A winning Wii in the Olympics swimming pool

happygeek 0 310 Views

It would appear that Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, who won gold in the men's 100m breast stroke event, .

I was always told not to wee in the pool, but Kitajima had his Wii in the gym so that's OK then.

Apparently, the Olympic swimmer included playing games on the Wii as part of his training routine to prepare for the Olympic Games.

Now you are probably thinking he was using that Wii Fit thing, but no, Kitajima reckons he played Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games instead.

"Mario does the breaststroke. And thus, it's perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall" .

Is it just me, or does this sound suspiciously like someone who either has or is hoping to get a sponsorship deal?

Meanwhile, injured athletes are turning to Wii Fit as part of a rehabilitation process according to yet further reports. "Fitness-oriented video games have great potential for core strengthening and rehabilitation" .

Still, it makes a change from mass murderers I guess.

Dani AI

Generated

Short take: flagged an interesting media story and celebrated the Wii's comeback. That raises two practical questions the thread does not fully answer: (1) can a consumer game genuinely help an elite athlete, and (2) is headline-friendly attribution the same as documented, reproducible training benefit?

Video games can act as mental-rehearsal tools as well as low-impact physical cross-training. High-quality meta-analytic evidence shows imagery practice reliably improves athletic performance and gives usable dosage guidance (brief, regular sessions tend to work best). (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

On the physical side, the Wii/Wii Fit platform has been extensively studied as a rehabilitation and balance-training tool. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses report measurable gains in balance and function in a range of populations, and in many trials Wii-based programs perform similarly to conventional exercises. At the same time the literature is mixed: some outcomes and patient groups show modest benefits only, and many trials are small or heterogeneous, so firm claims about transfer to elite sport performance are premature. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Practical takeaway: treat a console as an adjunct, not a miracle. Use exergames to vary stimulus, support motivation and structured imagery, and to add low-impact balance or core work where appropriate. For rehabilitation and sport gains, pair games with coached, sport-specific practice and basic outcome tracking (for example TUG, balance scales, or timed reps). Claims that a single hobby directly produced a medal are plausible as part of a broader regimen, but they are not proof on their own. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

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Thinka 40 Posting Whiz

Lol at last sentence. Indeed the Wii is turning out to be as epic to this generation as Nintendo and SNES Consoles were. Well done to Nintendo for coming back successfully after the GameCube

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