If heading to the gym to exercise (or rather, fight for a sweaty machine) doesn’t sound inviting to you, don’t feel bad—it didn’t sound like a lot of fun to me, either. So when the Wii Fit game and balance board set came out, I just had to try it out.

The Wii Fit game comes with Wii Fit Balance Board controller, and offers a whole new way to exercise. When you first set up the wireless balance board with your Wii system, you will start out the program by weighing yourself on it and calibrating it so it ready weight and balance correctly. It will then create a personal profile for you. This way, you can figure out your BMI and your “Wii Fit age.”

Then it’s time to have fun! After you’ve created your Wii Fit profile, it’s time to exercise! With the Wii Fit, there are four main categories of exercise: strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance games. You can pick whichever you’d like to focus on, or rotate amongst the four.

Strength training puts your muscles in action with standard gym exercises like lunges, push-ups, and torso twists. Then, step it up a notch with aerobics, which includes a fun hula hoop game, rhythm boxing and two person run. After getting your heart pumping with the aerobic exercises, drop it down a step and take it slow with some yoga moves. Use poses like the triangle, downward-facing dog, and the cobra to improve your flexibility and your overall balance. Then have a little fun with the balance games. These mini-games, such as skiing, tightrope walking, and soccer heading, utilize the balance board to play, and are a great way to round out a full exercise.

The best part of the Wii Fit game kit, in my opinion, is the ability to keep track of your fitness progress and compete against other friends and family members to see who can get fit the fastest! With all the variety in this game, you will have fun getting in shape and exercising—who knew push-ups and balance games could be so entertaining for the whole family?

Wii Fit is a great way to get fit with the family—it’s always easier to exercise when you have the support of those around you. With the family behind you and the game in your reach, you will be exercising and playing video games at the same time without even realizing it!