Saturday, March 7, 2009

Getting Fit

One of the myriad things that happened in my last month's hiatus was my acquisition (finally!) of a Wii Fit, thanks to a dear friend who was insane enough to be driving around out in the middle of the ice storm about a month ago.  I didn't write about it then, because as soon as he retrieved it for me, our Wii up and died (see below).  So it had to get sent off and fixed and now is back, and I finally got to try out the Wii fit for the first time a couple of nights ago.  Let me tell you, folks, I consider myself to be a pretty in-shape person--I was a gymnast growing up and in college, and while I haven't been exactly religious about it since I began medical school, have been at least relatively attentive to my staying-in-shape needs.  So let it come as no small thing when I say I was in significant pain the day after my first little twenty minute workout.  

The thing is, it didn't feel like I even did anything!  Ten reps each of some strengthening exercises, two cardio drills and as much yoga as I could do (you have to unlock a lot of things in the game before you have access to an entire workout).  When I finished, I even thought it had been too easy that I wasn't going to get as much out of this as I thought. Clearly, I was wrong.  Apparently the whole stress on balance and center of gravity and core strength worked my body in ways I was not only unused to, but completely unprepared for. 

Final review:  If you, like me, have little time and money to get to a gym, I highly, highly recommend Wii Fit--just don't go into it all naive like I did, lest you not be able to move the next day.

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