For some, exercise comes naturally. You crave fatigue and the subsequent release of endorphins into your body, saying, “Hey, great job today,” like a supportive coach in a 90s sports movie.
The rest need a little persuasion. Fortunately, virtual reality exists. And while our first port of call for VR fitness is dedicated fitness apps like City Run VR and Desert Run VR, you can get a surprising amount of exercise “by accident” with the bunch of games below. If you’ve ever thought you’d be better at aerobics if swords were involved, or wished the rowing machine would immerse you in covert ops, then this list is for you.
And if you’re a Quest or Quest 2 gamer, our system-level Oculus Move fitness tracker lets you set daily fitness goals and track calories burned across everything from Pistol Whip to Phantom: Covert Ops to Supernatural. more. Find the Oculus Move in your library. Once you set it up, you can even follow your stats in real time by enabling the in-game overlay. How much is 200 calories of Beat Saber worth? Now you can find out!
In tests, the Virtual Reality Health and Exercise Institute (VRHI) team found that popular VR fitness apps can be just as energizing as regular real-world workouts. In a 2018 paper, authors including Jimmy Bagley, an associate professor of kinesiology at San Francisco State University and a lead researcher on VRHI, found evidence that VR exercises cause people to underestimate their own efforts.
Virtual reality is more accessible than ever, even for those who don’t consider themselves particularly tech-savvy, and its potential as a fitness innovator is becoming more and more evident. Put on a VR headset like the Oculus Quest 2, Valve Index or HTC Vive and you’ll be transported far beyond the four walls you’ve been staring at: the moon, the dance club, the mountains, the beach or the desert. Imagine yourself crouching on Mars or punching in a realistic arena as thousands of people cheer you on.
