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My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

nathanlippi.com

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Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#141

Post by zfnmxt »

Tenoke wrote: post #140
zfnmxt wrote: post #120

VR exercise is a remarkably poor allocation of time (if your interest is physical fitness, efficiently). It also leaves out the most important adaptation of all: strength. Effective training (not exercising) requires a progression model. That is, on some time frame you must exceed your performance at the end of that time frame when compared to the beginning of the time frame. This must be done in some measurable way-…

This post is clearly about cardio while your whole comment dismisses it for not being strength training and talks of strength training. Just because you do strength training it doesn't mean cardio is useless and in fact many people do both. As for progression you do it the same way as running presumably - by putting more time and/or doing it faster.

The title of the post is "Virtual Reality: My Digital Dojo for Mental & Physical Fitness". The post is about physical fitness and I think the author is conflating physical fitness with cardiovascular fitness.

> in fact many people do both.

And I argued for both and that strength training also results in cardiovascular adaptations.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#142

Post by bluecalm »

zfnmxt wrote: post #120

VR exercise is a remarkably poor allocation of time (if your interest is physical fitness, efficiently). It also leaves out the most important adaptation of all: strength. Effective training (not exercising) requires a progression model. That is, on some time frame you must exceed your performance at the end of that time frame when compared to the beginning of the time frame. This must be done in some measurable way-…

I am tired of the HIIT nonsense. When it comes to cardiovascular fitness it's not even remotely enough to throw a HIIT session here and there. It's not enough to rely on intensity alone. You need volume and volume before everything else. By volume I mean a lot of light, easy exercise. You will benefit by adding some intensity once you you have enough volume in your training, probably not all year round and probably not too much.

Just talk to anyone who trains endurance sports. Read the recent "how to skate 10kms" that is making rounds lately. Look at any training program of competitive endurance athletes and you will see low intensity volume before anything else. The reason is there is that it works. There are adaptations that only happens during long easy sessions.

If you just care about carrying heavy stuff then you can ignore all of the above but there is more to fitness than that.

>>All other factors being equal, the man who can squat 400 lbs will always be fitter than the man who plays VR for 45 minutes every day--and the former can do it with a smaller time investment

Plenty of guys who can squat 400lbs who would be totally gassed after running a few miles or cycling up a moderate length hill. I wouldn't call it fit. I am betting on 45mins per day VR guy.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#143

Post by tifadg1 »

zfnmxt wrote: post #120

VR exercise is a remarkably poor allocation of time (if your interest is physical fitness, efficiently). It also leaves out the most important adaptation of all: strength. Effective training (not exercising) requires a progression model. That is, on some time frame you must exceed your performance at the end of that time frame when compared to the beginning of the time frame. This must be done in some measurable way-…

On the offchance you're not trolling, these are quite the outdated views you're holding.

It's fine to muck around doing 120kg squats if that's your thing, but you're continuously putting yourself to increased risk of injury as the years go by and you're increasing weight. To mitigate that risk you then have to start doing additional warm up, foam rolls, recovery routines. Oh and lets not forget that most people can't even do squat properly, so add static stretching too. That's hell of a commitment to someone who likely hates the process and just wants to be healthy.

That said, I also do weight training, but I don't emphasize it due to above. 2x/week full-body base, 2x/week 30 min cardio, 2x week static stretches. Am I advanced in anything? No. Am I rounded more than person going to the gym 3 times a week? I'd think so.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#145

Post by Fricken »

jnwatson wrote: post #60
foolfoolz wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because waking up and putting your first effort to your job seems misplaced if you have such strong personal goals such as daily working out. what’s more important, your job or yourself?

Some folks need to wake up a little bit to work out. What you do first isn't necessarily your highest priority.

I work out to wake up

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#146

Post by zfnmxt »

bluecalm wrote: post #142
zfnmxt wrote: post #120

VR exercise is a remarkably poor allocation of time (if your interest is physical fitness, efficiently). It also leaves out the most important adaptation of all: strength. Effective training (not exercising) requires a progression model. That is, on some time frame you must exceed your performance at the end of that time frame when compared to the beginning of the time frame. This must be done in some measurable way-…

I am tired of the HIIT nonsense. When it comes to cardiovascular fitness it's not even remotely enough to throw a HIIT session here and there. It's not enough to rely on intensity alone. You need volume and volume before everything else. By volume I mean a lot of light, easy exercise. You will benefit by adding some intensity once you you have enough volume in your training, probably not all year round and probably n…

> There are adaptations that only happens during long easy sessions.

What sort of adaptations? As far as I'm aware, adaptations are the result of significant stress. What are the stressors of a "long easy session"?

At any rate, my post was about physical fitness and health, not how to become a competitive athlete.

Many competitive athletes are not fit. A marathoner who has no muscle mass and who is physically weak is not fit--regardless of the fact if they can run a 2:15 marathon. Said marathoner is not resistant to adversity, e.g., consider how they'd do on a wasting disease like cancer versus an athletic 215lb male.

What competitive athletes do generally is not a useful consideration when deciding on training modalities. Assuming that what the pros do is effective because they're pros is logical fallacy and, regardless, these people are (genetic) outliers with differing goals.

Low-intensity, long endurance cardio is adversarial to increasing strength. If you want to be a competitive endurance runner then, sure, you need to adapt your training and you will need to do long endurance cardio. If you're just an average Joe who wants to be healthy and fit then it is not in your interest to do long endurance cardio. Injury rates are higher, it makes it harder to become strong, and many of the resulting adaptations are undesirable.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#147

Post by crashingintoyou »

pmarreck wrote: post #39

Has anyone solved the ventilation problem for headsets yet? I seem to be convinced that the right light-absorbent baffles that still allow air through are possible, but no one seems to have attempted this in a product

What worked for me to avoid fogging is to wear the headset kind of like a visor for a few minutes before starting your workout, which warms it such that I haven't worried about fogging much since (which initially was a problem).

There is, e.g, the BOBOVR F2 which will add a battery-powered fan to your Quest 2 to add some venting, but I haven't personally tried it.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#148

Post by wingerlang »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #132
wingerlang wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I underestimate it, just in case someone is coming here and thinking that VR is a good way to bulk up their arms, I'm just saying that it won't compare to even the minimum of using dumbbells.

I'm just saying that it won't compare to even the minimum of using dumbbells. Using dumbbells is the main thing here: It doesn't matter if dumbbells do better if it simply isn't an activity you keep up long term. Daily VR is going to be more meaningful and develop more muscle over time than sporadic dumbbell use. And lets be honest, realistically this is what we are comparing. Fun activity with side effects to an exe…

The original guy said he replaced 8km daily running with VR exercise, so I don't actually think we are comparing 'sporadic gym/exercise' with 'constant VR'. But in the case of that, sure you are right.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#149

Post by microjim »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #127
zfnmxt wrote: post #120

VR exercise is a remarkably poor allocation of time (if your interest is physical fitness, efficiently). It also leaves out the most important adaptation of all: strength. Effective training (not exercising) requires a progression model. That is, on some time frame you must exceed your performance at the end of that time frame when compared to the beginning of the time frame. This must be done in some measurable way-…

None of this matters if you find exercise and training of this sort so mind-numbingly boring that you active avoid the it due to hate of activity. You might try your best to convince me that it is fun, but I whole-heartedly disagree. It is repetitive boredom, about as fun as housework and maybe worse (which is why I keep a messy house). I'll be physically weak and happy instead and continue to put concepts into my mi…

For that, you'd need to be convinced that exercise/strength training results in better health outcomes long term, and that better health outcomes are an important factor in emotional wellbeing.

Supposing that, it is safe to acknowledge that particular behaviour can be created by building reward circuits and overcoming initial aversion common when building any habit.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#150

Post by watwut »

zmmmmm wrote: post #136
watwut wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fixed schedule is one possible system that will push you to keep going even while you go through demotivated period. Same with "other people's expectations". Seeing other people exercise is motivating for a lot of people. And being seen is one more nudge to actually do it today. Moreover, many people are motivated by competition. That does not need to be official competition or large scale one. Pretty often it is jus…

So I reckon there's about 50% of the population for whom what you say is true and then a giant slice for whom all those factors work in reverse. They are demotivated / scared by the thought of competition, and social activity is tiring rather than stimulating and intrinsically enjoyable.

It is pretty easy to not use social functions.
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