A Quest 2 is the Best Fitness Tool at Home

Last year, some months into this still ongoing pandemic, my partner and I bought an Oculus Quest because it was a finally wireless VR experience — you don’t have to move around with wires installed and no need for a separate camera installed in your space. It was truly a game changer. At that time though — I was not sure what I liked about it. I would watch Netflix in it and do some meditation in it. I’ve played a clubbing/dancing game in it but I could not keep playing it. I also liked playing Sports Scramble (LOL) but I believe I’ve maxed out the paid version of it too. So it kinda — got stuck in our shelf for a while. I even told my friends it’s for sale.

Oculus Quest 2 from Facebook

Anyway, I am not sure what I’ve been doing that I saw two games that existed before but I didn’t give as much attention to: FITXR and BEAT SABER. Now that I’ve been on a fitness journey, I was hoping I could do different things when we’re still home most of the time.

Hyunsook Seo playing Beat Saber

BEAT SABER — Free — but if you like to dance to your favorite songs, and in my case — Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’ — you gotta fork over roughly $2 per song. I think for the full album I bought the Interscope Mixtape album. There’s also a BTS album which I bought a song from (Boys With Luv!). This are my favorite points:

1. It’s easy to get in your steps with Beat Saber. Can’t say for other games since I’ve restarted with Beat Saber and a regular level kicks me in the butt. I try to start with EASY mode and move to regular/medium but can’t for the life of me complete a Hard level.
2. That said, this game actually teaches you hand eye coordination! So so glad gaming is now something that you don’t have to do sitting or lying down. I try to make Mike play with it but he still prefers his Playstation console over the Oculus — for now.
3. And if you do the steps right — you begin to do the actual choreography of the song. I love this attention to detail so far.
4. It taught me about experience. Being in the tech experience industry — there was so much in a VR that you learn. For example, in apps you just figure out what are the features of a phone that you have to figure out what happens when a customer swipes right left up or down. But in VR there’s a whole 360 screen to figure out, two sticks with more than 5 buttons and a customer can even use their hands. Haptic feedback is a big game changer too — and those small things — we get so used to it so much so that experiences which do not include those feel blah.

Not me but kinda like me in between meetings nowadays

FOR FITXR — I initially had my doubts — I mean how can VR replicate the challenge of a real workout but well, what do I know — one day I just found myself sweating in the middle of our living room having played 5 songs in HIT FITXR. The experience is kinda like being in a fitness class ala Fitness First and you see other players in the virtual world.

1. Since it was so important to increase steps and Total Daily Energy Expenditure — FitXR was the perfect missing piece to my health and fitness regimen. I do strength training an hour a day and while that wipes me out — I need some more activity spread throughout the rest of the day. We walk our dogs for an hour every other day and the rest of the time, we’re home and zooming in some more — I’m in my home office. It was the perfect 15 min break in between meetings.
2. I recently tried Boxing in FitXR and WOW I was shook. So I initially thought that it was ok to hit the balls as I do in Beat Saber but in Boxing — I needed to hit the bubbles stronger — and by the next day my body was sore as if I completed a full boxing class!
3. CREED. I didn’t know I was about to like Creed when I tried the demo of it and I was in fact afraid of being face to face with the boxer called Rhino. After learning how to deal with motion sickness within VR (I close one eye, I also took one tablet of Dramamine — I have been on it every chance I get in between meetings, in the morning, before going to sleep. I had to have constantly wash my Quest face band.

Key takeaways:

Both FitXR and Creed can detect strength while doing boxing and training. It can no way replace bag training (that will hurt faster) but in order to win in Creed for example, you have to have the endurance of a boxer or at least have some good level of fitness. For me, since I do actual strength training in the gym 4x a week and 2x cardio outdoors, the Quest is perfect in giving me low intensity workouts near my home office.

I hit my step goal, thanks Quest!