Can you lose weight using VR? We are going to try! VR Fitness Series Week 1 - BoxVR

[vrgamerdude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFUaWBbOlw

So today I am starting a new weekly fitness series using VR with my wife Stacey on the channel. We have both decided enough is enough and we want to lose weight and get fit, but the problem is we have no time in our busy lives to go to the gym and working out. Recently I have been seeing stuff in the press about people using VR as a means of loosing weight and after discussing this with Stacey we both decided to give it a try! So with this in mind we are going to pick a different game every week going forward and each dedicate 30 minutes per day to playing it with the intention of getting in a cardio workout by doing so.

For the first week we have chosen the recently released BoxVR. This is indeed a fitness app and really kicked out butts the first few times we tried it. Overall the game is great and we both really enjoyed the workout it gives! BoxVR in itself is fun and very challenging. The graphics and music were a nice touch to really keep us pumped up and wanting to come back for more. We did encounter a few glitches here and there such as words getting stuck on the screen or the entire game freezing from time to time but these were few and far between and didn't really hinder us from achieving the goal of using BoxVR to work out with. The one thing I wish the game did have was the ability to set it up for multiple users.... Even though we logged in from 2 separate Oculus accounts to which had the game installed but on the same computer, it did not track our stats individually! So developers if you are going to position your game as a fitness app then please consider adding this ability as multiple people in one household may want to use it together.

Well that's all for this week but we will be back next week with a recap of how we did during our first week with BoxVR and will be choosing a new game to play for week 2. If you have any suggestions on what we should play next or just some words of encouragement for us to keep going please let us know in the comments below!

[Anonymous]

It's a well-known medical fact that exercise is bad for you. Just think about it: 

• How many people get injured whilst exercising?
• How many people get run over whilst jogging?
• How many people die of heart attacks whilst exercising?
• How many people get attacked by sharks whilst swimming?
• How many people drown whilst swimming.

The answer to ALL of those questions is FUCKING LOADS!!! 😮

Doctors tell you to exercise because they want to make money in the aftermath of exercise. IT'S A CONSPIRACYYYYYY!!!!!!!

Don't do it Don, this is what they want you to do!!!

 B) 

[LZoltowski]

Fantastic, looking forward to your progress, When I was younger I struggled with weight and one day decided to do something about it .. now I'm 6 feet of muscle and feeling great and healthy 🙂

I will definitely watch your adventure!

[DaftnDirect]

All I can say is, wearing a headset while doing any form of exercise would not be for me. On the treadmill in my conservatory, even in the winter with the door and windows open, anything over 5k and the T-shirt gets replaces with a vest. Anything over 10k and the vest comes off. By the time I'm ready for the Reading half and Edinburgh full, I'll be training completely naked (things are different on the road for legal reasons).

[vrgamerdude]

@snowdog We will try to be careful! [;]-)

[vrgamerdude]

@LZoltowski Thanks for the encouragement! I have struggled with being overweight for most of my life and now that I am in my late 40's I feel it is time to finally really do something about it... If not for me then for sure for my kids. I want them to have a Dad around for several more years to come. []-)

[vrgamerdude]

@DaftnDirect I hear ya man.. I was sweating buckets by the end of my first 30 min workout. But definitely not ready for naked training just yet! [;]-)

[Morgrum]

You can get good cardio in if you get into a game a d have a good sized playspace

[JohnnyDioxin]

This was my aim when I got the Rift (not my main aim, but a side target) - I actually ended up returning my Touch because it got me into so much pain playing Dead & Buried (lots of holding arms up to shoot, and ducking/crouching to avoid death) - I might add that I am disabled, but that was the main reason I wanted to do it with the Rift - I'm stuck at home most days, anyway.

Thankfully I bought the Touch again and have now cleared out a small room especially for my VR exercise. How's about a compo? See who loses the most (in percentage of starting weight?)?.
My main aim is actually to get some mobility back - but losing weight is a good secondary effect.

PS - I just had a look and I think BoxVR may be a bit too much for me to start with, but I bought it anyway and will have a go.

[TravisPNW]

snowdog said:

It's a well-known medical fact that exercise is bad for you. Just think about it: 

• How many people get run over whilst jogging?

Yeah a couple months ago a woman in my hometown that was a fitness fanatic having won marathons multiple times was out jogging early morning around 6am and she was hit by a driver and killed.

It was a hit and run... he turned himself in later and was charged with leaving the scene etc etc... but since alcohol/drugs weren't a factor I think the most he's looking at is like 7 years in prison... (NY State)

So many bad drivers out there... I'd rather exercise in front of the PC too.  Every day I see people in traffic looking at their phones.