy…time to rev things up a bit. I noticed an exclamation mark above the friendly Balance Board’s head (who was pounding away on the treadmill at the time) and thought ‘Aha, a secret!’ When I clicked on him he asked me if I was ready for the Ultimate Balance Test. ‘Bring it” I said. If only I knew then what I knew now. Give it a whirl and let me know how good your balance is.

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