The beauty of working out with the Oculus Quest 2 is that your calorie burn is almost accidental. It’s slow motion bullet dodging with enough beat saber swipes or pistol whips, and if you keep your mind, you’ll end up burning a healthy number of calories. rate up.
With Meta adding new Oculus Move tools to the Quest 2 and everyone striving to hit their New Year’s goals, and the weather in California is too bad for a daily run, I’m not sure if my VR headset will work. I decided to test if I could (or should). What you use specifically to achieve these goals.
Is Quest 2 a casual option while you’re maintaining your gym or running routine? Or are Quest 2 fitness apps like Supernatural and even regular VR games like Beat Saber enough for your daily routine? Believe it or not, the answer is complicated.
The Quest 2 can be paired with a heart rate strap for more accurate results, but Meta should focus on fitness trackers next.
The calorie tracker built into Oculus Quest 2 creates an estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) based on height, weight, gender and age, and uses tracked head and hand movements to calculate effort . You can then sync your workout data to Apple Health or Android Health Connect.
Frankly, I find Oculus Move’s results to be the least accurate on harder workouts, especially when it underreports calories burned compared to what various fitness trackers and watches show. understood. Earlier this year Meta added the option to pair Bluetooth heart rate monitor straps like the Polar H10 and Garmin HRM-Dual, but let’s be honest, HRMs aren’t the best option for immersion. . I ended up bypassing the Quest 2 and tracking my cardio directly on my running watch.
Ultimately, we hope the Quest 2 will integrate better with real wearables. And with full-color pass-through revamped for mixed reality, Meta Quest 3 hints at walls and furniture in a virtual environment, making it a more comfortable workout option for those with limited space. You can expect it.
Hardware and data tracking aside, the more important question is whether Quest 2 games help burn calories. EfficientAdmittedly, some VR superusers happily spend hours a day in their headsets. But for those of us with limited time, we need to decide if playing a ‘casual’ VR game is enough, or if it’s worth spending our time using a particular app. I have.
The Oculus Quest 2 is a great fitness tool, but losing weight or improving endurance is another story altogether.
Generally speaking, the CDC (opens in new tab) We recommend doing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (brisk walking) or 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise (swimming, fast jogging, cycling) a day, 5 days a week. VR games have moments of downtime, such as choosing the next audio his track or choosing a boxing opponent.
In that sense, using the Quest 2 for your daily fitness goals is a great idea. Not all Quest games reach the level of activity required, but they often have a variety of great features that help keep things fresh and the BPM high without feeling like a true “training”. There are exercises and rhythm games. However, the headset gets dirty with regular exercise. And since without the right equipment you can injure yourself, here are some of his recommended Quest 2 workout accessories.
if you want lose weight Also improve endurance With the Oculus Quest 2, however, it’s a completely different story.
I’m not really qualified to talk about diets, but the general wisdom is that to hit 3,500 calories a week, you need to burn 500 more calories than you burn each day. Let’s assume that your body’s calorie burn and intake are balanced. How long would it take to burn 500 calories in VR, or more if he only works out 5 days a week?
Lighter people generally burn fewer calories during the same activity, but they don’t need to burn as many calories to stay fit. As a 6’1 male, I’m at the high end of the calorie scale, yet he’s not particularly high in calories burned per 30 minutes (henceforth kcal/30) in many games.
| Oculus Quest 2 Games | Average calories burned per 30 minutes |
|---|---|
| very hot | 125kcal/30 |
| pistol whip | 165kcal/30 |
| audio trip | 200kcal/30 |
| beat saber | 200-225kcal/30 |
| FitXR | 250kcal/30 |
| Super natural | 200-300kcal/30 |
Because (A) different games burn more calories at higher difficulty levels, (B) results vary from person to person, and (C) multiple games are played frequently in one tracked workout. It’s hard to isolate my results because I did. But you can see a general trend here:
- A low intensity game of standing and dodging like Superhot will burn calories, but a normal fast paced walk (150kcal/30) will burn more calories.
- Pistol Whip has some high-intensity dodging and ducking, especially on higher difficulty, but you’ll spend a good deal of your time choosing contracts or standing and waiting for the next enemy.
- Games like Audio Trip and Beat Saber consume healthy chunks of energy without feeling overwhelming, so you can play longer without getting too tired.
- Certain exercise games, like Supernatural, can help you reach your fat-burning percentage if you put in the effort, depending on how difficult the exercise is.
I’ve found the Oculus Quest 2 to be great for keeping my body in shape for a short period of time, or burning calories steadily during a 2-hour marathon session. But as a real fitness device for efficient results, you should stick to specific subscription apps like Supernatural or FitXR. When you factor in workouts and warm-ups/cool-downs, even those only equate to running for 30 minutes (burning about 300 kcal) at a casual 12 minutes/mile pace.
Quest 2 offers a consistent and engaging activity that takes time to fully succeed and is best used in conjunction with other activities.
One trend I’ve noticed is that after completing a high-intensity workout, I burned more calories in a low-intensity game. Games like Pistol Whip burn more calories than you normally would, even if you don’t feel like you’re continuing.
Overall, the Quest 2 is a great fitness tool for those who can’t tolerate working out and have plenty of time to reach a low and steady heart rate zone for an hour or more. Ultimately, though, it’s a bit limiting as it stays in a small square of the house instead of actively encouraging it to move. And with limited tracking, most VR workouts put all the attention on arm movements and squats. Plus, you really need a replacement head strap that fits snugly for active gaming.
If you’re struggling to build any kind of fitness routine, the Oculus Quest 2 can help break down the mental barrier between working out and enjoying it. But at some point, I think VR headsets are best used in conjunction with other cardio exercises as a change of pace or cross-training, rather than as the main driver for improving your fitness.
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Meta Quest 2 has an extensive library of exciting and active VR games. And from now until January 19th, get a free Elite Strap headset with any headset purchase. many More comfortable to use for exercise.
