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My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

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Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#181

Post by mutatio »

multjoy wrote: post #172
zfnmxt wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Someone who can lift 440lbs but who sweats when they eat isn't fit, either. >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"? The adaptations come from the cardiac system. Basically, the body can use more oxygen more efficiently. >Low-intensity, long endurance cardio is adversarial to increasing strength Increased strengt…

> The adaptations come from the cardiac system. Basically, the body can use more oxygen more efficiently.

I'm quite sure HIIT is near optimal for improving VO2max - and if you look at it through the less of time vs. benefit then it's unrivalled in terms of cardiovascular health.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#182

Post by multjoy »

zfnmxt wrote: post #180
multjoy wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone who can lift 440lbs but who sweats when they eat isn't fit, either. >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"? The adaptations come from the cardiac system. Basically, the body can use more oxygen more efficiently. >Low-intensity, long endurance cardio is adversarial to increasing strength Increased strengt…

> Increased strength is adversarial to improved cardio efficiency. This is absolutely untrue. If you take a runner who doesn't squat and get them to squat (and get stronger) they will become a better runner. By becoming stronger, each stride becomes more submaximal. Of course how strong they can become will be modulated by how much weight they can gain--in the case of a runner, that will probably be a very modest amo…

>If the session is easy, what is the stress which sufficiently disrupts homeostasis to lead to an adaptation? Easy things do not result in adaptations

An "easy" run is a stressor on the cardiac system, because you don't spend all day with an elevated HR and commensurate lung work.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#183

Post by zfnmxt »

multjoy wrote: post #182
zfnmxt wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Increased strength is adversarial to improved cardio efficiency. This is absolutely untrue. If you take a runner who doesn't squat and get them to squat (and get stronger) they will become a better runner. By becoming stronger, each stride becomes more submaximal. Of course how strong they can become will be modulated by how much weight they can gain--in the case of a runner, that will probably be a very modest amo…

>If the session is easy, what is the stress which sufficiently disrupts homeostasis to lead to an adaptation? Easy things do not result in adaptations An "easy" run is a stressor on the cardiac system, because you don't spend all day with an elevated HR and commensurate lung work.

Everything is a stressor. Doing nothing is a (negative) stressor. The question is is it a sufficient stress. And it is not.

Squatting 120 kg x 5 every day is a stressor, and provided you do no other strength training, it will feel hard. But you'll never get stronger than you already are.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#184

Post by pharke »

zmmmmm wrote: post #131
wingerlang wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I actually started bulking up in my upper arms for the first time in my life. Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no way VR will bulk up your arms in a way that a simple dumbbell won't do better in 5-15 minutes per day, right? > exercising parts of my body that running didn't touch Similarly, running will exercise parts of your body that VR won't touch right?

I can't really tell you if using a dumbbell would have done more - probably you are right. But there's no way I would persist with dumbbells, I find them excruciatingly boring. > Similarly, running will exercise parts of your body that VR won't touch right? Perhaps but not nearly as many as VR hits that running doesn't touch. It certainly forces you to do squats.

> I find them excruciatingly boring

I find the best antidote to boredom when lifting weights is to find the right weight and number of reps so that you're pushing through the burn for at least a third of the set. Hard to stay bored when your arms are on fire. Music is the other major component, you have to really amp yourself up and listening to music can put you in that mind set. Maybe even doing some circuit training would be better for you since you don't have to deal with long wait times between sets.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#185

Post by noneeeed »

It's interesting to see all the same conversations happening around VR exercise as there was about Wii Fit. And it's the same split, those who find it useful for consistently doing light exercise, and those who criticise it because it isn't as effective as lifting weights or some "proper" gym/fitness routine

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#186

Post by wh4t3v3r »

caslon wrote: post #108
WalterBright wrote: post #97

Geez, go outside for a run. Get some fresh air, smell the rain, say hi to the neighbors, watch houses being built, get chased by a dog, check the Little Library for something interesting, swallow a bug, see if anyone has a cool car in their garage.

Counterpoint: No. VR is great. You don't have to spike your risk of skin cancer, you don't have to deal with allergies, you don't have to run along a road that constantly has drunken teenagers crashing into mailboxes, there are no mosquitos that will make your life miserable, and you can play with friends, regardless of the fact that they're traveling, or live elsewhere. You don't have to deal with motion sickness as…

"VR is great. You don't have to spike your risk of skin cancer, you don't have to deal with allergies, you don't have to run along a road that constantly has drunken teenagers crashing into mailboxes...()"

And what about your eyes? How healthy is wearing VR? :)

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#187

Post by caslon »

wh4t3v3r wrote: post #186
caslon wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint: No. VR is great. You don't have to spike your risk of skin cancer, you don't have to deal with allergies, you don't have to run along a road that constantly has drunken teenagers crashing into mailboxes, there are no mosquitos that will make your life miserable, and you can play with friends, regardless of the fact that they're traveling, or live elsewhere. You don't have to deal with motion sickness as…

"VR is great. You don't have to spike your risk of skin cancer, you don't have to deal with allergies, you don't have to run along a road that constantly has drunken teenagers crashing into mailboxes...()" And what about your eyes? How healthy is wearing VR? :)

Actually, there's no evidence that LCDs are bad for eyes:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talk-tv-eye...

Sure, if you have a CRT strapped to your face, there might be a little risk. But an LCD screen is just about the most harmless thing imaginable for your eyes.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#188

Post by kitsunesoba »

bibabaloo wrote: post #79
rahimnathwani wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where's the best way to get started with these community mods. I have: 1. A Quest 2 2. A PC with an RTX 20XX graphics card (usually running Linux, but can boot into Windows 10) and USB C port 3. Beat Saber (standalone version) I guess I need: 4. A long USB C cable (or the official one)? 5. Beat Saber for PC (best to buy on Oculus or Steam?) 6. Some instructions for finding, installing and using these community mods.…

> 4. A long USB C cable (or the official one)? Airlink works surprisingly well and it's so much nicer to play wirelessly. You might need to connect a wireless (AC or better) access point to your computer if your existing wifi AP is in a different room, though.

I tried Air Link but even with all-wifi-6 hardware and the router sitting 20ft away, the video quality was garbage. I didn’t try to tweak settings too much though, maybe there’s some magic trick.

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#189

Post by periphrasis »

A few subjective observations that may be totally wrong when applied to others despite their normative tone:

* VR makes me sweaty… because it induces minor vertigo.

* Anything which requires intense, complete focus to do right is never boring. Exercise, both strength and cardio, requires this level of focus.

* Exercise is essential to physical and mental well-being, especially as you age. The difference between having plenty of energy throughout the day and fighting through deep fatigue is profound. With exercise you are sharpening the tool that is your body, for both physical and intellectual output, and time spent keeping your tools sharp is never wasted.

* Exercise is a skill that supports measurable progressive mastery. If gamification helps your motivation, then the advent of smart watches and fitness trackers makes it extremely easy to watch your “stats” go up.

* Exercise and sports provides a venue to meet new people, which as you get older only gets harder and harder. You may think you are an introvert and dislike being around others, but that likely points to unresolved social anxiety. You’re a human: you evolved to be a social animal. You may indeed need less socialization time and fewer friends than more gregarious humans, but you do need it. The extent to which you are introverted only emphasizes the importance of finding opportunities to make new acquaintances and friends because introversion has probably left you with fewer than you need. Exercise and sports is a great such opportunity.

* Exercise is fun. It taps into a very animal sense of conquest, and the joy of pure physical sensation. I’ve been doing a lot of road cycling lately following a running injury that I’m still recovering from, and the exhilaration of speed, of instinctively responding to possibly dangerous surprises, and of pushing your legs and your lungs to go ever faster is joyful. Even overcoming the misery of winter cycling weather becomes it’s own source of accomplishment: “I pushed through sub freezing temperatures and a brutal headwind today. I am strong and resilient.”

Re: My First 80 Days of VR for Exercise

#190

Post by zfnmxt »

iandanforth wrote: post #179
zfnmxt wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lower body musculature is too large to be effectively stressed by bodyweight exercise in people fostering any decent level of fitness, i.e., bodyweight squats don't make you stronger. Just because an exercise is hard or makes you sore doesn't mean it's effective.

I doubt I'll convince the parent, but for the curious about why this comment is utterly wrong and uninformed let's look at how muscles work. In a given set of muscles you have dozens to thousands of motor units. Each is activated by a motor neuron. When recruited the muscle fibers in a motor unit begin producing (or trying to produce) force. The interesting thing is that they arn't all recruited at the same time, whe…

I'm having trouble understanding how your comment refutes mine; could you clarify?

> Not the only one, but the notion that the only way to build muscle is to 'tear up' your muscles with huge lifts is both outdated and wrong.

I think you're misunderstanding my point. The bodyweight squat is ineffective because you cannot change the stimulus; the only training variable you can adjust is the number of squats you do. Because it's a relatively easy exercise, this quickly means that you cannot subject yourself to sufficient stress with it, both for myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy purposes. Nobody in the history of the universe has ever gotten big and strong on bodyweight squats. It has never happened and it never will happen.

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