Fitness
Extended-reality workouts usher in an immersive era of virtual fitness on VR headsets
- Extended reality is bringing immersive, personalized workout experiences to the fitness industry.
- Leaders at four fitness brands told BI their extended-reality services helped them reach new users.
- This article is part of “Build IT,” a series about digital tech and innovation trends that are disrupting industries.
In the summer of 2018, Rachel Z., who goes by the alias OtterWorldly online, started streaming herself playing the mixed-reality fitness game “Beat Saber.”
Videos showcase her virtual saber skills as she slices digital blocks to the beat of songs such as Blackpink’s “Kill This Love.”
The gamified, competitive nature of virtual-reality fitness apps “transformed my workout routine,” she told Business Insider. “They provide variety, motivation, and the ability to track progress, which keeps me engaged and consistent.”
OtterWorldly
Extended reality is steadily changing exercise and fitness. It involves virtual reality, which immerses users in a computer-generated environment; augmented reality, which overlays digital visuals onto the real world through the use of devices like phones and AR glasses; and mixed reality, which blends real and virtual worlds.
Business Insider spoke with leaders at the fitness brands Puma, Les Mills, FitXR, and Supernatural about leveraging extended reality to provide tech-driven workouts.
Shifting perceptions of fitness technology
Puma this year partnered with Meta Quest 3 to launch immersive mixed-reality workouts in the metaverse. People with a Meta Quest headset can participate in virtual exercises including boxing and Zumba.
“People can actually try different types of workouts that they might not try in the real world because maybe they don’t have access to it where they are,” Ivan Dashkov, the head of emerging marketing tech at Puma, told BI. “I’ve never boxed in my life, but in VR, boxing workouts are my favorite.”
Some people with so-called gym anxiety or a fear of being secretly recorded and shamed online have leaned into virtual-reality workouts. “People may not think of technology as something you work out in, but VR can break down those barriers,” Dashkov said.
Kathryn Przybyla
Dashkov acknowledged there’s a learning curve. “I think a fun challenge in the space is that the general Puma audience might not necessarily have adopted some of these new technologies yet,” he said.
He recalled seeing people’s perceptions of VR workouts change at a launch event for Puma and Meta Quest’s partnership earlier this year. After putting on a headset and working out for about 15 minutes, attendees had an aha moment, Dashkov said. “They didn’t expect to be sweating, because they think it’s like a video game,” he added.
One deterrent, however, is the look and feel of the Meta Quest headset: Its size can make it cumbersome. But Dashkov told BI he expects the headsets to become less bulky and eventually “be like a pair of glasses you’re wearing where things will be projected on top of them.”
Adapting to consumer needs
Les Mills is also using extended reality to create peer-reviewed, research-led exercise routines, such as strength training and yoga. In December, Les Mills launched a virtual-reality fitness game designed to bring holographic dance professionals into a Meta Quest user’s home.
Lisa Edwards, Les Mills’ digital innovation director, said the game’s development required the company to adapt to connect “a global community of fitness enthusiasts.” Three years ago, when Les Mills met with developers, the technology was more rudimentary; putting time and resources into extended-reality services was a risk.
Les Mills
Edwards said the company read customer reviews and analyzed users’ activity dashboards to inform business decisions and keep up with “the changing needs of our users.”
“We do keep a really close eye on a lot of the data that we get back from both our own developers and Meta,” she added.
Engaging a broader audience
Sam Cole, the cofounder and CEO of FitXR, an extended-reality wellness company, told BI the fitness industry needed to focus on reaching people beyond those who are exceedingly active or don’t have restricted mobility.
Cole said his experience of dealing with an injury to his Achilles tendon a year ago showed him that “you get to a certain age, and you start to realize the importance of balance in terms of physical and general health.”
FitXR
Cole said FitXR’s workouts focus heavily on balance while “taking the core ingredients that make group fitness great” and merging them with “highly immersive, highly engaging visuals” that encourage participation.
Leanne Pedante, the head of fitness at Supernatural, a virtual-reality fitness service, described a person who she said used immersive workouts for mobility.
Lindsey Byrnes
The person, Pedante said, struggled with their weight and used a wheelchair to get around. She said that taking exercise classes on Supernatural’s platform helped them work toward using a walker. “That’s the kind of stuff that’s happening in VR,” she said.
Cole acknowledged that while some people lack enthusiasm for or don’t trust VR because it’s still a relatively new technology, he believes that “the perceived limitations are more problematic than the actual limitations” and people will have to try VR for themselves to find out.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — 8News got a visit from two special guests Friday to learn about the benefits of Pilates and try out some beginner moves.
8News anchors Autumn Childress and Delaney Hall were joined by Laura Mae Harper and Angie Madison with Point and Flex Pilates. The studio, which opened on Sept. 3 last year, offers a variety of classes, ranging from beginner to intermediate and advanced.
“We went through years of teaching at other places and developed this beautiful studio for them and this community, and we’re super excited about it,” Harper said.
For more information, visit Point and Flex Pilates.
Like every piece of gear you wear on your body day in and day out, fitness trackers are incredibly personal. The right tracker for you should be comfortable, accurate, and tailored to your lifestyle, including your preferred workouts and health goals. Do you bike, row, or strength train? Do you run on trails for hours at a time, or do you just want a reminder to stand up every hour? Do you want to wear it on your wrist or your finger, or tuck it into your sports bra?
No matter what your needs are, there’s never been a better time to find a powerful, sophisticated tool to help optimize your workouts or jump-start your routine. We test dozens of fitness trackers every year while running, climbing, hiking, or just doing workout videos on our iPads at night, to bring you these picks.
Our top choice for most people is the Garmin Vivoactive 6 ($300), which works well with Android and iOS, but we also vouch for the latest Oura Ring 5 ($399) and the budget-friendly Google Fitbit Air ($100). For more wearables, check out our guides to the Best Smartwatches, Best Smart Rings, and Best Sleep Trackers.
Jump To
Best Fitness Tracker Overall
Garmin makes some of the most accurate fitness trackers on the market, and the Vivoactive 6 is the best midrange option for most people. It strikes a solid balance between smartwatch features and fitness tracking, with support for both iPhone and Android users.
Why WIRED recommends: The Vivoactive 6 is accurate, comfortable, and packed with useful wellness features without feeling overwhelming. It uses Garmin’s proprietary algorithms to power features like Morning Report and Body Battery, which provide daily insights into your sleep, recovery, and readiness. It also has built-in satellite connectivity and GPS, so you can track outdoor workouts without bringing your phone along. There’s also incident detection, which alerts emergency contacts if it detects a serious fall.
Garmin’s biggest advantage remains its free Connect platform, which enables health and fitness tracking without requiring a subscription. The company also continues to add new software features through regular updates without putting them behind a paywall.
The trade-offs: Garmin launched Connect+, a $70-per-year subscription with extras like live tracking and access to Garmin’s AI-powered Active Intelligence. Former editor Adrienne So doesn’t think most people need it, but it’s worth noting if you’re looking for a completely subscription-free experience. The Vivoactive 6 may also feel like overkill for casual users who only want basic activity and sleep tracking.
Fitness
Why this unexpected exercise is most effective for building arm muscle in your 50s – and how to do it properly
When it comes to building strong, defined arms, traditional fitness advice will usually point you toward endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions. But according to Dr Stacy Sims, a leading women’s exercise physiologist specialising in perimenopause and menopause, isolation movements like these aren’t necessarily the most effective. Instead, she advocates for one functional compound movement: the farmer’s carry.
Speaking on podcast A Life of Greatness, when host Sarah Grynberg asks how to get arm muscles like Dr Sims, the 51-year-old explained: ‘In order to get shoulders like this, heavy farmer’s carries. I’ve been travelling so much this year, and I haven’t been in the gym being consistent with all the push presses and Olympic lifts that I love to do, but what I have been consistent in doing is heavy farmer’s carries.
‘It’s good for grip strength, learning how to walk properly, core strength, shoulders – so if there’s one move everyone should do, it’s heavy farmer’s carries.’
The magic of the move lies in its ability to engage your biceps, triceps, shoulders, forearms and hands all at once. And because your arms are working continuously to stabilise heavy loads against gravity, the exercise activates the deep muscle fibres that don’t fire up as efficiently in single-joint arm movements, like bicep curls. Here’s how to do it with proper form, plus how heavy to lift and a workout to try, straight from Dr Sims.
How to do a farmer’s carry
- Standing with feet hip-width apart and weights at the outside of the ankles, hinge your hips back and bend the knees, keeping your back flat.
- Tighten up your lower back and abdominals before reaching down to grab the weights.
- After gripping the weights, begin to stand tall by driving your heels into the ground, maintaining a tight form. Once you reach full standing position, tighten your armpits and make sure your shoulders are pulled back to activate the muscles in the rotator cuff area.
- Finally, begin to take small steps forward, maintaining a strong grip and form. If you’re returning in opposite direction, set the weights down, turn around, and then grab the weights again before walking in the opposite direction.
Set/reps for results: Aim for three sets. Try timing your farmer’s carry for 25 to 30 seconds or go for 10 steps forward and back.
Form tips: Start out with a light weight to ensure you don’t end up leaning too far forward or towards one side. Make sure to keep your back straight for safety. When it comes to moving, small strides will do. They’ll keep you balanced as you increase your weights.
How heavy to lift
As for what “heavy” means to Dr Sims, she says: ‘How many people have heard that you should be able to farmer carry 75% of your body weight for a minute? That is made up from bro science. It’s a good metric but there’s no science behind it. So, a heavy farmer’s carry is you have two very heavy dumbbells by your side and you’re walking back and forth.’
Here’s a weight guide to follow:
- Beginners: 2x 4-6kg
- Intermediate: 2x 8-12kg
- Advanced: 2x 12-20kg
Farmer’s carry workout
Dr Sims shares a descending ladder workout to try.
- 500m ski
- 500m heavy farmer’s carry
- 400m ski
- 400m heavy farmer’s carry
- 300m ski
- 300m heavy farmer’s carry
- 200m ski
- 200m heavy farmer’s carry
- 100m ski
- 100m heavy farmer’s carry
‘If you really have anything left in the tank after this workout, you go back up in 100m,’ she adds.
One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.
Get the plan
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.
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