VR vs Fitness and Fat – The Challenge
Video games have entered into just about all aspects of our lives. They are in our lounge rooms, our workplaces, hell even our toilets (don’t tell me you don’t like a sneaky game on the loo). Generally, though, they are a sedentary activity. Bum firmly planted in a comfortable position, there isn’t much in the way of physical activity involved. Sure we may have thumbs of steel, but just about every other part of the body is slacking off at this point. That is, until fairly recently. First with the failed Kinect and now with much more successful (not like that was hard) VR, games are starting to force us to our feet and, god forbid, move. Shock, horror right?
So with that in mind (and plenty of weight to spare), I thought I would put the fitness potential of VR to the test. The challenge I have set myself is this. Based on Australian health standards, it is strongly suggested that Adults do at least 30 mins of physical activity per day. So that is exactly what I will do, 30 minutes of “high” activity VR gaming on my PSVR per day for 30 days. By high activity, I mean games like BoxVR and Beat Saber, games that get the heart rate pumping and the sweat dripping. I want to see if I can lose weight and feel better about myself by using this form of gaming.
So, starting on Monday (the 6th of May), I will be doing weekly updates on Player 2 with my progress. I will be tracking my weight, measurements and heart rate both during and resting. I will be looking at how I am generally feeling, sleeping and how my Asthma holds up. I will also be doing frequent updates on the P2 Instagram account so make sure you give us a follow to keep up. What will the results be? Who knows what will happen (well probably a trained doctor of some kind does) but I am willing to dive in and find out. So join me for the journey and wish me luck (and no heart attacks.)
VR vs Fitness and Fat – The Rules
- 30 minutes of high-intensity VR activity per day
- Weekly measurements and weigh-ins
- Heart rate tracking through Fitbit
- Games to be used are BoxVR, Beat Sabre (open for more suggestions folks)
- Diet to be kept as is (basically as healthy as possible until the weekend when I am a terrible, terrible human as far as food is concerned)
