Follow me down the rabbit hole ;)

Somewhere I've never needed directions to find ;)

So today I fell down the rabbit hole that is virtual reality YouTube.  Not watching VR-related vids on YouTube but rather in-headset virtual reality vid experiences.

It started with a boxing workout on the beach - now I had already finished both my workout AND a bonus workout by this point but clicked it purely out of curiosity.  It ended up being a short (5 min-ish?) mini-workout that was basic but decent; but mostly while I was doing it, I wanted to go sit on one of the lovely beach chairs and watch the ocean and soak up some sunshine instead of following the instructor lol

But then - after it ended, instead of sending me back home it went into the next video, which was the Yukon roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland?!?  lol so random.  Yup never need to do that irl! And then, before I knew it, I was at Gringot’s (Harry Potter) Bank in the UK… and so on and so on.

So a - super interesting to me that these exist, but more interesting is how quickly I’ve become judgy about it.  If I felt like I was watching a vid, it was like the modern equivalent of a movie somebody shot filming the screen from the back of the theatre.  Conversely, if I felt I was really there - win.  One of these days, I'll seek some out on purpose and play a bit, but for today since it was just using its own algorithm to find me stuff, I stopped it pretty quickly.

Related note - after accidentally doing three workouts instead of one in VR, I'm currently sitting on the couch and my legs are already sore.   That being said, I'd like to get to the point where those workouts are ineffective again.   I feel like that's a reasonable spring goal.

Getting stronger - tomorrow ;)

Google verifies the weight lifting stat; not sure about the donut part ;)

It's that time of year again when it's dark both when I start work and when I finish work.  AND it's cold and often miserable outside.  Which means all of my general activity level, motivation for fitness, and options for any form of fitness I might enjoy all plummet at exactly the same time.  And I wasn't as fit as I'd like to be when it hit.  

So to ensure my fitness actually improves rather than slides this winter, I am once again on the hunt for an activity to help (piano, while challenging, is not likely to give me Apollo arms or a booty that makes my husband happy when I wear leggings).   I've decided this will be a two-pronged approach.  So for Cardio, I'm using VR fitness again, but this time I'm trying a rowing app called Holofit.  It technically works with a bike, an elliptical (which I don't have), a rower, or freestyle.   But I haven't figured out how to make it switch between (admittedly I've put zero effort into discovering that at this point) and it was designed for the rower so that's what I'm doing atm.

So let's see...  So far - while I don't have the fancy rower with the bluetooth computer that apparently connects and works brilliantly, I haven't had any problems using my old school non-tech computer so that's good.   I love that the app doesn't require controllers to function -- that was one of the down sides of the cycling app I used last year.   This one is fully reliant on where you look for controls.   Which is both very cool in a new-to-me-tech kinda way, and also useful when your hands are both needed to keep the rower going.

I enjoy the "explore" mode best, where you go at whatever pace and collect things...  Really random things...  But I don't get much of a workout from it so I *really* wish they'd combine that with the "train" mode.  I find the training actually effective and helpful -- but I want my things!  lol.  Training has multiple levels (I've been working on medium and seems about right; probably will go up in the next week or two), and different approaches (cardio, hitt, etc).  Alternately there's race mode which is literally a race.  I definitely get the best workout there, although currently I only race AIs as I suspect I'm too slow to be competitive with real people.   There is also a mode where you can race shadows of your past self to try to best your former times -- I know that mode exists, but I haven't found it yet to actually try.

You can tell that the designers are listening to user feedback, because if you go in any of the first couple worlds they designed, you row backwards.  As per real life, but not much fun when the whole point of the app is to be able to look around at stuff that's not your basement.  They took that feedback seriously and in all the newer worlds, you row facing forward :)   I do wish the graphics were a little more mature.  I am enjoying it for sure, but they are not nearly as impressive as other VR environments I've been in.  Although I will admit I did enjoy rowing at night under the northern lights.  That was pretty awesome.

The biggest downside for me is that I struggle with motion sickness using this app.  There was a little when I first started with the cycling app too, but this one is more so - especially in the cityscapes (when you're "rowing" an odd bike/land boat of sorts).  I know most of the tricks to combat it, so trying that for now, but ultimately it might make it so this one gets shelved.   The other thing is that once I've found all the "things" in each world, I'm not sure it'll hold my attention.  I've never been one for repeating myself.  The bike app I could ride literally anywhere in the world.  So after a couple months, I may switch back to that one.

So that's cardio, the other aspect is strength.  I've signed up for a 30 day strength training program that starts tomorrow (this is not me procrastinating, it's actually not available till tomorrow).  I've done both their ab program and their flexibility program and been super impressed with both.  So I have hope for this one.  And if it goes well, abs are next up.

Anyways - I have 30 day plans for both, so lets see how it ends up :).  I suspect next week by about Wed, moving will be a challenge!  lol but hopefully by Christmas I'll be feeling a lot more like myself again.

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.  

Grade 4 Science

So this evening I tried a "shower steamer" for the first time -- which, from what I can tell is really just a tiny bath bomb, made for the shower.  And honestly, was not super impressed.   But what DID amuse me is that when I was done said shower and it was still going, I decided that instead of leaving it there, I'd melt it -- the package had lots of warnings about not putting under direct water cause it'd fizzle up.  

So I'm thinking - well that could be fun (remember, this is the woman who has bubble baths at least a few times / week ;)) - so I hold it under the shower stream...  And no dramatic fizziness (I was hoping like shaking can of pop drama) but then for whatever reason, probably cause I'm still 12 at heart.  Actually I think I was more mature at 12 than I am now *g* But anyways I decided to see what happens if you trap the fizziness, and squished it between my hands.  

Well it felt kinda like pop rocks - no big deal.  Except...  And here's the fun part I never realized...  Apparently shower steamers (and my guess is also bath bombs, except I've never felt the need to try and melt one of those) are actually endothermic???  My palms, under the hot running water of the shower, but surrounding this little fizzy, were getting cold!   It was the coolest thing (sorry, not sorry).  

Anyways - I realize this is essentially the equivalent of the volcano from the Grade 4 science fair, but it amused me so I figured I'd share ;)  What can I say, it's been a LONG few weeks.

I hope this kid got extra credit for the dino!

In other news, my change management paper is due this week.  Hence the procrastination blog post.  The paper's no problem but I'm super disappointed in the course, especially as I was *really* looking forward to it :(   Ah well.

Work has been...  crazy.  12h+ days most days and some weekend.  Meetings all day and then work all evening -- and even that is tricky cause my Vancouver people don't clock out till 8pm our time, so even "uninterrupted" work time often has, well, interruptions.   Would like to say, this is not a complaint, just a level setting of why everything else in my life is how it is atm.  😂  I'd far rather be busy than bored.   And most of what I was doing in the evening was content creation.  There's still a TON of that to do (honestly - it'd be faster to write another book!), but I finished the last of the time-sensitive content on Friday.  So I'm hoping that means I can dial back to almost normal-people hours starting next week (also - term paper due Wed 😂 so, you know, Mon and Tues night kinda have to be school rather than work); will be a long while before it's actually under control, but the fires should be down to a controlled simmer by next Friday.  Either that's accurate, and I'll have a lovely long weekend, or I've jinxed myself and I'll have fodder for a blog post ;-P

I've cancelled my VR cycling for end of May, partially cause I wasn't using it a lot lately and partially  cause the weather is finally suitable for outside cycling.  Which, may not be as exciting, but I feel is prob a good mental health thing.  It's also more fun.   I would like to get one more decent ride in between now and then though -- although that's prob dependent on how the above two paragraphs go *g*.  I'm keeping Supernatural for now though - it's good for that short "just get off the couch" level of exercise.

First sunburn of the year today -- writing my paper in the backyard.  Like being in high school again!  lol - it'll be faded to tan by tomorrow except my feet...  My poor lobster feet.  Someday I will learn.  Or maybe not ;)

Okay back to the paper.  Night!

Beware of the Monster

So with work and school both being chaos last week (drinking from not one but TWO firehoses simultaneously) my workouts became...  Essentially nonexistent.

This week is going to be similarly crazy - until Thurs am.  But I decided today it was important to get at least one workout in, and because it'd been a while, it should be a *good* one.   😂 

Right.  So I picked one that was 34 minutes long, Hard, and a "Monster".  hmmmm maybe that last category should've given it away.  Oh - and then I decided to wear my weighted boxing gloves.  Cause, why not.

Well cause my arms aren't that strong - that's why not!  Lol I lasted two songs.  Two.  Honestly I lasted through one and suffered through the second.  My "power" scores -- usually in the 90s -- were in the 50s.  Yikes.  

Okay so ditched the weighted gloves and went for weighted vest instead.  Let my legs take the workout.  Although right atm, I kinda wish I had stalls to muck and hay to throw - I'm missing the casual fitness for sure.

The weighted vest was good.  Had a great workout, was sweaty and tired at the end, and probably will be sore tomorrow - we're deeming that an all-round win.

For perspective - with gloves, my power dropped to the 50s,
even after taking them off I was only in the 70s.

In other news - Facebook/Oculus introduced new subscription models this week which caused quite the furor...  But of the games on the list, I'm not too concerned.  The ones I have included:

- VZFit - this is the cycling app, it's been subscription all along (there is a free option that I'm pretty sure still exists) the only thing that changed here is now it's "legal" - on the Oculus store - as opposed to a side option.  I pay for the subscription in the winter, cancel it in the summer.  Pricing and offering didn't change so all good.  They do constant updates and I like being able to leave my basement, so all good.

- Tripp - this one I personally don't think is worth a subscription.  The free version is moderately interesting.  I bought a "lifetime subscription" at one point when they were super-cheap, and they're honouring that, so I'm good to go either way.  But really, I almost never use it so don't see any great value.

- FitXR - this is the boxing / dance app.  I would be concerned about the subscription model since the original game was not cheap (the others the original game is free) - BUT they're honouring prior purchases.  So anybody who currently has the game gets to keep it and any added packs they purchased as well as a 90 day trial of the subscription version.  So for me that's perfect.  I'm moderately interested in the HIIT portion of the subscription and will try that out, but for my handful of workouts a month, the content I already purchased will last me for years.   And if I wanted to do it more seriously, the subscription might be okay.  My issue with this game is I was starting to hurt myself by putting too much power into punches that never hit anything...   So I don't play very often anymore.  It's still a better workout than SN, but I was afraid I might do something serious...

So yeah - for me personally, no big deal.  I appreciate the approach FitXR took in honouring prior purchases so that's good.  I'm a little concerned if more games go this way, I won't be able to afford to play very much :(   But we'll see how it goes...   Most of the games I play are once and done, they don't evolve, so I'm hoping that means they stay flat rate.

---

Next day follow-up, so that workout was just about right.  I definitely feel in my shoulders, abs, and butt (those 117 squats!) but not so much that it impact function.  I'm aware I did something but not dying.  Just did a short one today to make myself move (and fit it in with food), with no weights of any form, and the scores came back up.   I was actually really enjoying it, so may do a longer one later when I have more time.  Class tonight though so we'll see.  

For comparison - this from today is where my scores are more normally;
This was a medium, non-monster, and much shorter.

Finding new ways to avoid studying ;-P

Had two new VR experiences today that were very different and quite entertaining; both of which surprised me as I didn't expect to enjoy either one.

The first was Dance Central.  Lol omg I felt like I was back in uni going out clubbing, but without all the parts I didn't enjoy ;).  The thing is, I used to love to dance.   But I've always been both horrifically bad at it and very introverted.  Which meant in a real life club I was exhausted quickly cause... people.  So many people.  And alcohol - lots of that too, which has always resulted in sleepy Laur.  Add that to being horrified and self conscious about how badly I dance.  And thus overall not a fun experience.  But here - it has the club vibe, but my new best friend comes to greet me and actively encourages copying her dance moves ;-P   And a lot of the music was from my hs or uni days too 😂  Not all of it, but definitely a disproportionate amount.   Stringing a few songs together in a row was a decent workout but mostly it just made me laugh.  Throw in a few real life friends and maybe a drink or two it would've been a riot.  But basically had a blast playing and was in a great mood at the end.  And the only reason I stopped is cause I wasn't dressed for a workout.  So yeah - excited about that one.

My new best (read: only) dance friend

Then I tried "The Climb" which I'd put off trying cause really?  How interesting can VR rock climbing be?  Well... lol now I know.   First there's the puzzle of how to get to the top - which is entertaining in itself.  And actually a little bit of an arm workout?  lol not significantly, but your arms are over your head most of the time you're playing.   And the gorgeous scenery - also good.  So all wins.  And while I was climbing, no issue.  But then every once in a while you get to a platform.  So I climbed up on this platform and went to ring the bell (why is there a bell there?  Or a platform for that matter?  No logical reason whatsoever, but clearly if there's a bell there, you should ring it).   I could NOT convince myself to move the foot closer to the edge of the platform to ring the bell.  I knew - logically - totally and completely that I was at home, in my basement, with my feet firmly on my yoga mat.   I was even in bare feet, so I was *really* aware of that.  But mentally I was VERY high off the ground on a tiny little platform and reaching out over the edge was a Very. Bad. Idea.  I did it - rang the bell and then kept playing the game, but only cause I'm stubborn enough that there was no way I was letting my self-preservation instincts override my knowledge that this is only a game.  Seriously more of a challenge than I expected.   Also, while in real climbing the workout is all in your legs, this one - what little there was, and it really is little, was in the arms.  EXCEPT - I was holding that silly mat so tightly with my toes that all my leg muscles where fully engaged in keeping me firmly attached to the ground.  lol   Really amazing what the brain can be psyched into believing. 

I took a bunch of pics today but forgot to upload
so this is one of the "official" ones from Oculus

So that was my evening as lockdown continues.   I didn't have the mental space for studying this eve and that was way more fun :)

Oh - and third fun one - bonus.  Discovered the other day "Puzzling Places" -- this one is still in beta mode (aka - free!  Win :) but interesting puzzle game that is building 3D puzzles.   Took my head a while to get around how to do that, but I find it fascinating and it's easy to spend way more time than is reasonable playing it lol.

VR Mindfulness?

So the Supernatural app that I'm quite enjoying has an accompanying phone app that has your stats, info on every workout you've done, etc.   It is also where you set goals and it tracks your "streaks".  So I set a goal of 4x/week.  Week one - each day I did got a dashed gold circle around it, and when I had four gold circles all the lines turned solid.  Sweet.  Extra circles got stars in them :)    So this is week two now, and I had two done, and then I had one day where I was *really* not feeling well.  I had a headache, was frustrated with work, and all other randomness.  But somehow I decided it would be a useful time to try meditation? And I recalled that SN had that too, so figured I'd give that a go.   All good - not my favourite meditation for sure, but not horrible.  I spent more time looking around the pretty scenery than listening to the dude talk, but I guess that's it's own form of meditation.   I also played Tripp - another meditation app - for a bit and it was... different ;)   lol but I'll do it once more and then give it its own post.  Definitely interesting.   Anyways - back to SN.  I don't remember why I went into the app this afternoon -- I think somebody might've followed me or something -- but when I was there I noticed that yesterday had a blue dashed circle???  hmmm it appears meditation counts for something?   So then I was curious if it would also count as one of the days toward my four-day goal.  So when I completed today's workout (of the normal variety), I went into the app...  

And sure enough, all the circles are solid!

And what interested me is that my first reaction was "meh - that's not exercise, it shouldn't count", but then it occurred to me if what I was going for was health rather than just workout, it's arguably as, if not more, important and they're absolutely right to count it.   So now I'm both bemused and surprisingly motivated that on a crummy day where I just don't have a workout in me, I can keep my streak alive by a few minutes of mindfulness.   So I'd say that's a win to the SN developers.  And for me.

Part of today's workout was a failure due to the fact that my batteries died :(   That is one thing that never happens irl.   So I'll try and repeat it tomorrow or the next day cause it was a *riot* but not easy.

And my other mental exercise -- I've been experimenting with my trial month for the Spanish lessons I'm going to use for boot camp.  So far I've been really disappointed, but I'll wait till the end of the trial to see if that changes.  One thing that is good is that lessons are available any half hour between 5am and midnight EST and you can book at literally the last minute (I have absolutely tested and been successful at booking a lesson for 8:30 at 8:29 ;)   Anyways - in today's lesson, which was conversation based, the feedback was that my comprehension was really good but my accent was horrible.  lol and honestly, this is a huge win because, well, I've heard that my accent is horrible before -- I'm hoping that's what March Madness (aka boot camp) will help address -- but this is the first time ever I've heard that my comprehension was good.  Woohoo!!!   I've been doing a lot of focused work on comprehension - maybe that's actually helping???  Of course this teacher I've never spoken with before, so no comparison.  But I'd like to pretend it is ;)

Some days you just don't want to workout. So play games instead :)

So once again, I have to say one of the benefits of VR fitness is how little commitment it can take.   I did *not* want to work out today, but the shortest Supernatural routine is 8 minutes and the shortest FitXR is 3...   So really, "I'll sign in and do one" is enough that it makes me feel like I've accomplished something without actually committing to a full "workout".  

So I dragged my sorry ass downstairs.  I did at least put on workout clothes, so I *could* potentially do a real workout if I became inspired.  My thought was I'd do the week's team challenge on FitXR and at least knock that off and then be done.   Except that when I went to use FitXR it needed an update.  *sigh*  That's an issue I've never had going to a real gym lol.   So okay, it's cold in the basement so while it was updating, I did an 8 min Supernatural round, which was fun and I was warmed up.  Then did the boxing round - this week's challenge was a 15 min class.   Okay fine.  So I got that done, and was pretty pleased with my score...   Which meant I went back into SN and loaded up a 15 min one - chose country music for a change of pace.  lol and it was a really solid workout, by the end I was definitely struggling.   I'm not sure if that's cause of the workout itself or if it was cause it followed 15 mins of boxing at full power, but either way, good workout.  So then I was having fun and wanted to keep going, but was also spent, so just did an 8 min cool down one (on light) to round it out.

Seemed an appropriate local for a country workout :)

But all in my "few minutes" that I convinced myself I could do, resulted in a 48 min workout, solely because it's fun.   And I was in such a better mood after too - so much more energized.   Win :)

Day 3...

Okay so yesterday was day two of Supernatural, and I had a really good time playing (other than the one that crashed *mutter mutter*).  Although even the one that crashed I got a “partially complete” in my workout history, so that was good (showed up a few hours after the fact.

Anyways - after the workout I was sitting for a couple hours due to work and then realized…   I wasn’t sure moving was even an option?!?!  I was SO stiff and SO sore.  On the *same* day.  Definitely not a good sign.  So I did a couple calls on the treadmill, on stroll pace, just to make sure I could move.  

Then I remembered SN has stretching routines too…   So I signed back in, but it’s cold in the basement so I did another (short) round to warmup again, and then did a stretching routine.  Remarkably helpful.   Actually pretty pleased at at.

That night, I took some Aleve and off to dreamland I went.

Pretty sore this am, and was pretty sure I wouldn’t be working out, except two things: one, today is the day my scores are due for the team challenge for FitVR, and I won’t be *that* person to not contribute to the team.  So at very least, I *had* to box.  And two, Supernatural comes with a streak counter.   😂 it’s amazing how motivating such a completely pointless tool is.   Like nobody cares about my two-day streak on a trial subscription, but look at me go.

lol my streak ;)   Kinda sad, but it's a start.

Okay so I did boxing first and gave it everything I had.  Actually got a good (for me) score and felt amazing.  Go team!   lol doesn't involve the same muscles as Supernatural so didn’t hurt at all, and, well, I have a lot more practice with boxing.   So all good.   Then I wanted to keep my SN streak so went in there, but those muscles DO hurt, so I figured I’d be smart and pick an 8 min “low” (aka easy).  Except I couldn’t find an 8 min one I wanted to do that wasn’t the same one I did on day one, but did find a 13 min one whose playlist was SO fun.   So okay.  I was warmed up and feeling good, this should be no problem.

And here I learned how much easier L is from M, which I’ve been playing.  Which makes me really look forward to H ;)    I bebopped along to the music, and tried to get as close to a perfect score as I could.   I also learned how the triangles are actually supposed to work (eg actually move your feet!) as some of them were way on the left side of my mat and some were way to the right.  😂  The coach for this one was also WAY more useful.  There’s one who drives me insane, the rest I’ve tried have mostly faded into the background.  But this one was helpful.   So noted.

End result - I learned some things that will be useful in the faster level, and got a nice stretchy routine that wasn’t nearly as entertaining but totally appropriate for my capabilities today.   Look at me setting the bar at a reasonable height for once ;-P  Although honestly, it's been a few hours now and I kinda want to go play again...   

Entering the supernatural world

So I've mentioned before that Supernatural, one of the most highly recommended fitness games, is one I'd yet to try, due to its subscription costs.  I've seen videos of people playing and kinda thought meh - it's like Beat Saber and, well, I already have Beat Saber ;)

I honestly really didn't see what the big deal was, or how it could really be *that* much better of a workout.  And definitely not worth the price.

Except for the moment, the price is free.  Lol they're doing a one month free trial.  Well okay - may as well have a look at it then, esp as my fitness scores this week were, ummm, less than spectacular *sigh*  More on that later.

Well.  Honestly, I'm *still* not sure how it's such a better workout, but I can tell you, it definitely IS.  lol So it follows the same basic premise as Beat Saber -- moving to music, hit the floating things in the direction they're pointing with the bat of the correct colour (have to admit, the light sabers are way cooler).  Instead of the occasional wall to duck under or around, Supernatural has triangles that you duck through.  So depending on how the triangle is oriented, they're either low squats or lunges to one side or the other.  I admit, I wasn't proving coordinated enough for the lunges so they tended to be more of squat and side-crunch lol - but honestly, that's a great workout too, so I'm okay with it.   They also have long streams to follow -- you can feel in the controller that you've got it (yeah haptics!) -- these can cause quite the vertical stretch if you happen to be short.   So between the squats and the reach I'd go from almost on the ground to standing on my toes and back multiple times in a few mins.   And the arms are everywhere.  And then on top of it all, it has *stunning* scenery and the game itself is both fun and addictive (as per Beat Saber).

The music was fun AND the location was amazing

Also, I suspect I'm right in their target demographic cause the amount of 90s music to pick from was moderately amusing.  I did a 90s Pop run and a "Prom Night" -- which definitely had music from my prom days.  Tells me they're not going for the current prom audience ;-P   Certainly a decent amount of $ from their subscription cost is going for music rights.

The other thing the $ is going toward is the coaches.  Who, honestly, I could probably do without, but they do certainly add a "workout" vibe.  There's a warmup before and cool down after every round.  Which got annoying very quickly when instead of one long workout I wanted to do multiple short ones.  Fortunately FB saved the day and told me how to skip those ;)  They also comment as you're playing the game but since I ignore them as effectively as I ignore Josh (sorry Josh!), I have no idea if they're useful or not ;)   Also, new workouts daily?  This seems slightly excessive -- I'd prefer they drop it down to once or twice a week and lower the cost, but not my call.   

This was my coach in Iceland

I've only played the light and medium level.  Medium seems about right atm, but will prob move up to hard before too long.  Just cause, well, me ;)  There's also a leaderboard so you can compete against friends.  Unlike Beat Saber or Oh Shape, it doesn't give you the whole world of scores, only those people you're "following".   I didn't know about this so I had a very empty leaderboard.   A quick post on a FB forum garnered me a whole collection of new competition though so my leaderboard won't be empty tomorrow.  When I checked this afternoon I was somewhere in the middle, which is pretty well the most motivating place for me to be.  At the top is boring, at the bottom is frustrating or overwhelming.  In the middle means room to get to the top ;) 

There's a phone app that goes along with it that tracks your history etc.  I haven't done enough to see if it'll be at all useful or not; I suspect not, but look forward to being proven wrong ;)

Now as for the less-than-successful...   Last week's FB stats came in and they're all red.  Boooo.  I blame a complete lack of meetings at work and two papers being due at school.  There was a lot of sitting still and moving only for the bare minimum 250 steps / hour.  Sometimes not even that.   Also - I've discovered it doesn't count about 1/3 of my workouts?  So random.  Don't *really* care (esp as it does seem to count those steps) but have learned not to stress too much about the exercise count cause it's so inaccurate.

Room for improvement next week!

On the plus side - both papers submitted!!!  Now we wait...  

A virtual sport I won't be taking up ;)

So it turns out I'm even worse at VR Table Tennis than I am IRL.  lol and let me tell you - I was definitely setting the bar low (for the curious...).   As per IRL, I want to hit the ball WAY too hard.  lol and unlike IRL, it's not nearly as entertaining when you're playing against a computer who not only doesn't try to return your wild serves (thanks Abdul!) but just stands there completely blasé until you manage a decent one.   I can't even imagine how bad it would've been if I'd set it to match me with a live person.  Yikes.   Also, completely unrelated -- it is a really bad idea to lean on the table to reach for the ball when playing on a virtual table.   lol  I managed to catch myself before face planting on the basement floor but graceful it was not.   A quick google taught me that the "pros" in this game, play in front of an actual table or their bed.  Apparently it's a standard hazard.   It does say something about the quality of the graphics and the immersive environment though.

This is where I was playing
I definitely bounced a ball off the TV
and landed another in the closet ;)

Lol Suffice to say that game was returned quickly.

About that - for anyone interested -- it seems most Quest games don't have a demo version to try, but they do have an amazing refund policy.  Basically if you've owned it for less than two weeks and have played for less than two hours, they'll take it back and refund your money.  I've returned more games than I've kept -- some because they made me motion sick and some because, like table tennis, I was just too horrible at it to enjoy it and definitely did not care enough to get better.   On the flip side, I've bought a couple games I otherwise wouldn't have because they had the option to try them first and I decided they were worth the cost.   Table Tennis was the deal of the day today so I thought I'd give it a try, but no go on that one.

I did pass my second Expert + in Beat Saber ;)  Unreasonably pleased about that.  I had to work up to it, playing it on slow first and then on full speed, but I got there.  Win! :)   

Stepping the exercise up a level

So in an effort to make my workouts slightly more intense, I've been trying different ways of incorporating weights...  I tried both weighted arm bands and weighted wrist bands, which were both a failure.   As soon as I had to punch down or sideways the weighs would shift and either pinch or become too loose and interfere with the controls and movement.  They also couldn't be worn with a fitbit.  Complete fail.

I honestly hate actual boxing gloves,
but these ones have open fingers and palm so it's all good ;)

However, today I discovered weighted GLOVES!  These are awesome!!!  lol only a pound each, but it's amazing what a difference they make.  They are open palm, so they don't interfere with grip, and they do up with a tiny wrist band that's narrow enough to fit between my hand and where the fitbit sits.  So win.

There is  NO point to this image except that it made me laugh ;)
The ultimate Beat Saber bitmoji! 
AND I found it in Spanish.  
lol accidentally, but we don't need to mention that.

Used these and my scores across all three platforms dropped by 1/3.  lol So clearly impacting my speed and movement.   My scores in dance weren't noticeably impacted, but I think that's more due to my incompetence in dance.  Lol when the bar is lying flat on the ground, it's hard to go lower!   

Even this bar is higher than I've set for dance!

But I definitely felt sore by the end, and a couple hours later, lifting my arms above my head is now a challenge.  So I'm deeming that a win.

Virtual January Results are In

Virtual January is over...   And the question of can virtual fitness create real results...  It would seem they can :)   Although I would argue, that depends on your starting point...   For the super-fit, it's probably not going to do too much for you.  For the rest of us average humans though... Read on :)

Pluses:

- it's FUN.  The last couple weeks I've been less good about riding the bike, mostly cause when I get down there I want to go right into boxing.  And by the time I'm done boxing, I don't have time left to bike.

- because it's fun I do it longer, and put more effort into it, than I otherwise would.  Especially the bike games -- the riding one toasts my cardio in < 15 mins because I go all out to catch the bad guys.  Like buckets of sweat and barely able to breath.  It's awesome ;)   Unless I'm lazy and just go for a ride - that I can do without breaking a sweat

- there's a great online community that makes it even more fun.  Weekly challenges, other people to work out with, and just constantly reminding you that this is here and other people are doing it, so why aren't you ;)

- it can be as long or as short a workout as you want.  Also, as intense or not.  You can totally cheat the system for sure, but if you're actually in it to get the workout...  For instance, in FitXR (boxing) I find myself constantly swinging harder or faster to try and improve my average punching score (about 6.1 now - up from 4 something when I started).   I'm really good at hooks and uppercuts.  Lol those are usually in the 8 plus range.  Unfortunately I absolutely suck at straight punching.  They're usually 4 or less...   So yeah - average meh.  But I get a very good workout trying to get that average number up.

- lots of games also involve squats in an effort to get lower body workout in too.  And there are definitely days I feel this after.

- there are multiple games to choose from that all involve movement.  So if you redefine exercise to mean "it got me off the couch for 30 mins" there are a TON of options.

- super flexible -- want to work out a midnight?  No problem.   And yes, I have literally done that.  

Minuses:

- your core will get a workout only if you go out of your way to engage it.  Upper cuts and hooks are great for core, IF you intentionally engage those muscles.  But it's just as easy to score highly without.   Dancing does slightly better at forcing core engagement, but nothing like a solid plank will do.

- no weights - if you're strictly looking to build the kind of muscles you get by lifting heavy stuff up and putting it down again, this probably isn't for you.

Other notes:

- Holofit is now a thing -- this is for use on the bike or the rower.   Since we have a rower, I'm partially interested in trying it, but I can only afford so many subscriptions and atm I like my bike subscription better (AND it's cheaper :)

- likewise, the game that pretty well everybody I've spoken to raves about for VR fitness is Supernatural, but it also comes with quite an expensive subscription service (more expensive than either of the others), so I've refrained from trying it.  By all accounts it's sort of a cross between boxing and Beat Saber but apparently a far better workout.  

- I did add more walking into my day, so that may or may not have contributed to the end results...

The Results:

Sorry it's in Spanish - if you read the rest of the blog you'll know why ;)

Okay so from a Fitbit perspective, compared to last week I was up in everything except flights of stairs.  So that's all good.  Again, not sure it's super sustainable, but at least I have a new target to beat.  And my resting heart rate has been the same for two weeks - although that's higher than it was at the start of Jan, which is pretty much the opposite of what we're going for?  So not sure what that's about.

Otherwise - I lost the weight that I gained in Dec, so that's good.  Not down any beyond that, but at least back to neutral.  I also lost 3" which is lovely and BETTER than the start of Dec, so pretty stoked at that.  I did *not* lose any arm inches, but what's there is definitely feeling firmer than what was there before, so I'm deeming that a non-quantifiable subjective win ;)

So for Feb I will continue to track.  I'm going to bring my Stealth and my ab-chair back into play so those two between them should help with the abs.  Will continue with the VR games I've been playing but make a point to incl 3x/week on the bike with actual cardio.  That's the goal for Feb.  

Eat ALL the Things!!!

Alright continuing the virtual fitness accountability...  Honestly, I was a little terrified to step on the scale today because I've done nothing but eat -- and primarily junk food at that -- for the last 3 or 4 days...   Candy, cashews, more candy, cake, fries, ALL the bread, more candy, and all the coke I didn't drink for the first four weeks.  *sigh*.   It was not a good week and I definitely can feel the physical impact.

Just like that ;)

However, I actually still managed to drop a pound?  lol only one - but really, I should've gained like 10.  So I'm pretty pleased at that.  Imagine how much better it would've been if I hadn't eaten like a teenage boy all week.

Actual measurements to be taken tomorrow.
Or prob Wednesday really - after papers are both submitted ;)

So as far as exercise goes -- the last time I rode my bike was the 23rd, so yeah.  Not this week.   I did box most days, with some dance thrown in.  And I'm getting better at making both of those significant workouts.  My heart rate goes up, I'm soaked in sweat, and I feel good.  Some days I'm even muscle sore the next day -- mostly depending how many squats were involved.

Oh Shape I don't think I used at all this week.  I just don't really enjoy it.  Some of them have some fun side to side jumps, which I like.  And it's an amazing arm workout -- if I put my arm weights on, I usually am struggling to lift the left one by the end of the first or second round.   To be fair to me - this is always *after* boxing, so they're slightly fatigued already, but I'm still shocked at how quickly this game exhausts them.  But mostly I just don't enjoy it.  I think at least partially cause the scoring is so random and very frustrating, so the motivation to do "just one more round" isn't there at all.  I did finally get the video off my Quest, so here's one that shows all the things...   Cut short cause of file size and, well, it's not that exciting to watch after the first minute ;)

Knock floating things out of the way

Dodge or duck under yellow walls

Punch red walls

Otherwise, make your body fit through the hole in the wall

Fitbit results were in line with the rest of the week...   I won't get my summary email till Mon or Tues but will be interesting to see if it was improvement over last week, cause it definitely didn't feel like it.  I had two days where "active time" was higher than sedentary time, so I was super pleased at that.   There were four days where I got my 250 steps every hour (it is set to track for 12h each day), and two days where I had 11 of 12, so pretty damn close (given that flipping back to the start I was pleased to achieve 6h....)

Last week vs this week (Saturday)

I earned Saturday's results.   They certainly weren't the best of the week by any means, BUT - I was writing a paper all day.  So without concerted effort, I would've sat at my desk pretty well all day with maybe a lunch and a snack interruption and not much else.   Not sure it was great for the quality of my paper lol, but it definitely helped from a health perspective.

Fun and games in today's virtual reality

Awesome boxing today with online friends :)  And I figured out how to box outside!!!  Lol given the whole winter situation in real life, this was lovely :)

Loving the outdoor boxing!
Also, this class was impossibly hard and I loved it.

Dancing I left the mat maybe half a dozen times?  lol - I have a gym mat that's ...?  idk maybe 6' x 6' which fits just inside the boundaries of my virtual world...  So I know if I step off the mat, I'm in danger of hitting a wall, or gym equipment, or whatever else.  Super handy.  Dance, RacketNX, and now SuperHot are the ones where I find it happens a lot.  

Do NOT play this in a small space.

This is a beginner level, because I'm awful at it and watching me play would be painful ;)

Higher levels have much more cool stuff - skulls, floating targets, moving targets, etc

Also, Dance is the only game where I tend to step off my safety mat backwards?   Lol it would seem I *really* don't like being at the front of the class, even in virtual.  Beat Saber and Boxing you lose if you're not standing in just about the right place, so they pretty much save me from that.  Although one of the boxing ghosts walked across my play area today so that was moderately entertaining ;)

For the curious, this is the second half of a beginner dance class...

On a joint recommendation I tried SuperHot which I had stayed away from as it's a shooter, but it's a very odd shooter -- I had better luck using my gun to punch people.  😂 I only have the demo version but was quickly getting a decent workout playing it.   Serious issue in that I travel ALL over the place with this one.  Like my poor little mat didn't stand a chance.  Which definitely increases my risk of injury significantly lol.  The premise of this is that people are attacking you (why?  What'd I ever do to them), but they only move when and as fast as you do.   So if they shoot a bullet, you can dodge it (which feels very matrixy, I'm not gonna lie), and if you need the chaos to stop for a bit, just stop moving.   But I honestly had no idea what I was doing or why, and mostly waited till the people got close and then punched them.  Did get my heart rate up though, so will certainly try it again.

Vaguely related, I got this feedback from Fitbit, that sadly does not align with my week for blogging purposes but was still interesting to read.  I don't believe for one second that everything improving is sustainable, but it was still nice to see :)    

Also Mon was my first day ever (well ever since selling the riding school ;) where the "active" percent was higher than the "sedentary" percent so woohoo!   Tuesday followed, alas today will not.   Way too much typing required both for real work and school work.   I basically get up when the fitbit buzzes, run around the house for my 250 steps, and then sit down again.  

Alright, back to writing the stuff I'm supposed to be writing today.

The games continue...

Alright so I'm struggling with the fact that it's week 4 but not the last week of January...  lol in a *normal* year 5 Saturday months are awesome.  Right now they're just confusing.

Okay so this week my weight remains stable with where it was last week.  Which is better than it was through most of 2020 but not as good as pre-2020 ;)   Still, progress.  I'm generally feeling better (as long as we don't count muscle soreness) and I definitely have more energy.  I'm also sleeping more consistently, which is lovely.  And, the Apollo arms are on their way back.  Lol - those who know...   

I'm comparing Thurs to last week's Friday because on Friday my Fitbit died a tragic death.  Or more, it went on strike, deeming it was no longer going to remind me to move (like seriously lady?  Can't you figure this out on your own?), relay messages to me, or wake me up when it was supposed to.  It was still technically counting steps, but honestly, without the reminder to move time just passes and there are no steps to count.  A new (to me) Fitbit was brought to life today (thanks to Mum getting a new smartwatch for Christmas, I got to inherit her last Fitbit, which is still newer than mine - woohoo!) - so count should be good to go next week.

Definitely getting better; also definitely not every day yet!

Generally I'm finding the bike still gets the best workout, but it really depends how into it I am.  The games almost always guarantee a top heart rate, but just riding if I don't go out of my way to make an effort, I don't even get into the orange zone, much less the DARK orange zone ;)   Today, for instance, I was not at all into it ;)   Boxing and dancing are not far behind; if I'm lazy, they'll outrank the cycling (like today!)

For comparison - today's "workouts"

It was kinda meh in Vancouver today and I wasn't really into it

Still gorgeous though!

Beat Saber is by far my favourite. This vid below was from a few days ago, but it took till today for me to manage to get it onto a computer :)   I don't love this song, but sharing partially because it has a TON of squats and demonstrates how (especially when you play the same game half a dozen times in a row), you can actually get a workout doing this, and partially because I *earned* this one.  Lol when I've played against live people, a few times they've picked this song and I am always eliminated within a few seconds.  So I finally got frustrated enough that I decided I needed to learn how to pass this song.  Played it on slow motion a few times so I could figure it out, then sped it back up.  And now I can pass :) Woohoo!  I'm not *good* at it yet, but at least i can get throughout.  Also, this is the first round of Beat Saber that's ever come close to making me motion sick -- I'm guessing cause of all the walls :(   But I played other songs after and they were np, so assuming it's just this song.  

For those who've never played before, you can feel when you cut a block (there's feedback in the controller you're holding) so you know if you've hit it or not.  Objective is to hit each block with the matching colour light saber, striking in the direction of the arrows.  And to duck or dodge walls and avoid hitting bombs.  It is wildly addictive.

In related news - I passed my first ever Expert +!!!  Woohoo!!!  But because it's a recognizable song, they won't let me share the video :(   Boooo.  It is on my FB if you're interested :)   K recommended a song that might be a good first attempt and she was right :)

I'll try to remember to film a dance one next week.  I'm still thoroughly in beginner mode there so it'll be pretty boring to watch ;-P   But at least I'm up to the 6 minute rounds now *g*   Of all the games I play, that's the only one where the "coach" makes a difference.  There's one woman who gives clear instructions with enough notice that I can always follow.  The other two I've tried (one woman, one man) either give instructions too late or that don't make sense, so I have to watch what they do and then mimic it -- but I lose a ton of points when I "miss" to see what we're supposed to do.

I went... dancing?!?!

So today was the opposite of productive.   It was C's knee surgery day, which meant driving to London and spending the majority of the day there and then driving home.  Now normally I'm all in for a road trip, and I can entertain myself alone in any city fairly easily.  Except...  Winter and stay at home order.  Everything would be closed AND no access to washrooms.  Fortunately, having discovered this the last time we went for an appointment, I thought ahead and booked a hotel room for the day.  Rental choice was 10-5 or 11-6, pretty much ideal.  Win :).  And the room was excellent - kitchen, desk, couch, bed...  I definitely could've moved in for an extended period and it certainly worked for the day.  

Not a bad place to spend the day :)  There was both a bed and a couch too.

Since I had booked the day off work my plan was to spend most of it doing schoolwork.  But then I thought a good way to kill some time would be a Spanish lesson...  C had to be dropped off at 10, so I booked a lesson for 10:30.  Got there, got checked in, connected to wifi.  All good.   Lesson was actually awesome.  Then after the lesson I was doing followup Spanish....  And then it was lunchtime, so I ventured out to find food.  When I came back watched some Spanish Netflix, thinking I'd start schoolwork after lunch...   And then C texted at like 1:10 to say he was awake.   Uh... Cool.  Okay, but I wasn't even done lunch yet?   lol.  He wanted to be picked up at 2:30 so I had a short nap (win!) and then went to get him.  Ended up being a little later than that but I was rocking out in my happy place at that point so no big deal.  

So drive home...  And I'm thinking order meds, work out, pick up meds, have dinner, do school...  All good, right?  Yeah.  Except then we hit construction which meant the drive would be longer than expected...  And the meds C already had were wearing off.  So reschedule and prioritize meds and just wait there till they were ready.   And when we got home, Dad offered to grab dinner for us so - awesome.  Just skip the workout idea and eat.

The second leg of my first ride creation

Which was awesome.  Except that then I felt SO blah.  Waaayyy too many calories and zero exercise today.   And zero inclination to do anything.  Ugh.   So decided I need to tackle either exercise or school.  And I *really* didn't feel like school.  So exercise for the win.  And this is where VR really is a win.  Because I 100% didn't want to work out...  But I could "just finish" my ride - there was less than 10km left.  And unlike in reality, the hills don't actually cause misery so it wasn't off-putting.  I could dial down to zero tension and just keep spinning the wheels and it counts.   And by the end of the ride, I was sweaty and my heartbeat was up -- so even though it was a definitely half-assed commitment (and I completely ignored Josh; I believe I even told him to F off at one point ;), I was still getting a workout.  And I felt better, so I decided to continue the ride.  Awesome right?   Except technology failed shortly after and I blue screened.   But then I was feeling good so I figured I'd do some of the games.

It didn't feel great while I was doing it,
but the gold boxes are very motivating :)

I started with boxing.  Just one round.  But then I broke all kinds of my own records and felt really good at the end, so decided to do just one more :).  To be fair, it was the easiest one I've ever done (I don't usually do the "light" workouts but I thought it was on this week's challenge so I figured I should - turns out it wasn't.  *sigh*  Ah well).  But yeah - highest streak ever.  So now I was thoroughly warmed up, arms slightly sore, and feeling good.  Okay.

No gold boxes this time, but I did it.

I didn't really want to do another round, and I definitely didn't feel like Oh Shape tonight.   Wait - why not try... Dancing?  Now those of you who know me, will understand why that's a question.  And those of you who don't know me but read the blog, will know I tried it once before and lasted less than 30 seconds before I quit with a strong feeling of "never again".   

Essentially you follow this dancer's movements...
Suffice to say, she's *slight* more graceful than I ;)

So this time I was a little smarter -- I picked the easiest level and one that was only 3 mins long.  Well, not only was it a riot, it was a really good workout?!?!  Certainly equal to, albeit very different from, boxing.  So yeah -- I'll try that again, but will have to work my way up from the bottom level.

Notice the "light" intensity and the almost dead last placing ;-P

After that, decided I just wanted to play.  So Beat Saber was up.  To put into perspective, I was now a sold 45 minutes into the workout I wasn't going to do.  And in Beat Saber I broke record after record after record.  And I was having a blast.  And oh my god were my arms ever feeling it.  They don't usually feel it but after weights on the bike, boxing, and dancing (?!?!) I guess it was the final line.   

Notice "New Highscore" in both :)  
Better still if that A was an S, but I'll get there...

Somebody else in one of my forums passed her first ever Expert + level today, so I was all inspired to try that.  She'd gone back to one of the original songs to do so, so I did as well.  And I failed.   Hard.  Time, after time, after time.   Lol sharing this too just so you have a realistic picture of it :).  BUT what it did, was improve the workout portion of the day as "just one more time" over and over, every time is a workout.  Alas, I never did pass the level although I got close.  I suspect someday soon there will be an excited "first Expert + ever" post.  But today is not that day.

I saw this many, many, times tonight.
And then I did it once more, just to take a picture.

I did go back and do one more round of the songs I like just to finish on a happy note :)

One more for the win :)

So yeah -- admittedly, my schoolwork remains undone, I'm still *way* over the calories for today and will just barely make my 10,000 steps if I go do another lap around the house.  But I feel SO much better and am more alive.  And it was fun.  Like legitimately fun, not go-to-the-gym, "I suffered through this with other people so we're going to pretend it was fun" fun.  So that counts for a lot.  And this is where I think VR fitness succeeds when many other types fail.  It may not be as intense as many of the other programs I've tried, but it's very easy to pick it up even when you *really* just can't.   And any time I have done this, I've gotten a far better workout than I'd intended.   Without my Quest, at *most* I would've done maybe 5 minutes on the bike today.  So yeah.  Deeming it a win.

Week 3 of Virtual Fitness Adventures

So this week was the first real challenge of my virtual fitness journey in that both work and school have returned to their full time states, so I'm pressed for both time and energy.  That being said, while I switched the order of some days, my participation was decent.   

Josh and I were having some trouble in Ireland this week, so we went to Arizona instead.  I didn't love this ride -- partially it was choppy but mostly it just got boring quickly.   It did have some nice moments though.

I've found a great online community for FitXR (the boxing game) which makes it way more fun.  I've done a couple workouts with them -- I find the breaks between exercise are longer as people chit chat and get organized, but I do more workouts than I would on my own.  Also it's more fun.

I've also added a non-virtual component of a treadmill desk, which I kinda love, that I can walk on during meetings.   This is more to break up the "sedentary hours" than improve fitness and it definitely helps with that.  Also to help with that, I've set my Fitbit to buzz every hour from 9-9 if I haven't moved so hoping that helps too.  I used to come home from work and then do stuff, but now work is at home and the only stuff to do is school -- which is sedentary.  So yeah, I'll take any help I can get.   

Last Fri vs this Fri.  Still not *good* per-say, but creeping toward better.

I've dialled back the amount of water -- still *way* more than I was drinking pre-adventure but not quite the crazy amount of last week, and I feel like this is a much better balance.  My weight is sorting itself out now too -- I dropped the extra I picked up last week and even a little more, so pleased about that.

Tomorrow I'm planning to cycle from Sea to Sky (or -- the Vancouver part of it anyways; realistically, that's a very long ride ;).  It's the first ride I've created (on Jael's recommendation and trusting Google) so we'll see how it goes.  Lol wish me luck!   The intelligent thing to do would probably have been to start with a ride I actually know *g* or even a short trip, but really, when have you known me to do things the easy way?