Hello,

I just found this forum and I decided to drop by and give it a go. My name is Ramona and I live in Brooklyn, New York, USA. I have two children, boys, and everyone is an adult.

Although I've been fairly active since 2006 by doing aerobic walking covering between 40 to 50 miles a week, as well as resistance training three times a week, I wanted to add some variety to my exercise schedule. I purchased my Wii and Wii Fit Plus with the Balance Board in June and began using it in July. The Wii has now become my main exercise routine. I warm up with the Wii Fit Plus using the pre-set routines, then I move on the EA Sports Active More Workouts - 6 week challenge (I first started out with EA's Personal Trainer 30 day challenge).

My decision to switch from mainly aerobic walking to Wii exercises came about because of health reasons. I'm a type II diabetic; though I'm not overweight, have high cholesterol, and blood pressure. Working with the Wii Fit Plus and EA's Sports Active, totally lowered everything much to my amazement.

NotThePest

Hi, Ramona. I'm new to this forum also. I started using the Wii Fit Plus the weekend after Christmas and have not missed a day! I've lost 15 pounds and would like to lose more but can't seem to stop eating. At least exercising with the Wii seems to keep me from gaining any weight. I haven't exercised every day ever in my life before now, so this is quite the change for me. I guess I'm kind of obsessed because even when I'm sick or after I had a shot in my heel for plantar fasciitis and could hardly walk, I still worked out. I live in Minneapolis now but was born and raised in Flushing!

How does the EA Sports Active compare to the Wii Fit Plus? Is it a lot harder?

AnneM,

Wii Fit and/or Wii Fit Plus has a more Eastern Feel to it so I don't think you can really compare them to EA Sports Active products. The Wii is more "Balance Focus" and EA is "Western" focus with Aerobics, Cardio and Strength & Resistance Training. EA will burn more calories and leave you in a pool of sweat while Wii is Balance oriented. Both are necessary.

I purchased my Wii and the Balance Board by using a gift card I received from switching my phone service. Because I had been doing on average 6/7 miles a day plus 3 days of resistance training, I thought I would need something more that the Fit Plus, and the other games - Resort and Sports, that were bundled with my purchase. I read reviews and purchased, EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer, EA's More Workouts, Walk-It-Out, and Dance, Dance, Dance Revolution. It also appears that I got lucky when I ordered all that stuff 'cause everything was on sale but at the time I didn't know it.

Both the Wii Fit and EA kicked my butt. Wii Fit really really worked my core muscles, and EA worked my legs and arms. As I said before Wii Fit, because of its gentleness, is my warm-up, I put together workouts (I let the system put them together) that total between 25/32 minutes before I do EA. And the EA Personal Trainer has a 30 day challenge plus you can customize or do predesigned workouts. Their More Workouts work the same body parts except it adds "Abs" and they have a warm-up and cool down, as well as a six week challenge. However if you're not careful you can get caught up in the cord between the nunchuk and the wiimote. Their EA Sports 2 will eliminate the cord problem. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dvideogames&field-keywords=EA+Sports+Active&ih=7_6_2_0_0_0_0_1_0_1.80_144&fsc=-1

Thanks for such a detailed reply, Ramona. I think you're definitely in better shape than I am, so I'm not sure how well I would do with EA Sports Active. I have bad knees and plantar fasciitis, so I have to switch off exercises that use my feet and legs with exercises that use my upper body or don't require a lot of walking/running. I have been very bad at exercising my whole life because I find it extremely boring. I don't get bored with the Wii Fit, so I'm exercising every day for the first time in years. I do have Dance Dance Revolution but haven't tried it yet. Now that the weather is cooling down, I'll be more motivated to do aerobic exercises than I am in the heat (even with the air conditioning on).

However, it might be time for me to challenge myself, so I'll consider adding the EA Sports 2 to my routine. Thanks for your input.

Anne

Hey AnnM,

This must be the bad feet, bad knees and back place. I too have problems with my feet, bone spurs on the ball of my right foot and totally flat arches (I don't do the Wii bare footed). My knees are shot to hell and my lower back is nothing to write home about. However, my pain has decreased 10 fold since beginning my exercise programs (2006), and I have more flexibility now @ 58 then I did when I was 40.

I don't know if this will help you but about two years ago I went to a store that specializes in selling shoes, socks, cloths for runners. When you walk in you cannot just go up to the display and pick out any ole shoe, you must sign in. They fit your sneakers/trainers/flats based on what you do, the shape of your foot, etc. They have treadmills with cameras on the back to analyze your movement and after that they bring out shoes to fit you. That was the best thing I’ve ever done. Although I can't afford to constantly buy my shoes there, I now know what type to buy, the brand and style, etc. When I get them I don't wear the ones I use to workout in outside on the pavement. They are strictly workout shoes. Also, as a type II diabetic, I’m supposed to keep something on my feet all the time, except when I’m in bad of course.