A fresh approach to fitness is now offered at UH.
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Nintendo Wii studio has been established at Garrison Gym with the purpose of keeping students in a healthy lifestyle. The program also creates room for technological influence.
‘It’s primarily about the Wii fitness,’ Health and Human Performance department chair Charles Layne said.
‘Part of the driving goal is to capture students who may, for whatever reason, not be interested in signing up for a traditional physical activity course, but they might be comfortable interacting with technology.’
Students who do not enjoy heavy weightlifting or rigorous running may find appeal in the Wii exercise program.
The Wii fitness course offers a one-hour credit, but has seen a solid turnout so far
‘We have 10 stations and we’re splitting it up as two students per station,’ HHP Director Randi Weintraub said. ‘Every station is also set up with a Wii Fit board, but there are activities that do not use the Wii. We have additionally bought some Dance Revolution for a little cardio to get the heart rate going.’
The idea for the studio arose after observing Wii studios at other universities.
‘Randi Weintraub and myself were talking about it one day and thought why not try to explore this,’ Layne said. ‘We’re always looking for different opportunities. This is just an extension of trying to reach out to a greater student population.’
If students enjoy the new approach to fitness, the Wii studio courses are expected to expand.
‘We’ve started with one class of 20 students and we may add more sections come spring,’ Weintraub said.
The instructor for the innovative course is alumnus Ben Hoffman, who is also an exercise trainer and soccer instructor.
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