Vr fitness/calorie burn/weight loss

Unseul · 4 Mar 2021 at 10:49

Thought I'd start up a bit of a calorie tracking thread, and what games you guys are playing and burning in. I did check the past few pages, but I wasn't going to use a search function to resurrect an ancient thread.

Gorilla tag is obviously my game of choice at the moment, and even on fasting days, I'm playing. Yesterday according to Move I burned 900 calories, I don't know how accurate Move is, but I can't imagine it's a million miles away. So far today I'm on 340 calories for a 40 minute session.

I'm currently doing the 5/2 diet, and have been for a fair while now, I was just about pushing 100kg, now I'm holding steady around 90kg, perhaps a little under, I'm thinking the exercise in the quest 2 is probably going to start pushing me down again.

Ravenger · 4 Mar 2021 at 11:49

I use FitXR and Thrill Of The Fight for exercise when I can't go running. FitXR also helps for flexibility as you do squats and leans.

I need to lose weight, but my wife keeps making cakes and biscuits as lockdown therapy! Normally I'd be at the office and less tempted to snack.

I've thought about doing the 5/2 diet, as I think that appeals to me more than going keto and giving up on the treats that make lockdown bearable.

Unseul · 4 Mar 2021 at 11:51

Ravenger said:
I use FitXR and Thrill Of The Fight for exercise when I can't go running. FitXR also helps for flexibility as you do squats and leans.

I need to lose weight, but my wife keeps making cakes and biscuits as lockdown therapy! Normally I'd be at the office and less tempted to snack.

I've thought about doing the 5/2 diet, as I think that appeals to me more than going keto and giving up on the treats that make lockdown bearable.

I'm a real sucker for baked goods, and chocolate etc. 5/2 makes it easier for me that I don't have to worry on the other days (you obviously can't just binge). Slowly built up a pattern that seems to work for me in terms of how to get through the day without too much trouble.

Ravenger · 4 Mar 2021 at 11:54

Unseul said:
I'm a real sucker for baked goods, and chocolate etc. 5/2 makes it easier for me that I don't have to worry on the other days (you obviously can't just binge). Slowly built up a pattern that seems to work for me in terms of how to get through the day without too much trouble.

Sounds good! might give it a go.

Unseul · 4 Mar 2021 at 11:59

Ravenger said:
Sounds good! might give it a go.

Might not suit you, but I try not to have almost any solids. Bit of water in the morning. A large coffee at some point in the afternoon (between 12 and 2 normally), then a large mug of bovril (the salt is very nice) around 4-6pm, then probably around 100mls? of orange juice, in a large mug topped up with hot water, the sugar helps give you a boost I reckon. Then potentially another bovril in the night, and finally a baby bel before bed, to try and get through to the morning

.

I didn't start off like that though, found that having biltong etc was a great food to help get me to the end of the day, but as I got used to it, going liquids only (basically) was actually easier. With time, my appetite has shrunk as well, and I don't eat as much in meals as I used to. Still snack a lot of biscuits though!

melmac · 4 Mar 2021 at 12:15

For the time being I have stopped doing any fitness work in VR. I was doing Beat Saber, Pistol Whip and Thrill of the Fight. According to Move, I was doing 250 calories in about 15 minutes of Thrill of Fight. Or 250 Calories in 30 minutes of Beat Saber/Pistol Whip.

I just started the 100 push up challenge. See here Hundred Pushups And at the same time I am doing the 200 Squat and 200 Lunges programs from the same site. I have one more day in Week one then I have 5 more weeks.

Still playing Beat Saber etc but just not pushing myself as hard.

And yeah, Skyrim VR is also taking up a lot of my VR time!!

I am not on any diets but I do eat pretty well.

Unseul · 4 Mar 2021 at 18:10

So apparently I'm upto 1400 calories burned today. All in gorilla quest. I'm absolutely smashed.

ShiWarrior · 4 Mar 2021 at 21:33

i haven't been on VR for a week or 2, but i still do not have the move app ....

chorse · 5 Mar 2021 at 11:46

For me, the best workouts involve lots of leg bending to lift your whole body up and down, that's the bulk of the exertion I think in a VR style workout.

But you have to put the extra effort in. It's perfectly possible to play these games without breaking much of a sweat, you need to really move your weight

Best games for this are synth riders and TOTF

Ravenger · 5 Mar 2021 at 12:33

chorse said:
For me, the best workouts involve lots of leg bending to lift your whole body up and down, that's the bulk of the exertion I think in a VR style workout.

But you have to put the extra effort in. It's perfectly possible to play these games without breaking much of a sweat, you need to really move your weight

Best games for this are synth riders and TOTF

FitXR has lots of squats in its more strenuous work-outs, and for me that game is the only consistent calorie burner that gives me a consistently high heart rate (providing you do the longer sessions). I like the fact it's complimentary to my main exercise which is running - I get an upper body workout and different muscles in my lower body and legs are used. TOTF is a good intense exercise, but even though I find it exhausting, I don't find it as good consistent cardio (going by my heart-rate monitor on my smartwatch).

Bear in mind, that I'm very fit from a cardiovascular point of view (resting heart rate 40-45bpm), so it may be different if you don't exercise much. However being in my 50's, everything else is starting to fall to bits, so I'm just trying to keep fit and flexible as much as I can. Being sat in front of the computer all day doesn't help. It's another reason why I'm in to VR gaming, as a lot of that is done standing up. Biggest issue is my knees getting stiff after long sessions, which is why FitXR is so helpful in maintaining flexibility.

Begbie · 5 Mar 2021 at 12:55

Unseul said:
Might not suit you, but I try not to have almost any solids. Bit of water in the morning. A large coffee at some point in the afternoon (between 12 and 2 normally), then a large mug of bovril (the salt is very nice) around 4-6pm, then probably around 100mls? of orange juice, in a large mug topped up with hot water, the sugar helps give you a boost I reckon. Then potentially another bovril in the night, and finally a baby bel before bed, to try and get through to the morning .

I didn't start off like that though, found that having biltong etc was a great food to help get me to the end of the day, but as I got used to it, going liquids only (basically) was actually easier. With time, my appetite has shrunk as well, and I don't eat as much in meals as I used to. Still snack a lot of biscuits though!

Wait you don't eat anything at all? Just liquids?

Unseul · 5 Mar 2021 at 12:57

Begbie said:
Wait you don't eat anything at all? Just liquids?

I believe you can have upto 600 calories. I started off around 500 (some olives, some biltong, some cheese, maybe an egg etc), but now find it's generally easier without solids, I guess my stomach never starts getting into digestion mode, and so the sense of real hunger is held off more easily. So now I'm almost entirely liquids, except the cheese before bedtime (found cheese is good, probably because it helps neutralise stomach acid). I'd guess I have about 200-250 from coffee/bovril/orange juice/chese now.

BigT · 8 Mar 2021 at 15:57

I got my Quest 2 specifically for a way to exercise indoors with no gym/fitness equipment and no need to go outside. I need to do things to get my heart rate up and 15 mins of Thrill of The Fight does that nicely. Burning about 250 calories in that time. Trying to make sure I can get in the routine of 15 minutes every day until I build up my fitness levels to do it more. I'm well aware its no substitute for a proper full body workout but while the goal is to get the heart pumping for now it's really a very enjoyable way for an old exercise dodger like me to do it.

chorse · 8 Mar 2021 at 17:09

My quest 2 has been acting a bid odd recently. I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks, and I think it might have updated as now tracking seems jittery, and TOTF seems to miss about 20% of my fast punches where nothing happened before. Any ideas why this might be?

Unseul · 8 Mar 2021 at 17:20

chorse said:
My quest 2 has been acting a bid odd recently. I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks, and I think it might have updated as now tracking seems jittery, and TOTF seems to miss about 20% of my fast punches where nothing happened before. Any ideas why this might be?

Are you still playing in the same room? No LEDs or reflective surfaces?

Might be you need to do a factory reset.

melmac · 8 Mar 2021 at 17:30

chorse said:
My quest 2 has been acting a bid odd recently. I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks, and I think it might have updated as now tracking seems jittery, and TOTF seems to miss about 20% of my fast punches where nothing happened before. Any ideas why this might be?

Try turning off hand tracking.

Or are the batteries running low in the controllers?

melmac · 8 Mar 2021 at 17:32

BigT said:
I got my Quest 2 specifically for a way to exercise indoors with no gym/fitness equipment and no need to go outside. I need to do things to get my heart rate up and 15 mins of Thrill of The Fight does that nicely. Burning about 250 calories in that time. Trying to make sure I can get in the routine of 15 minutes every day until I build up my fitness levels to do it more. I'm well aware its no substitute for a proper full body workout but while the goal is to get the heart pumping for now it's really a very enjoyable way for an old exercise dodger like me to do it.

Thrill of the Fight is a great workout. And, yeah, VR is a totally new way to exercise. It gets the body moving without been bored. You find yourself moving in spite of yourself!!

AndyCr15 · 8 Mar 2021 at 17:42

Interesting thread as I've been pondering different ways to get a short workout (preferably not using too much legs as I cycle a lot) and TOTF looks fun. I thought maybe sweating with the headset on might not be good though?

(Worth noting, there's a thread over here about general weight loss and strategies, foods etc

)

drakulton · 29 Mar 2024 at 21:29

Craig R · 29 Mar 2024 at 23:01

Unseul said:
Might not suit you, but I try not to have almost any solids. Bit of water in the morning. A large coffee at some point in the afternoon (between 12 and 2 normally), then a large mug of bovril (the salt is very nice) around 4-6pm, then probably around 100mls? of orange juice, in a large mug topped up with hot water, the sugar helps give you a boost I reckon. Then potentially another bovril in the night, and finally a baby bel before bed, to try and get through to the morning .

I didn't start off like that though, found that having biltong etc was a great food to help get me to the end of the day, but as I got used to it, going liquids only (basically) was actually easier. With time, my appetite has shrunk as well, and I don't eat as much in meals as I used to. Still snack a lot of biscuits though!

No solids? What madness is this?!?

That doesn't sound healthy at all.