There's a notice about this in the paper. It's not a lot, but it says something like this: "the main expert and his team cannot find proof that Wii Fit is a better way to exercise than the gym. In fact, they find Wii Fit to only be about 75% as good as using a gym"

In my paper there's a note. It's written by a journalist, not anyone working with the report. This is a rough translation.

The leader of the "fitness crew" and the crew itself is unable to find any proof that Wii Fit is superior to a gym. The gym offers a 1/3 better burn rate than Wii Fit. Wii Fit is therefore only 75% as efficient as a gym.

Edit: Argh, less than a minute too late.

Hmm ok, wait a sec. The expert get an assigment to test it, from somebody who surly want to have it a negative result. He post his result that good (I would have figured 50% at most). So either he has done a fair job, or the tool is even better? Well, know I have really to do my daily there, seems to help.

@WoW

You know that gym can be a pain in the ass in some countries and territories? The nearest gym for me is 5 minutes away by car (not that far), but I should pay outstanding 50€/month. Personal trainer extra, off course. So I looked arround and the next gym is 25 minutes away by car, and I still have to pay 20€/month, but i have to join up for at least 2 years. No tell me, as somebody who didn't work out at all until know, do you think it is attractive. I have maybe 4 hours a week to do a workout (including driving). So Wii Fit is an alternative for me at least. Yes I know it is not that effective and good as gym, but com on, would you pay that much if you would do it that less?

@WoW: You know, Wii Fit isn't competing gyms, it's competing home exercise equipment. And when you think of it, Wii + Wii Fit is at the same pricerange with (decent) fitness/exercise bike (or what are they called). The thing is, that people expect Wii Fit being fun and supportive (and assuming it has similar table to Wii Sports or Brain Training that shows how you advance, it definately motivates), unlike the home exercise equipment. It's actually no different than doing push ups at home. Now another thing, the people who quit the gym, how do you know how stupid they are and what they are doing in the gym? Apparently they are not satisfied for their progress at the gym, and if you ever have been in a gym, you propably know, that your own attitude/motivation have a lot to do with the results you are getting, so depending on the case, Wii Fit can be more efficient. Besides, if they are not happy with Wii Fit, they will be back in the gym. And as few people already pointed out, there's a lot more things to consider than just how efficient the training is. Everyone doesn't have the time to go to gym, with Wii Fit you can train 15 minutes at a time, many times a day if you want to. And if the exercises start to bore you, you can play the games in it and get some exercise that way. To put it short, Wii Fit doesn't compete gyms anymore than home exercise stuff and it's not as efficient as gym, while the percentage shown at the article quoted here, was higher than i could imagine. And in comparision to gym efficiency, i had a job in 1999, where i needed to lift 25 kg bags 8 hours a day 5 days a week, so i'd like to see the gym that's as efficient as that job was with the time i can spend on a gym. Oh, and i could go for free on a gym that's right next to where i work, but i'm just too tired to go there right after work, and after going to home and rest a bit, it would take too much time (and gas) to drive to the gym and back.

A few things:

People of this era rarely swam because of the lack of spare time in which to do recreational things and also the simple fact that in 1600's Europe, less than 1/5 of the population could swim at all, and most of those who could swim were not very good at it. The did not go jogging either, why would they? Again, a recreational hobby belonging to modern society. The most common pasttimes that were non or only semi-jobrelated were various crafts, gardening (for those in rural communities) and basically just sitting around enjoying an ale with locals and chatting up on subjects old and new. After a hard days work the last thing they wanted was go running for no damn reason at all, and the only proffessions that would require it would be scouts and pages. The urban folk (which made up the vast majority of the populace) were not very active at all beasides those who were carpenters, masons or cartwrights or smiths for instance, they were a slow moving lot who enjoyed a docile lifestyle. Not to mention the fact that an urban environment would house little to no opportunity and/or locales for physical activity. Fencing was extreme upper class only, a sword or rapier back in those days would set you back 3-4 years worth of an average wage, and the notion that everyone bore massive blades in their belt in something out of movies quite frankly. Nobles loved fencing and could afford it, and some of the very richest in society (well paid merchants, noble relatives etc) also dabbled in it. Bathouses were very uncommon in Europe at the time, this is/was in fact a habit and trait of older societies like Ancient Greece, Mykenos, Rome and Egypt. Bathhouses in the 1600's were reserved for nobility, very very rich merchants and possibly the most astute among the clergy in some cases (as it is assumed that nearly 1/3 of all the currency at the time was possessed by the Church). The laymen would have to suffice with a wodden tub or even hollowed out barrels to wash themselves, and soap was of the crude sort made basically from animal fat.

Extremely off topic I know, but it seems clear you know little of older societies! No offense, its just that this is one of my favourite subjects.

@WoW

How are they really stupid? Most of them thought that Wii Fit would be fun, but not fully as good as the gym. They quit the gym for 1 month. They can come back for free, or don't come back. Most of them will have 10 days with Wii Fit + to determine. IMO they're smarter than the ones who both have the gym, Wii Fit and uses only Wii Fit, which I reckon will be quite a few.

Also, Mummel, Elixia has more than 10K customers. The one in my city is 4500 users, and I doubt there are only 5500 more (there are 1 other in my town too)

I cannot decide your life's priorities for you in terms of money or health and wellness.  I can tell you that if everyone in the U.S. spent at least an hour a day working out at a gym, our country would look very different today.  ^_^

I am implying only the ones that think WiiFit is their one-shot solution to all their fitness needs are foolish.

Reread the post, I clearly stated they have 20k customers, the reason I know this is that I work in the industry myself and I'll be a full fledged PT by next year sometime( I work at Kaliber in Trondheim every other week) ! Elixia is mostly found only in the largest cities there's a rough outline of the gyms on Elixia.no) and a select few places, but the small towns have really small gyms. S.A.T.S have nearly 50% marketshare on Norwegian gym memberships, but I don't like them, their crave for cash overhadows the desire to make people healthy and fit...

never been to a gym

have had my wii Fit four days now and im sore in my shoulders, stomach and both arms( hole arm not just biceps/triceps)

so it works atleast for me, hehe