Here there be dragons...

"I'm telling you stories. Trust me." - Winterson

VR HIIT

So the boxing program I was doing released a new HIIT program.  I've been curious about it for a while and finally got to try it today.   A few things, first - I was wondering how good a workout it was likely to be?  I've been enjoying my VR Fitness journey, but other than the bike games, I haven't found any program that I feel I consistently get a good workout from (in a reasonable amount of time.  I don't have several hours a day for this).  And second - I usually hate HIIT with a passion.  Could they make it fun?

Ok step one - could they make it a good workout?  Short answer - yes.  Definitely.   I did the 7 minute beginner level and I would say the first 2 minutes were figuring out wtf was going on.  So in the 5 min workout remaining, I got my heart rate up to the top of cardio level and did many many squats ;)  If I had done a harder level, a longer level, or even known what I was doing at the beginning, I could likely have gotten into the high zone with no difficulty.

Now is it fun?  Moderately.  One of the things I hate about HIIT is how repetitive it is.  You do something hard, then you do it again.  I'm up for almost anything - once.  Repeating it though...  Questionable.  Repeating it multiple times?  No interest.  This is why weightlifting has never been my thing.   This has that same repetitiveness.  It was essentially two exercises that were done together and repeated four times. Now - those exercises were entertaining - punching things and making them shatter essentially.  The high ones were quite a stretch so they encouraged a fair amount of movement, while the low ones required a decent squat.   However, while repeating things is boring, I found I was trying to beat my last score each time which is super motivating.   The software would be improved (imo) by having a tracker of your previous score or extra points for beating it on subsequent rounds.

The one significant frustration I had was that a few times the targets just disappeared.  Which is a speed round (which HIIT generally is) this was SUPER frustrating.  Not only did it throw off my rhythm, but it also impacted my score.  I only got to level nine instead of level ten - 100% because this happened on multiple occasions.  So yeah.  I'll try again tomorrow - that could definitely have been an internet blip or something.  But if it's a regular occurrence, I'm out.

I'm starting to appreciate C's frustration when
his game glitches at inopportune moments

I've seen other complaints about the music -- honestly, I had no issue with this.  I didn't even notice what was playing.  In the boxing or dance options I'd say it's more important, but in HIIT -- where speed is of the essence -- I legitimately don't even notice the music.

I'm looking forward to playing again tomorrow - I'm going to pick a higher and longer level and give it a solid go.  Looking to see what variety there is in the exercises and how significant a workout it gives me.  And hopefully no glitching.  

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