More and more gym users are instead opting to work out in the home in order to cut down on expensive membership fees as inflation continues to rise. The launch of the Wii Fit platform on the ubiquitous Nintendo console has seen thousands of women across the UK swap the gym for their living rooms, in order to cut down on expensive membership fees. Whilst the Wii is a whole lot of fun and a good compliment to (and not a replacement of) regular exercise, it turns out that really cutting loose on the wireless white wonder could cause your home insurance premiums to creep up, which pretty much defeats the point of skipping out on gym sessions to save money!

A Sheila’s Wheels survey notes a rise in personal injuries and damages to household items sustained as a result of home workout sessions, and the leading ladies’ insurers point the finger at the Wii.

Apparently, an incredible 615,422 (2 per cent) have damaged their televisions as a result on getting a little too involved with games consoles, such as the Wii. The survey shows that the majority of accidents in the home involve people bumping into furniture (30 per cent) and pulling a muscle (19 per cent) – presumably both of these statistics are exacerbated by home workout sessions.

Jacky Brown of Sheila’s Wheels home insurance, said: “As summer holidays fast approach, the pressure is on for women to have a bikini-fit body. However, our research shows that many are shying away from gyms and are increasingly keen to exercise at home, to save time and – in the current economic climate – to save money.

“Although indoor fitness can be a great way to build some regular activity into your daily routine, exercise a little restraint and prepare your at-home keep fit area thoroughly beforehand. Sheila’s Wheels urges women to make sure that they have adequate cover against accidental damage in their home before embarking on any indoor fitness regime.”

When preparing for a bit of step working out on your next Wii Fit session, make sure that you have an ample space to exercise in (like the girl in the picture above) and that you have cleared your living room of any objects which could easily be knocked over – the report shows that over 2 million women (8 per cent) have damaged or broken a vase whilst working out at home.

The website wiihaveaproblem.com is dedicated to the various injuries sustained to gamers during Wii play – minor lacerations, split knuckles, girlfriends with black eyes, that sort of thing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 8:42 am and is filed under Home Insurance, Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.