On the train ride home from my terrible class, I spotted a Wii Remote on the floor of the train! Well, it was actually just the cover of the Redeye, a local Chicago paper. The article focuses on the whole Wii workout craze, but it’s still a fun read for bored commuters like myself.

Tom Klimchak of Washington, D.C., is another Wii fitness enthusiast. Every morning before work, Klimchak says, he fires up his Wii and punches and swings at the TV for about 30 minutes. To increase the effort he expends on the games, he told The Washington Post, he straps on wrist weights.

“I feel better, and my arms are tighter,” he said. Since beginning his regimen as a New Year’s resolution, he said he’s lost about 16 pounds, though he also credits changes in his diet. Not everyone is a fan of the Wii remotes, though.

Dr. Mark Klion, a sports physician and orthopedic surgeon at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, has encountered several patients with shoulder and elbow strain associated with Wii overuse.

“The problem,” he said, “is you get someone who’s a couch potato, and put them in front of a TV, swinging their arms countless hundreds of times, and that’s enough to cause injury to the soft tissues, whether it’s the muscles, tendons or ligaments.”

For Wii newbies planning marathon sessions, Klion has some advice. “Start slow, 10 or 15 minutes at first, and work up from there.”

Redeye