Fitness: Virtual workout

What if we told you that modern technology could inject an exciting new dimension into your boring exercise routine with all those stationary workout machines? Yes, after what Wii Fit did for gamers-cum-fitness enthusiasts previously unaccustomed to motion, a whole new ambitious virtual reality arena is readying to take off to the next level — world virtual reality gyms.

“The world of fitness is exploding with technology, sensors and wearables,” says tech guru Rajiv Makhni adding, “Virtual reality is moving from prototype and entertainment gaming machines to full-fledged workout equipment that transforms your mind and body to environments and places that have never been part of any gym before. Equipment like the Expresso cycling machine, the Icaros — a creation of German design company Hyve that offers an experience of the gaming world combining VR goggles with a moving support frame designed to hold the user at either end with simulations that include ocean dives, virtual gyms and interstellar flight missions or even the Oculus Rift with a treadmill that can literally make working out a game, an adventure, a virtual challenge.”

The gadget guru adds, “And it’s not just about creating a virtual and rich landscape; these can also trigger a better workout. A running environment that shows you doing an uphill run or a cycling adventure on the mountains can also fool the brain into working your body better and more efficiently.”   

Worldwide, virtual exercise in the form of instructors and classes projected onto a screen has already penetrated some 3,000 clubs, according to IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association). Zumba, the dance party workout, has been demonstrating a 360-degree virtual reality class, delivered via a clunky headset, to industry insiders at professional trade shows.

“It seems like a big experiment and an expensive one at that,” says Vikas Jain, managing director at Anytime Fitness, India, adding, “For our ancestors, exercise was something that happened while trying to catch dinner. What if we could trick our brains into rekindling our ancestors’ thrill of the chase as we (virtually) run for our lives — all while safely pedalling on a stationary bike with a VR gadget? I strongly believe that virtual reality will revolutionise the world of fitness.”

The national fitness head of SportsFit by M.S. Dhoni, Vibhor Rayaal agrees and shares, “What this technology is going to do is open up exercise to maybe a younger crowd. Gen Y consists of people who are born during a period when they have had constant access to technology, and what better way to attract them than through introducing something that they could relate to?” He adds, “If a simple routine like pedalling can make us feel like we were really running through the virtual environment where there’s no time to think about distance, heart rate or calories because you’re running through the Himalayas, pursued by hungry yetis… then why not?”

One of the few people who have made a head start and tried this form of virtual reality at a gym, Mallika Sharma, a sports professional and fitness maniac, says, “I wanted to put this VR making inroads into the fitness arena to the test, hence strapped on an Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR while I was in Hong Kong and hopped on a stationary bike. It wasn’t my first time in an indoor cycling class, but I had never experienced anything quite like this before. Instead of staring at a mirror or trying to avoid comparing my form to that of clearly more experienced cyclists, I was riding into a massive projector screen covered with landscapes. In true spinning style, the music was blaring and the instructors were pushing the class to the limit. The best part is that it makes you the least conscious you’ve ever been while workout. Another fascinating part was that it seems like a competition here, of the virtual sort: cycling avatars on the screen for the three laps ahead.

The starting line lights flash to green andeveryone cranks up their resistance dial and accelerates to racing speed. Halfway through the second lap, I got a little dizzy, but it’s worth the experience. The hills, the drops and especially the turns, feel real. And for a moment, you will forget where you are.”  
 

 

 

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