Wii workout

A personal trainer is helping couch-potatoes to battle the bulge - by playing video games. Zander Urquhart, 32, is thought to be the first fitness expert to adopt the Nintendo Wii as an exercise machine.

Four people at a time can exercise using theWii's unique motion-sensitive controller to mimic a tennis racket, baseball bat, golf club or boxing gloves.University studies suggest players can burn 125 calories during a 15-minute session. Zander, from Glasgow, got the idea after seeing a client's son playing with the console.

He said: "This five-year-old needed encouragement to do any exercise - but here he was running about for half-an-hour working up a sweat."A study by Liverpool John Moores University found that in an average 12.2-hour gaming week, Wii players can burn 1830 calories - shifting 27lb a year. A Nintendo UK spokesman said: "We're not aware of anyone else doing this but it shows what the Wii can be used for."

Source: therawfeed.comAdded: 20 April 2007