We haven't gamed in years, it was mostly DH that did back on the old style Nintendo. So I gifted him a Wii once I found out shoot-em games were available for Wii. We've both played the sports and resort game that came with the bundle, we have two normal controllers and two numchucks. Both our shoulders were sore the next day - it didn't help much that I cut up an entire pork shoulder for my new meat grinder gift LOL

He'd been setting everything up for me, and I'm now learning how to work the Wii on my own, and have setup my Mii today, and got his shoot-em connected to the wifi.

I've been searching Wii fitness/rehab too and was very pleased to find this forum, for most Wii fitness reviews seem like they're coming from fully-abled already in some kind of shape, unlike me LOL

My left knee is weak due to injury and a post-surgical "accident" (freaked out on anesthesia, kicking my surgical knee around so much it hemorrhaged). It didn't recover as well as the surgeon hoped, maybe the post-op kicking had something to do with that. I also believe I was moved along too quickly through rehab (x2), for once I quit my job and sat around in the house with it elevated, then rode my bike for close errands over the next few months, it did a lot better than right after my PT declared 'she had done all she could for my knee' (hmmph!)

Last winter was rough on my fitness too - it was colder than it had been in 30 years, so we stayed in the central room to stay warm, not enough room to do much except sit, surf, and watch movies. And I believe we both had a medium flu, and our coughing illness he brought home from work matched up with many whooping cough symptoms.

Once it started warming up, my back/core could barely handle medium housework. I started yoga DVDs and slowly built myself up to handle housework and light yardwork, after recovering from temporary setbacks due to over-doing the yoga LOL. But I'm pleased I'm back to at least a minimum level of fitness.

End of backstory, whew!

I want to build my core strength more though, before moving onto more challenging fitness games. I'm leaning towards the balance board combined with a stability ball as demonstrated here:
http://www.wii-hab.com/lowback%20and%20abs.html
Is that game in Wii Fit/plus?

The other game I'm considering that looks like it's not too much for us out-of-shapers with weak knees is one I found reviewed in this forum: Walk It Out (forget the UK name, sorry).

I soon hope to look into more Wii fitness type games adaptable to rehab, or at least less challenging (don't require actual jogging or jumping) that aren't just exercise, but games that inspire us to be active, for exercise-only DVD/games don't do it for me - I don't think the EA Sports Actives look very fun at all.

Thanks for this forum!
Shreela

Welcome to the forum.

The video does indeed show the yoga and strength exercises from wii fit/wii fit Plus. I've never used a stability ball with them though. The exercises are quite good without the use if the ball but I am intrigued, it would likely work some very different muscle groups.

I'm not a fan of anything that isn't fun. I'm a little bit spoiled like that. For leg work I really enjoy "Wii Fit Plus" (much more than wii fit) and "Walk It Out". I'm not a big fan of "DDR" and I'd strongly recommend anyone with a bum knee avoid that one. For upper body I like "Samba de Amigo", the Raving Rabids series, and anything that involves swinging a sword like Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Zelda. For all over sweatiness I like "Just Dance" It works your waist and arms more than your legs.

I live by the theory that there's absolutely no reason that exercise has to be a chore. The key is to put time into researching games that appeal to your personal tastes. You'll find lots of reviews around here and we're all only too happy to push our own favorite flavors of "wii crack" So jump in and ask questions. Once you find something that sound's appealing I'd recommend searching for the game on youtube. chances are someone has taken a video of themselves playing it and you can get a real feel for how it will work out for you.

Hope that helps

Thank you SO much for the suggestions Nienna! Especially Samba de Amigo, for I was intrigued by Zumba, but Samba de Amigo seems much more realistic, much more affordable, and looks like it'll hold my interest longer than a plain dance game.

Speaking of the dance games, thanks for your advice on the DDR vs JD, because I had already wishlisted the DDRs.

I had watched some Raving Rabbids the other day, and decided against it mostly because so many of the youtube vids just showed bizarre stuff - not how a user might play the game. But I searched more and found a few people dancing with the rabbids, as well as a few cow tossings. I'm leaning towards TV Party, since reading Paul's review at gamepeople.co.uk, as well as from Amazon.

There's a few others I'm curious if I can handle, and I've found them on Blockbuster's mail-rental site. But I'll have to reset my account there before I can take advantage of it.

Thanks again Nienna!

There is a lot of jumping in DDR that really can't be good for the knees. There are a whole slew of dance type games that focus more on allover body motion than feet.

The Rabids are kind of an acquired taste. I tend to have a rather twisted sense of humor though so they always amuse me.