Wii console offers students way to cool down after SRSC workout

Forget treadmills, benches and dumbbells. The Nintendo Wii packs a considerable workout in just a single console, and its now at the Student Recreational Sports Center.

Susan Mahoney, who is in charge of marketing for the SRSC, recognized the opportunity to incorporate the increasingly popular Wii into the already extensive lineup of ways to stay fit at the SRSC.

The new Wii is located in the basement level of the SRSC near the equipment rental booth. Requiring only a student ID, up to four players can get their workout with a variety of games including Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

The SRSC is working on adding popular sports titles such as Madden Football and FIFA Soccer.

While there is much excitement about the new Wii at the SRSC, some students doubt whether it is worthy of being called an exercise program.

“The Wii is something that may be entertaining, but I don’t consider it a good workout,” said Claire Daniel, a freshman and frequent visitor to the SRSC. “I would still think about going to the gym to play it though because I don’t have one. Those things are wicked-hard to come by.”

Self-proclaimed Wii enthusiast and freshman Ian Sundstrom agreed with Daniel.
“It’s not that Wii’s interactivity isn’t fun, because it is, but it just isn’t good exercise,” Sundstrom said. “You barely have to move to play them and it probably wouldn’t even increase your heart rate.”

Although some students question the level of the exercise attainable with a Wii, the SRSC staff sees it as more than just another method of working out at the gym. The Wii can be a welcome change for the serious athletes out there. 

“You could go run cardio or lift weights and then play the Wii to cool down,” Mahoney said.