VR Workouts: What Studies Say About Cardio, Weight and Strength

Workouts can feel monotonous. Gaming feels enjoyable. Could the two be merged? Strapping on a virtual-reality headset and gripping a motion-tracking controller in each fist can prove demanding. “Pistol Whip” forces frequent lateral steps and squats while shooting adversaries and evading incoming fire. “The Thrill of the Fight” simulates boxing and generates genuine perspiration. Both “Supernatural” and “Beat Saber” have players striking and slashing at approaching targets to driving beats. Yet do these activities qualify as legitimate physical training?

How researchers measure a VR workout

Researchers say yes, albeit with qualifications. A useful yardstick for assessing virtual-reality activity is the metabolic equivalent of task, or MET.

By that yardstick, several VR titles qualify as real exercise. Scientists at San Francisco State University calculated that “The Thrill of the Fight” (which is, in fact, exhausting) reached 9.3 METs. Separate research, published in JMIR Serious Games, showed the “Flow” and “Boxing” modes in “Supernatural” also qualified as vigorous exercise, at around eight METs.

Cardio: a VR session can match a walk

Another experiment, published in Games for Health Journal in 2024, had volunteers try a seated video game, two VR titles and treadmill walking, ten minutes apiece, while oxygen uptake was tracked. “The Thrill of the Fight” matched treadmill walking for aerobic intensity, and elevated heart rates to a comparable degree.

Weight loss: virtual sport performed like the real thing

Cardio is one matter. Shedding pounds is another. Research published last year in Nature Medicine split 227 adolescents into five cohorts: actual table tennis, actual football, virtual table tennis, virtual football and a control group. Weight loss did not differ significantly between the real and virtual groups. Participants in both shed about 5kg after eight weeks. Those in the control group lost none.

The strength gap — and a workaround

However, virtual-reality titles differ widely. Intensity varies more across games than between physical and virtual workouts. The 2024 study, for example, rated “Beat Saber” as merely light exercise (2-3 METs). And even strenuous options like “The Thrill of the Fight” rely solely on arm motions and squats. Since digital items offer no physical resistance, VR games are no good for strength training.

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, solved that limitation by pairing a cable-resistance training machine with a VR headset displaying a tower-defence game (in which the player must protect a stronghold from waves of virtual enemies), such that pulldowns, deadlifts and other moves triggered different attacks. Two cohorts trained across four weeks, one using the VR add-on, the other without. Those in the VR group showed greater improvement in strength, endurance and peak leg power. And they perceived their exertion level to be lower than it actually was.

What the evidence still cannot settle

Multiple other efforts have reached a similar conclusion. Exercisers using VR routinely underestimate how hard they are working. They also find it more fun than conventional exercise. Yet whether that enjoyment increases long-term adherence remains uncertain. Beyond this research, VR-exercise studies are often small and do not use comparisons or controls that allow their effects to be assessed. All that said, you don’t need a trial to show that VR exercise is better than none.

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