Virtual exercise in the gym

[00:00.41] Going to the gym can be something that many people find a gruelling experience.

[00:07.32] It takes time and effort, it often hurts, and it can be extremely tedious.

[00:13.96] Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps.

[00:19.27] In order to see any significant change from any one exercise, it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times, for a minimum of three sets, for about three months.

[00:33.62] Then there's cardio. For some, there's nothing more boring than endless miles spent running on a treadmill.

[00:42.65] But what if there were a way to alleviate the boredom of exercise while still getting a good work out?

[00:50.61] Luckily for us, there’s virtual reality.

[00:56.19] In the past, “playing video games was a sedentary experience,” says Jo Stauffer of the VR Health Institute, “but VR changes all of that".

[01:07.62] He says that the room-scale experience engages your body in full.

[01:13.19] Many VR games are played while standing.

[01:16.65] In order to play properly, the player is forced to move around swinging their arms or using their legs.

[01:24.35] After an hour of this on a regular enough basis, it’s not surprising that many people unexpectedly find themselves a little fitter.

[01:33.91] There are already a number of virtual reality games which, deliberately or not, result in their player ‘getting a good sweat on’ if played for enough time.

[01:46.92] For example, there’s a first person shooter which forces the player to sidestep, duck and dodge incoming projectiles.

[01:56.75] That’s cardio. Or there’s a music game which forces players to shadowbox in order to hit the notes – that’s an upper-body workout.

[02:08.18] The potential for VR to help people get fit has been noticed by one company.

[02:14.55] They want to take the whole experience into the gym.

[02:19.07] They are making a bespoke resistance machine, designed to be used in combination with a VR headset.

[02:26.77] Players challenge a virtual opponent in a series of games, which results in a 30-minute full-body work out.

[02:35.80] However, the cost of the equipment is expensive and there are safety concerns to be worked out, says J P Gownder from the consultancy Forrester.

[02:46.16] So don’t hang up your gym shorts just yet.

[02:50.41] Although it’s early days, for those of us who struggle to overcome the tedium of exercise, a new solution could be coming.

[02:59.17] And a world where a person can exercise and have fun at the same time might be something that many people would want – virtual or not.