What is VR Fitness ?
Virtual reality is a computer-simulated world that can be navigated and interacted with using special gear (a VR headset). Virtual reality (VR) has a broad range of uses covering training, research, entertainment, and yes, even fitness.
According to Mathias Sorensen, a fitness instructor who is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as well as the curriculum manager at the American Fitness and Nutrition Academy, VR fitness is a way to immerse yourself in virtual environments using hardware (the VR headset) and software (a number of games). Gaming enthusiast Sorensen claims to have started using VR fitness games in 2015. With a portable controller, you may control the player or character in a video game. In VR fitness, you move your body to control the player or character. As a result, you may be standing for a few seconds or minutes while jumping over laser beams, performing a few squats and side lunges while riding a virtual reality roller coaster, or swinging your arms as you wield a sword to combat a monster.
You'd be shocked at how rapidly your heart rate increases when you jump for one minute in a game, according to Sorensen. The energy expenditure can be comparable to other forms of cardio you might do in a more conventional exercise, or even more severe, depending on the game and how much you're moving, he adds.
How does VR Fitness look like ?
Although there are hundreds of virtual reality workout applications available, only a handful of them are now exercise-specific. The paid service Supernatural ($19/month, or a little cheaper for annual subscriptions) is by far my favourite.
Exercise sessions usually last 10 to 30 minutes and are new every day. After a little stretch with a trainer, the music starts to play as triangles and targets start to fly in your direction. With the virtual batons in your hands, your task is to squat through the former and shatter the latter.
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Despite being quite straightforward, the game goes quickly, especially during "hard" exercises. Inside a triangle-shaped tunnel, where you must maintain your low posture while swinging your arms, it will be difficult to retain a squat. You will next leap upward to swat an above target, side lunge left and right to weave between the crooked scalene triangles, and assault a further twelve targets before squatting down once again.
Although the movements are exhausting, they don't instantly seem like exercise. Supernatural doesn't seem like a workout in the purest sense since it feels more like a sport. By hitting targets and making more forceful swings, you may increase your score. On a scoreboard, you can see your progress. If you want to surpass the person in front of you, you'll either need to work harder or longer.
Every fitness session brings you somewhere new to help break up the monotony of working out. You may begin on an icy tundra, go to the rim of an Egyptian pyramid, and finish on an Ethiopian volcano.
Additionally, a different music is paired with each place, which controls the workout's intensity. Supernatural makes significant license fee investments, and its programmers enjoyably have a wide range of preferences. I've exercised to top 40, Southern rock, and hip-hop. The New York Dolls, Violent Femmes, Kendrick Lamar, and one Skrillex tune that threatened to separate my arms from my body have all produced very inspiring music for me.
Why VR workouts can be beneficial ?
According to Derek Belch, founder and CEO of VR business Strivr, virtual reality (VR) helps in fitness in the same manner that it helps in other forms of training.
“Your body's in one place, but your brain thinks you're somewhere else,”
He pointed out that this is a significant advantage for athletes memorizing plays, managers knowing how to terminate employees, or average individuals working out at home. Strivr was born out of Belch's study for his master's degree with the Stanford football team; it now creates VR training for businesses like Walmart.
Another important factor, according to Belch, is gamification, which offers incentives when we play longer or harder. Gamification and "dissociation," the tendency to forget that we are working out, have the potential to alter how Americans workout .
Only around 20% of us fulfil the American Heart Association's recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity per week, according to the group. According to Bagley, one way to get there is through VR games or exercise applications. They also strike a sweet spot: they are more entertaining than monotonous, screen-free exercises and more active than sedentary video games.
Can VR Change The Conventional Gym
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The same could be argued for jogging; why spend money on good running shoes when you can get a good workout using one of the top VR headsets? There are some things you can only do through traditional exercise, so think twice before you stop going to the gym or selling your trainers. While VR can be an excellent kind of cardiovascular training, it's doubtful that after a few months you'll see significant strength growth or be prepared to run a marathon. Gaming is still in developing stages .
But let's not simply ignore VR since, as we all should be familiar, fitness is about more than just being in shape or preparing for an event. It's a method for exercising our minds. Regular exercise increases our chances of sleeping better, reduces stress, and makes us more adaptive to life's challenges. But for many of us, the concept of "exercise" feels like a burden. It feels foolish to push ourselves farther after long days of work, taking care of children, and managing life's responsibilities. We believe that the best way to unwind is to engage in activities we truly like, such as reading, watching TV, or playing video games.
What Science Says About Whether VR Games Count as a Workout
Virtual reality games can really be as intensive as conventional forms of exercise, according to research.
Researchers tested three virtual reality games — ( Audioshield, Thrill of the Fight, and Holopoint ) on 41 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 39 in an article that appeared in the Games for Health Journal in 2018.
VO2 max testing equipment (a face mask and tube system used during exercise to determine physical fitness and the quantity of calories expended) was used to measure each participant's heart rate and oxygen consumption as they played each game for 10 minutes.
According to study coauthor Jimmy Bagley, PhD, an associate professor of kinesiology and research director of the Strength and Conditioning Lab at San Francisco State University, who also studies virtual reality health and exercise, the physical activity needed for all three of the games met energy expenditure benchmarks for moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. (Dr. Bagley is a member of the Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise collaboration, for which he assisted in calculating the caloric expenditure of several VR games, contrasting each one with its analogous traditional exercise, and ranking them on the organization's website.)
Participants in the boxing game Thrill of the Fight burnt an average of 9.74 to 15.32 calories per minute, which is comparable to the calories spent when rowing. Players punch, lunge, and duck to evade strikes.
Some of the individuals were exerting themselves at 80% to 90% of their maximum heart rates. They were obviously perspiring, according to Bagley.
In Holopoint, players take on the role of archers who fire arrows at enemies while dodging assaults by lunging, leaping, and crouching. Participants reportedly burnt between 7.6 to 12.69 calories each minute, which is comparable to the number of calories you'd burn playing tennis in real life, according to Bagley.
The study team from Games for Health Journal also discovered that when exercising in virtual reality, people frequently underestimate how much energy they are using. They considered treadmill running to be "moderate" exercise, but they considered playing a VR fitness game to be "mild" activity.
Bagley contends that this is the result of players becoming totally engrossed in the game and concentrating on gaining points or defeating the boss to advance to the next level.
A 2019 research examined two groups of adults performing biceps curls: 40 performed the exercise in a gym, and another 40 performed the activity while wearing a VR headset and watching a simulated space that was a virtual replica of the real-life gym. They were to hold the biceps curls for as long as they could while using 20% of their maximum weight in both groups.
The findings revealed that the VR group's reported pain intensity was 10% less than that of their gym-going counterparts. Additionally, they were able to continue lifting for an additional two minutes while their heart rates decreased by three beats per minute.
Tim Donahey, a personal trainer certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine who works in Ohio, turned to VR fitness in August 2016 for assistance in losing the 15 pounds he had added after becoming a parent for the first time that year. Donahey, who documented his 50-day weight reduction journey on Reddit, made a commitment to using virtual reality (VR) exercise for one hour five days a week as his only form of physical activity.
Who Is VR Fitness Best For ?
For anyone who loves gamified exercises or virtual workout courses, VR workouts may be fantastic. They can be perfect for individuals who don't already engage in physical activity (especially if they find the particular VR game or application they're using more pleasant than a traditional workout) or for frequent gym attendees looking to augment their current exercise regimen .
For those who dislike exercise, it's a terrific way to get moving and burn some calories while having fun. But be mindful of your flexibility and degree of fitness. Before beginning any new exercise program, speak with your doctor if you have a health issue or injury that might make it more difficult for you to exercise safely. In the same line, if you aren't physically fit, start off with whichever game you play's "easy" option to avoid overtaxing your body .
Those who aren't particularly tech-savvy may want assistance in configuring their headset and game. Furthermore, if you frequently have motion sickness, vertigo, or nausea, start with games that have less movement.