What I Learned About Virtual Reality Training
I decided to see if virtual reality games can give you a good workout , and last week you heard about a few of my favorites . Now that I have traveled the virtual world, I have come back to you with opinions.
How does VR gaming compare to real workouts?
The main question I was trying to answer when I was cutting, punching and waving my arms awkwardly for several cumulative hours, were these games actually good workout? With so many different games and so many possible definitions of “good training”, this is not an easy question, but I think I have some answers.
Punching games are good for light cardio workouts .
Maybe even medium cardio. Squats, while incredibly tiring and annoying, allow you to use more of your body and increase your heart rate. I tried playing a few songs in Supernatural with weights on the wrists ( Bala Bangles in particular). While they definitely fatigued my arms, I don’t think it really improves my workout.
The charts above show your heart rate during an easy run (the “jogging” graph) and a few songs from Supernatural (the one labeled “fitness games”). I felt like I was working hard on Supernatural ; I couldn’t work harder if I hadn’t trained enough to be able to pass the more difficult levels that require me to move faster.
The colored areas clearly show that the two types of cardio are not equivalent. In Supernatural, I was mostly in a low intensity zone, about the same as what I expected from walking. Only occasionally did I get into a zone of medium intensity, while even a light run keeps me there quite firmly.
Thrill of the Fight (unique in its category, I think) can reach this high intensity cardio zone .
Between the adrenaline and the constant punching, I was completely devoid of it. The graph shows that I quickly got into a zone of high heart rate intensity and stayed there every round of the fight. Love HIIT? This will hit the mark.
Games that keep you busy on the bike would be pretty good if you want to spend a lot of time on your bike .
My opinion here is not the best as I have not tried them on a bike. But if I had to choose between staring at the garage wall or gazing at the slightly blurry streets of Paris on a long drive, I would probably choose Paris. So is vague Paris outperforming the bouncy instructor Peloton? I’m not sure about that. If you like your Peloton, you should probably leave Peloton. But if you want to take the long ride, letting your mind wander, blurry Paris may be the way to go.
The graph above shows a sample of games. Holofit, the one on which you ride on a bicycle (or, in my case, shake hands and pretend to jog in place), served with low-intensity exercise, such as fast walking. Synth Riders (similar to Beat Saber ) were similar. Supernatural lifted me into the middle zone, Pistol Whip would probably have moved me to the middle zone if I hadn’t kept shooting (I’m bad at this game), and Eleven Table Tennis was predictably cool.
How to use Oculus Move to track workout minutes
Oculus has a framework called Move that can track your minutes of active gameplay, and it even takes a guess at how many calories you’ve burned. (As with other fitness trackers and gadgets, I wouldn’t expect calories to be accurate, but you can use them to judge how intense a workout was.)
Unfortunately Move minutes and calories don’t sync with other apps like Apple Health. Move data remains on the headset itself, and you can check your daily numbers by looking at them as you play.
Some apps have their own ways of keeping track of your work. Supernatural can track your heart rate with a device such as the Apple Watch if you have the Supernatural app open on your phone while you play. (Yes, these are three devices you’ll be using at the same time: a VR headset, a phone, and a watch.)
To be honest, I haven’t found anything useful about this. Tracking the “other” workout on my Apple Watch made more sense as it synced with my other fitness tracking apps.
What is missing
VR fitness will not be able to meet all of your fitness needs. Most importantly, there is nothing here that can somehow strengthen your muscles, and this is what you need to get stronger . If your quads hurt after a few Supernatural squats, you may feel like you had a great workout, but the soreness is not a sign of progress, and that soreness will go away within a few weeks anyway.
If you already have another way of strength training and are just looking for light cardio, VR can provide that for you. A daily half hour of playful play fits perfectly into the cardio portion of the US exercise guidelines , even if you’re chilling out on the weekend.
One more thing is missing: a reason to do it every day. Sure, these games are fun, but are they more fun than jogging in the park with a buddy or cycling where you can borrow the instructor’s enthusiasm and motivation for an hour?
Supernatural , the most fitness game I’ve played, constantly prompts me to set weekly goals and maintain a streak. But in order to truly incorporate this device into your fitness routine, you seem to need motivation outside of the virtual world. Recording the time on your headset can be a measure of you to reach your health or fitness goals, much like logging your mileage in running shoes. But don’t expect the games themselves to poach you again. There are no exciting storylines or intriguing puzzles here.
And the games that seem the most game-like don’t work as well as workouts. Every time I die in the Pistol Whip , it just annoys me that I have to start over; I would like to complete the level, please. (This is why I prefer the unswerving Supernatural mechanics.) But if you love these games enough to keep playing them, and if you’re sure you won’t forget that fitness apps even exist, then by all means get one and enjoy.