Is the future of exercise available now?
Given my career choice, the potential impacts of new forms of exercise is something I often ponder. Recently, I’ve been delving into a new form of exercise that’s really mind blowing. This new form of exercise is powerful and honestly I didn’t see it being this way.
Passionate PT talk begin:
I try to find new forms of exercise as often as I can as I enjoy the variety. I don’t think people recognize how important it is to enjoy the form of exercise that you’re using. Let’s briefly get a technical. Our brains are wired in a special way. Mitochondria don’t as freely release ATP unless we are enjoying our exercise. ATP is the energy currency, the cash, of your body’s economy. So if the ATP flows more freely, you have more energy for exercise, burn more calories and are generally more effective. And, at the moment, this new form of exercise is stimulating and fun which is exactly what I need for energy and power!
End Physical Therapist Passion/Rant
I’ve/We’ve been using something called Supernatural. And with a name like that, it has a lot to live up to. My wife was invited over to her friend’s house to try it out here’s what she had to say about the experience:
“For the first time in a very long time, I was excited about exercise; it didn’t feel like exercise at all. You have the controllers, but in the VR world I had bats or boxing gloves, depending on the activity. I got to choose my style of music and level of activity, from there it was an absolute blast. Plus, I got to have accountability in my friend and a friendly competition. I lost myself in the world of VR exercise by dancing, singing and competing against myself.” – Wife
So, as you can imagine we bought a Quest 2.
What is Supernatural now and will it become?
What you can expect now with Supernatural is what most people want and need from exercise: to burn calories, have fun, satisfy the mind, build up muscle and improve your physical capacity and quality of movement happening all in one experience. This experience ‘gamifies’ exercise. It exploits the mind’s mechanism into meeting exactly what the body needs!
Tne question lingers: What is the long-term effect of ‘gamifying’ exercise? Dopamine Problems? Will it make other forms of exercise less stimulating to users?
What happens when this technology grows with the growth of things such as Meta glasses, artificial intelligence and Quantum computing? These advancements are inevitable and will alter the way we exercise as well.
Do I recommend that you go out and buy a virtual reality headset and get Supernatural?
I can say that the experience is otherworldly and futuristic. It also satisfies all of the needs for regular exercise. If gamifying aligns with your lifestyle then I would highly recommend it.
If you are concerned about the long term outcomes of this exercise, so am I. So if you see me acting weirdly, could you make sure I’m not stuck in ‘VR land‘? Perhaps invite me for a bike ride, hike, climb, run or pick up basketball game? Because I may need it and my body will be ready!
If you have a VR headset or are planning on getting one and trying Supernatural, please reach out to me. We have five passes for the Supernatural game and you can try it for 30 days free. And if you’d like we can follow each other’s Supernatural profile for encouragement.