A Muscle Myster-Wii

I’m no 90-pound weakling. I’ve never been very muscular, but I go to the gym regularly. I lift the weights. I do my push-ups and pull-ups. Sure, I’m probably tucked closer to the weak side in a normal distribution of adult male arm strength, but I’m in shape.

So why is my right biceps sore? Over the past few days, I’ve been struggling with a small mystery: I’ve noticed that the half of my biceps closer to my elbow is just a bit tender. I’m not doing anything new at the gym. I’ve not lifted anything particularly heavy, or carried anything unwieldy recently. So what’s different?

The answer hit me this morning: It’s the Wii! I feel a bit wussy making this confession, but I believe using the Wii-remote has made my arm sore. And I haven’t even been playing Wii Sports, which encourages spazzed-out flailing, all that much. I’ve mainly been playing Twilight Princess. I’m slightly amazed, but I think making all the little sword swipes, just shaking and stabbing with the Wii-remote as I sit on the couch, has engaged my biceps in a way that my regular life does not.

That controller sure does promote immersion. It has immersed me in un-manliness.