Fitness Goals in Virtual Reality

Fitness options have moved into the virtual space and some have found it an entertaining and accessible way to reach healthy living goals.

Entertainment

Maintaining fitness goals is hard work, and it can be a chore to scrounge up the energy and self-discipline to work out multiple times a week. This is why it’s become popular to gamify fitness and create a remote community with apps and streaming services. Virtual reality fitness apps combine all of those ideas about point systems, rewards, community, partnerships, and interactivity. Boxing games in virtual reality have participants hitting something they can see and winning (or losing) fights. Professionals create and coach workouts that can be accessed anywhere. Multiplayer options offer some company in the form of friends or family. Virtual reality increases the entertainment value of fitness routines and keeps motivation levels high.

Accessibility

Besides entertainment value, virtual reality workouts provide a low entry point when it comes to price and equipment needs. VR headsets were made to stand alone. A headset with controllers and a small circle of personal space is all anyone needs for most fitness experiences. They rely on body weight workouts. Enhancing workouts with machinery or weights is possible but not necessary. Push a table out of the way and there’s enough space for a daily workout. With the price of headsets decreasing as the software and hardware become more common, the one-time cost could easily be cheaper than a regular gym membership.

Flexibility and Comfort

Finally, there is flexibility and comfort to working out in VR headsets that doesn’t often exist outside of a home gym. Plenty of people just aren’t comfortable bending, lunging, and sweating in a public space. Others are fine with the public space, but they’re not fine with the drive or with the crowds that come with after-work gym enthusiasts. Unfortunately for them, private gyms or private trainers aren’t always realistic for space reasons or financial reasons. This is where virtual reality workouts really shine. They’re private and they can be accessed at any time of the day.

The fitness journey is a personal one and unique to everyone going through it. Virtual reality offers just one way to get there, and it’s a method that many are finding worth a try.