Would The Wii Fitness Or Gazelle Glider Be Better For Exercise?

Home fitness seekers have more options than ever when it comes to getting in shape. Among the choices are traditional equipment like Tony Little's Gazelle Glider and less conventional options such as Nintendo's Wii Fit video game. While both methods can be an effective choice for improving your fitness level, choosing the right piece of exercise equipment for your goals will help you achieve the most significant results.

Calorie Burning

If your main motivation for working out is to burn calories, the Gazelle Glider is likely to be one of your best options. The Gazelle Glider provides an exercise motion that is somewhere between an elliptical trainer and a ski machine. According to research from the Harvard Medical School, 30 minutes of this type of exercise for a 155-lb. person results in a total calorie burn somewhere between 335 and 353 calories on average. The most vigorous aerobics provided by the Wii Fit are likely to only help the same person burn 260 calories or less over 30 minutes.

Muscle Building

Building muscle requires you to regularly perform a heavier workload with your muscles. The Wii Fit has a dedicated program to strength training in which you perform bodyweight exercises like pushups and lunges to tax your muscles. The game will track your progress for you and suggest how many repetitions you need to do to continue your muscle growth. While the Gazelle Glider does have some incline exercises that help build muscle in your legs and glutes, the primary function of the equipment remains calorie burning.

Motivation

The Wii Fit video game is one of the best exercising options if you have a hard time sticking with your exercise routines. This is a common problem for many people, and Wii Fit avoids this issue by providing workouts that focus on aerobics, strength training, balancing, yoga and training games to keep you entertained from day to day. Additionally, the game tracks your progress and tells you when your form needs to improve on particular exercises. Gazelle Gliders only have a maximum of eight different exercise variations and can only track your calories burned, time spent exercising and distance traveled.

Reviews

Both the Gazelle Glider and Wii Fit receive positive reviews as fitness tools. Certified personal trainer Bret Spottke states that the Gazelle Glider is a good equipment choice for beginners who want a solid cardio workout without spending a lot of money on an elliptical trainer or treadmill. Similarly, personal trainer Joel Hornsby describes Wii Fit as an effective beginner program that teaches you how to perform many exercises correctly. He notes that the program is fun to do and has enough variety to keep you entertained.