Game On

When does playing video games constitute a workout? When Nintendo's Wii Fit is involved. Bill Fisher, of Collingswood, can exercise in the comfort of his living room.

Posted December 14, 2009 by Jen A. Miller

Bill Fisher practices Wii Fitness at home, while son Holden awaits his turn at the console.

Photo by Chris Crisman.

Name: Bill Fisher

Age: 39

Profession: Under stage name Stink Fisher, he’s an actor with roles in The Sopranos and films such as Invincible and The Lovely Bones, due out this month. As Bill Fisher the restaurateur, he runs the Pop Shop restaurant in Collingswood with his wife, Connie Correia Fisher.

Fitness goals: To stay lean and healthy—a challenge, given his dual life. “With the restaurant and schedule I keep, and chasing the kids and running up to New York for acting, it’s frustrating to maintain that lean look,” says the father of two and former NFL player.

Workout of choice: Wii Fit. Fisher’s wife bought him the Nintendo video game system, which tracks movements through a balance board and hand console, for Valentine’s Day last year when he complained about going to the gym on bitter-cold days.

Location: At home.

Frequency/cost: From 30 to 60 minutes, two to four times a week. The Wii system is $199.99, and the Wii Fit, including program and balance board, is $89.99.

How’s it going? Fisher credits Wii Fit—and a healthy diet—with helping him maintain his weight. He uses the strength training and yoga applications most often, but his favorite game is Hula-hoop—where you stand on the balance board and mimic turning a hula-hoop around your waist to strengthen your core. “You think that it’s not a big deal, but I’m a very competitive person and I’m really trying to get maximum twirls out of my hula-hoop,” he says.

Fisher is not the only one in the family using the system. He can play games with his 8-year-old son, Holden (they compete in push-ups), and his wife has been rehabbing an ankle injury through Wii Fit’s strength-training programs.

Because the system is at home, Fisher can easily fit sessions into his crazy schedule. “I’ll work out at midnight if I can’t sleep,” he says.

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