A new winter workout -- Wii golf!

I’ve made it clear in previous posts how much I hate indoor golf ranges. I’ve found a better place to work on my swing this winter … in front of the Wii in my basement.

Wii golf is so much better than Tiger Woods golf on Xbox or Playstation. It’s interactive. It’s fun. It demands a real swing, not a bunch of button-pushing. The only knock is how hard it is to putt (maybe that’s another indication how real it is. I’m a terrible putter outside, too).

But most important: Wii golf is good for you. The American Council on Exercise did a study on just how many calories are burned playing certain Wii games. They used 16 healthy 20 to 29 year olds as test subjects. They tested five Wii sport games, golf, bowling, baseball, tennis and boxing.

Results showed that golf and bowling burned the fewest calories (3 per minute for golf), but that amount is only one fewer calorie per minute than playing real golf.

See the rest of the study at www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/WiiStudy.pdf.