Is VR Fitness a Good Workout?

“Most people never stick to a workout, because it’s not fun, and you are well aware it’s a workout,” says Robert Long, VR enthusiast. “But VR has the ability to trick the mind into thinking it’s a game and not exercise.”

But, does that make it a game and not exercise? Well, quite the opposite.

The fact that your mind perceives this activity as playing and not working (out), makes you capable of going further and exercising longer. Finally, it makes it possible to even 5x your performance in just 12 weeks, just like Sylvain did.
And, there is no secret formula here – just remember that playing was the way to learn everything when we were children!

Marialice Kern, chair of the Department of Kinesiology at San Francisco State University, describes VR as an alternative form of exercise. SFSU’s wellness center offers VR fitness classes three times a week, alongside more traditional recreation options like intramural sports and a climbing wall.

“There are certain people who don’t like to exercise, whether that’s hiking or biking. But they love to play video games,” Kern says. “Why not get both?”

Is VR Fitness Expensive?

Let’s address this right away – VR Fitness is not that expensive.

It is actually cheaper than some other popular fitness options out there. 

Gone are the days of when VR was extremely new and expensive. The prices are going down, the technology only getting better and you’ll start seeing more and more of people around you getting their own VR headsets. 

Here’s the breakdown of what you’ll need:

  • Fitness Machine (rowing machine, bicycle or elliptical) $150 – $1100 
  • VR Headset (Oculus Quest, HTC Vive Focus, Pico Neo…) $299 – $950
  • HOLOFIT Monthly Subscription $10.79 (9.9 euros) 

If you already own either a Fitness Machine or VR Headset, or, even better, both, then it makes even more sense to make that small investment and begin your HOLOFIT adventures!

Can You Lose Weight with VR Fitness?

Just like with any exercise that activates your body, you can lose weight with VR too.

There are those fun games like Beat Saber and Creed that may help you with losing weight, but if you want the real thing, you really should try HOLOFIT. 

Still, make sure your diet plan accompanies you on your way to fitness!  If you don’t pay attention to your diet, you’ll just eat more to compensate for the calories you burned. Weight loss is perhaps eighty percent diet vs. twenty percent exercise, and VR can’t change that.

What Is the Best VR Headset?

There are certain VR headsets that dominate the market with its quality.

We’ve been able to test a lot of them over time and rate their performance. Over time, few of them outperformed the others, and most of HOLOFIT users use those, for a good reason.

HTC Vive Focus, Oculus Quest and Pico Neo are definitely some of the best VR Headsets we got our hands on. So, if you want great hardware, picking one of those three would be the right thing. 

Are VR Headsets Bad for Your Eyes?

In short, not more than reading this article on your mobile/computer.

However, poorly rendered VR experiences may cause a feeling of nausea and disorientation, and problems with 3D stereoscopic effects can cause a disruption of our vergence or the simultaneous movement of our eyes to keep binocular vision steady. 

Luckily, this is very rare given the state of today’s technology, and we’ve made sure HOLOFIT does not fall into the category of “poorly rendered VR experiences”.

Now, believe it or not, experiencing VR can actually also benefit your vision! When done right, and we are seeing more and more of such examples, VR technology can make our eyes stronger – since they have to adjust to maintain binocular vision. Even the eyecare experts at Essilor USA point this out – the future of VR looks very bright and we can expect more and more beneficial effects of it down the road.

Our final advice would definitely be to simply rest your eyes for around 30 seconds every 20 minutes or so.

What Do I Need for VR Fitness?

As we’ve mentioned above, there are only three things you need for VR fitness.

For HOLOFIT, you need a FTMS Bluetooth enabled fitness machine, VR Headset and the subscription.

When it comes to fitness machines, rowing machines, ellipticals and bikes are all supported. In case your machine is not FTMS Bluetooth enabled, getting a Capteur de cadence will solve this issue (on cross trainers and bicycles).

Want to Learn More about HOLOFIT?

Now, these 6 questions you got 6 answers for may not be enough for you. If you want to learn more, head to our blog section and learn more about VR Fitness.

If you have a specific question, feel free to get in touch with us – we’d be happy to assist you on your VR Fitness journey.