Training and Wii Sports
PLAQUEMINE – Physical fitness is a general state of good health usually as a result of exercise and nutrition.
A simple definition of physical fitness is not offered. Instead everything from bone integrity, metabolic, flexibility, muscle strength and endurance, cardiovascular fitness, power, speed, reaction time, balance, agility, team sport, individual sport and lifetime are states of fitness on a chart provided by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a study group sponsored by the government of the United States.
Specific or task-oriented fitness is a person's ability to perform in a specific activity with reasonable efficiency. Specific training prepares athletes to perform well in their sports.
Training programs cover a wide variety of specific fitness.
"There are so many things out there right now," Plaquemine head athletic trainer Rene Ponsaa said. "You don't just do the same thing over and over again. You come up with a bunch of different exercise stations. It doesn't have to be just sit-ups and push-ups. It can be fun. You can make obstacle courses for the kids to run and compete in. The main thing is just being outside and active and try to do it at least 60 minutes a day."
Ponsaa likes interval training, a type of discontinuous physical training that involves a series of low- to high-intensity exercise workouts interspersed with rest or relief periods.
Wii Sports, a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for a video game console has become the best-selling video game of all-time.
The game is a collection of five sports simulations, designed to demonstrate the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote to new players. The five sports included are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing.
Players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real life sports, such as swinging a tennis racket. The rules for each game are simplified to make them more accessible to new players. The game also features training and fitness modes that monitor players' progress in the sports.
"I think it would be a great addition to the P.E. program," Ponsaa said of the game. "I think with the way technology is today and how tech savvy these kids are, it would allow kids to want to participate more."
Colby Landry, a member of the St. John High School football and baseball teams, has used Wii Sports before.
"I used to play Wii Sports with my brother at home," Landry said. "If you do it enough it probably helps but you would have to do more than just that to stay in shape. I usually run a lot in the evenings. We lift weights a lot, too.
"If I am stressed, I might use it. I cut grass around town during the summer to stay in shape and it really helps a lot. Dieting helps you with your exercise and keeps good stuff in your body so you can keep going with what you are doing."
Colby Sanchez, a member of the Plaquemine High School football and baseball teams, said Wii Sports is very popular.
"It really helps you because it is fun and helps you burn calories," Sanchez said. "They have football where you actually have to do the motion to throw it and catch it. Then they have baseball where you can pitch or hit. They have bowling, too. That one isn't really that fun."
Stephanie O'Bear, of White Castle, is the mother of three children, twin daughters Skylar and Shylar O'Bear and son Isaac O'Bear. Skylar and Shylar are on the volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field teams at White Castle High School and Isaac is a pitcher at Grambling State University.
"My kids have a Wii," O'Bear said. "We play all the time. That is something that really keeps you fit."
