Sport and lifestyle concept – woman doing sport outdoors
We all know that we should exercise at least three times a week. Unfortunately not, no matter how hard researchers try to convince us. Studies show that less than 20% of Americans are actually getting the recommended amount of exercise. Half of all baby boomers don’t exercise at all. Ever.
The fight is real. Exercise is boring, time consuming, painful and we cannot see immediate results from today’s efforts. Maybe you will look a little better next week? Perhaps you have reduced your chances of developing an illness in the distant future? You can’t really tell, but all you know is that someday today you should jump on the treadmill, but not now. You will do it later.
The government recommends increasing heart rate for at least 150 minutes a week for health results. Researchers have been looking for ways to lower this number without reducing effectiveness, and many believe they have found the answer.
High intensity interval training.
Instead of jogging at moderate intensity (55% of your maximum heart rate) for 30 to 60 minutes, athletes can do some quick, high-intensity workouts at 80 to 90% of their maximum heart rate. The results consistently show that the results are the same for markers to improve health and fitness.
In fact, the participants had done a recent study A MINUTE three times a week (20 seconds of all exertion with a two-minute break, repeated three times) with a two-minute warm-up and a three-minute cooldown for a total of ten minutes of exercise time. The other group did 45 minutes of moderate intensity jogging.
So ten minutes (with just a minute of real effort) vs. 45 minutes per workout, three times a week for 12 weeks.
Results?
Each group improved exactly the same amount.
Much less time, but the same results. Who wouldn’t want that? This removes a major regulatory compliance barrier for people and improves public and personal health and fitness (with all of the fantastic life changing benefits that fitness brings)!
MICT = jogging / SIT = one minute of high intensity cardio / CTL = control group
What does this have to do with virtual reality? Unfortunately, studies have shown that while the higher intensity exercise is much shorter, people enjoy it less. You remember the pain of pushing hard or jogging at a moderate pace, and people may be less likely to stick to a HIIT-style program for this reason.
The intro to a recent study sums it up:
“Training intensity – affect relationship
Studies on affective response during exercise in inactive and overweight adults have found a negative relationship between exercise intensity and affect, so that the affective response to exercise becomes more negative when the intensity of the exercise rises above the ventilation threshold.
In particular, continuous bouts of vigorous exercise such as B. 30-minute cycling at 80% of VO2max leads to greater psychological stress, less joy and greater displeasure compared to cycling with moderate intensity at 50% of VO2max.
According to dual-mode theory, the impact experienced during exercise is partly influenced by metabolic costs associated with the intensity with which the exercise is performed. This proposed relationship has stimulated changes in exercise guidelines that include moderate-intensity activities such as exercise. For example, recommend 30 minutes of walking 5 days per week versus high-intensity activities (e.g. 20 minutes of running 3 days per week) for inactive individuals.
The research that the most frequently cited obstacle to physical activity is lack of time contradicts this recommendation. Regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, or health status, people report that lack of time is the main reason they don’t exercise regularly. Clearly, there is a need for innovative exercise strategies that promote health benefits with a minimal investment of time and that are not perceived as offensive. “
Let me repeat this last sentence:
Clearly, there is a need for innovative exercise strategies that promote health benefits with a minimal investment of time and that are not perceived as offensive.
This is the holy grail for exercise scientists and the fitness industry.
- Physicists are looking for their unified theory of the cosmos.
- Neuroscientists are trying to figure out how damn consciousness comes from physical matter.
- Jaden Smith works hard to find out if mirrors are real.
The fitness industry is looking for ways to get sedentary people to consistently participate in and enjoy physical activity.
This is where VR comes in.
Immerse yourself in another world where your body is the controller and have an exhilarating, flowing and fun experience that will distract your mind from the pain and exertion and instead distract you from the game and the surroundings.
It turns out that when people focus on something other than pain, they forget about it. The perception of pain and exertion decreases. In an extreme example, if you’re in bed with a toothache, that’s all you will think of. Your tooth hurts But then you think you hear an intruder break through your front door. The pain will immediately disappear from your consciousness. After pulling out your ninja skills, subjecting him with a crane and handing the culprit to the police, you will go back to bed and notice your toothache again.
VR can create flow experiences in a way that other media cannot. We have a duty to harness the new power of VR to get people to enjoy short, high-intensity workouts so they can feel better, look better, and live longer.
I want to play VR games with cardio and weight training for 30 minutes three times a week. Give me all the results and make it fun and enjoyable. Let me look forward to returning to this world again. Make it as addicting as Everquest or Farmville.
Once this happens, exercise becomes a habit that no one wants to break.
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