Stereotypes be damned, many a gamer are a swarthy and plump bunch not accustomed to moving around unless it’s to get another can of Red Bull or a refill on the ‘ol Cheetos bowl. So, it should come as no shock that when people aren’t breaking valuables with the Wiimote they are also ailing from the physical exertion the console extolls on the body. Such is the case found in this Wall Street Journal piece on the Wii and its casualties of the lazy:
But as players spend more time with the Wii, some are noticing that hours waving the game’s controller around can add up to fairly intense exertion — resulting in aches and pains common in more familiar forms of exercise. They’re reporting aching backs, sore shoulders — even something some have dubbed “Wii elbow.”
“It’s harder than playing basketball,” says Kaitlin Franke, a 12-year-old from Louisville, Ky. She has been camped out in front of her family’s TV, fine-tuning her bowling motion and practicing boxing footwork in two of the Wii’s games. Almost immediately, she says, her right arm started to feel numb.
More after the jump.
From the chair to the … well, chair:
In Rochester, Minn., Jeremy Scherer and his wife spent three hours playing tennis and bowling, two of the games included with the Wii. Mr. Scherer says he managed to improve his scores — at the cost of shoulders and back that were still aching the next day. “I was using muscles I hadn’t used in a while,” says Mr. Scherer, a computer programmer who describes himself as “not very active.” Mr. Scherer is vowing nightly “Wii workouts” to get in better shape.
Perrin Kaplan, a spokeswoman from Nintendo, says the company hasn’t received complaints from any gamers about soreness. “It was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement,” she says. “If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more.” She says that while it might be more fun to play the games more aerobically, it’s possible to play without leaving the couch.
I’ve yet to experience these issues simply becasue I maintain a certain level of fitness already, plus I don’t play like a Wiitard flailing my arms about. But, I have heard a smattering of complaints from people who first latch onto the system.
Any of you got any “Wii elbow?”
