Is VR Good For Fitness

Virtual Reality sounds like a thing from another world, but it has been here for more than a decade and has marked its place due to its hundreds of beneficial uses. VR has commonly been used to produce video games to give people real-life experiences. However, for a few years, VR has been used to create fitness games that focus on improving people’s physical health. But is VR really good for fitness or not? Let’s read more about this:

What is VR Fitness?

So first, let’s clear our concepts about VR in fitness. Virtual Reality (VR) is actually an environment created through computer simulation. The headset specially designed for VR is used by users to simulate this virtual environment. Just like a user of video games uses a controller to control the player in a video game; in VR fitness, a user needs to control their player by moving their body. In this way, a person makes vigorous moves to burn calories right in their living room.

Is VR good for fitness? How?

YES. VR is good for fitness as assessed by researchers, experts, and users. The real question is how? Let’s take a look at that:

1: Great Indoor Fitness Experience

Not everyone feels great about hauling off to the gym to work out on their body. Some people like to do so from the comfort of their homes. VR provides a great opportunity for such people to exercise their muscles right inside their house.

2: Physical Health Improvement

People think that VR can not work efficiently towards the betterment of physical health, but that’s not the case. VR technology’s impact on physical health is massive and that has been proved by various studies. From mild to vigorous workouts, people have been doing it all by using VR as their fitness tool. In such people, the increased heart rate with excessive sweating has been observed which almost equates to outdoor physical activity.

3: Mental Health Improvement

Definitely, working on a simulation is a real mind task. All the brain cells get activated when a person gets into VR games. And a healthy mind is a must for a healthy body. People who have been suffering from mental disorders like depression, anxiety, or PTSD have shown a significant reduction in their symptoms after playing fitness games through VR.

4: Challenging

The monotonous workout routine is what we all dislike. It’s this typical fitness routine that makes us grow out of it. But the best part about VR fitness games is that you never feel stuck in a mundane routine and it never gets boring. It has been evolving more and more with the passage of time and becoming more challenging. This drives the human instinct of performing better and better to stay at the top. Different competitions in these games among different players also spark the motivation of regular workouts, thus contributing to the fitness of a person.

5: Fun to Work With

You might not feel like working out always but you’ll always be up for a game. Fun things are always easy to do. That’s what VR does in fitness. It’s easy to work out with, it’s fun to play with friends and it’s super comfortable to operate right from the comfort of your home. All these factors make it an easy choice for a person to opt to improve their physical health.

Can VR Be Bad For Fitness?

Well, there is always a risk of things going south, only if you try to do too much of it. Keeping yourself fit via VR for a long time might strip you from your social interactions and outdoor physical activities. Another thing is if you keep playing these games in a virtual environment for too long, this might make your brain wander way more in the fantasy world than the real world.

Keeping in mind these potential side effects, you should keep a balance between VR fitness and outdoor fitness. It’s necessary to keep a balance of both in your life to live a healthy and long-lasting life.

The bottom line

VR is definitely good for fitness and mostly for those people who experience social anxiety more often. It offers them a safe and cozy space to experience the real world and workout routine right inside their homes. It has proven beneficial effects on physical health and people’s mental health. However, the excess use of VR for fitness can backfire as well, so the tip is to use VR moderately for fitness purposes.