Working out can be boring, especially if you’re not really a fitness enthusiast and you’re just doing it to lose weight. No matter how much you pay for your gym membership, there are still some days when you’re just not in the mood to visit.
You don’t need to spend a lot and get out of the house to work a sweat. No, we’re not talking about building yourself a home gym – it’s through VR gaming! Aside from playing games that seem to take us to another world, there are some VR apps that will lead to a successful fitness journey.
This might sound a little weird for some, but it has been increasingly popular in the fitness community. In fact, there’s a long list of VR apps that the Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise considers helpful for your workout. They even measured the number of calories you can burn while playing, and their comparable traditional exercises!
If you’ve been looking for motivation to work a sweat, grab a towel, and a bottle of water, and check out these VR Fitness games!
1. Thrill of the Fight
Starting with the most intense calorie-burner on this list, the Thrill of the Fight is a VR boxing game that will make you sweat. Although its graphics aren’t high-quality, unlike other VR games, this app does a great job in working out your body. It incredibly puts your upper body to work as you throw punches and land jabs on your opponent.
According to the Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise, this game can be compared to sprinting in real life. With just 30 minutes of playing Thrill of the Fight, you can burn as much as 450 calories!
2. VirZOOM Arcade
The VirZOOM Arcade is ideal for those who want to incorporate some virtual reality entertainment into their actual workout. The game is minted as the “world’s first and only VR bike,” because it requires a real exercise bike that comes with unique hand control and triggers. The exercise bike features eight gaming buttons as well as two heart-rate monitors.
It looks just like any elliptical trainers you see in the gym, but the fun experience it offers is unbeatable. Its features include visuals that make you feel like you’re riding a horse on a tank that gets faster as you pedal faster. It’s an extreme biking adventure that doesn’t require you to get outdoors.
You won’t even notice how long you’ve already been pedalling!
3. Fastest Fist
Fastest Fist is another popular VR boxing game that provides you with a sparring partner that looks a lot like Bruce Lee. The warm-up of this VR game focuses on shadowboxing, then eventually allows you to land jabs, hooks, and other punches.
The Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise, Fastest Fist is a lot similar to playing tennis as it conditions the upper body. With just 30 minutes of playing this game, you can burn around 180-240 calories!
4. Hotsquat
Apparently, this fun VR fitness game involves squats, which means it doesn’t focus on cardio. But hold your horses, that doesn’t mean it’s easier! Hotsquat is actually more challenging than other VR apps. The setting of the game is inside a gym, but it focuses on the walls.
There are holes on the walls of the gym that are shaped in different ways. All you have to do is squat to make your body fit into the holes and hold it until you reach the other end. If you fail to do this, the entire gym will collapse (remember, it’s a VR game). Hotsquat is a fun way to get fit!
5. Audioshield
Now if you aren’t interested in boxing and squats, this VR app might suit you best. If you’re familiar with Guitar Hero, Audioshield should be a no-brainer for you. The only difference is that instead of a guitar, this game lets you use your body to beat the orbs coming in your way.
Destroy the orbs by either punching or blocking them according to their colour. This body is considered as a total body workout because while battling with the orbs using your upper body, you can hold a squat or lunge.
Another feature that makes Audioshield a unique and fun fitness game is that you get to choose your own song! You can upload a song from your library and even stream on YouTube.