VR Home Gym: Fitness Is Virtual But The Great Workout Is Real

Imagine a home gym. Now take away the treadmill, the bike, the weights, all that pricy and bulky gear. What do you have left? Room for a virtual reality workout.

A friend of mine who is a medical doctor in Texas was the first one who told me how much he loved VR workouts, and how he had ditched everything else in his home gym for it, so I wanted to see what it was all about. After all, who would I take health advice from if not an actual doctor?

I’m not saying we should abolish conventional fitness gear anytime soon, and I’m keeping my Peloton bike and my elliptical and my weights, but for the past few months I’ve also been doing workouts with one of the most popular virtual reality (VR) fitness apps on the market, Supernatural, and boy do you get an intense workout—if you want. One of the great things about it is that the workouts are very self-selective, with no other classmates to judge you, and so many levels of intensity that you can dial it in very precisely to your fitness level, goals and motivation.

One big appeal of the VR workout is that it takes no equipment except the headset, no special dedicated space, and it’s highly portable, perfect for working out on the road in hotel rooms or second homes. You can even do it outside if you have a backyard or similar. But another big part of the appeal is that it can be really fun, a word not often associated with most home gym workouts. It’s not for everyone, but if you skew towards video games or cinematic experiences, it might just be for you.

With the holiday season coming, and the inevitable New Year’s resolutions, a VR headset fitness bundle also can make a fantastic holiday gift for the person on your list who wants or needs to spice up their fitness routine.

NPR just did a story on the rising popularity of VR workouts, noting that as many as two million people do them regularly, and a key takeaway was that a 20-minute workout can burn the same number of calories as a bike class routine of the same length. They picked Supernatural, the app I’ve been using, as one of the 5 Best on the market, and noted that it is so popular that Meta bought its developer for over $400 million. NPR said, “it’s a polished experience with beautiful locations from around the world, popular music you’ll recognize, and exuberant trainers with two main workout types—Boxing and Flow.”

Polished to say the least. The big appeal is the environments which are so immersive and realistic it is hard to imagine until you try it, moving you to locates such as Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, mountain tops, and you’ll do workouts while floating on platforms in crazy gorgeous lakes. There are a lot of things about Supernatural that remind me of the incredibly popular Star Wars movies, and that’s one of them. The music is also notable, and like Peloton, Supernatural uses hit songs by top artists, something many programs can’t afford in terms of royalties.

Respected technology site TechRadar.com sung the praises of VR workouts and how they finally let the senior writer, Hamish Hector, stick to his fitness goal. “My VR fitness experiment began on January 28 and finished on February 29. True to my intention, I exercised in VR for at least 15 minutes every single day. (Okay, I skipped four days due to a handful of (valid) excuses.) For the remaining 29 days, I used a selection of VR apps that either involve a lot of movement—Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, and OhShape—or dedicated VR workout experiences to get into shape. By far my favorite was Supernatural, which is an excellent VR fitness package.”

Hector added that in addition to the quality of the workouts themselves, there were several other advantages to VR. “You can set your goals to whatever level you’re comfortable with without worrying about people watching and judging you—you’re free to give it a go to the best of your ability…VR workouts are certainly fun and accessible, and I’m sticking with them longer than more traditional exercise.”

After much preliminary research, Supernatural was my choice as well, paired with the MetaQuest 3 headset. In that research I discovered it is hard to find a bad review of Supernatural. The Today Show said: “I tried Supernatural and was surprised at how much fun a workout could be,” and “The premise sounds basic, but it is so addicting once you get started.” AthletetchNews.com said “Those looking to add a little magic to their workouts should look no further than Supernatural.” Business Insider: “Supernatural is like Peloton but for the metaverse—here’s why the VR fitness app is my new favorite way to work out.”

The two main high intensity workouts are Boxing and Flow, which are similar. In Boxing objects come at you and you have to hit them with your fists (it’s not a conventional boxing match against an opponent) and you also have to duck and move, and it quickly gets really intense. Flow is similar but you use a virtual baton, which sort of reminded me of the Jedi training sequence in the original Star Wars (Episode 4) with the lightsaber and the remote flying ball.

I preferred the boxing, which is very arm intensive, and afterwards I often felt like I did when I lift weights. But it is mostly aerobic, you’ll sweat, and it very much engages the core and lower body, especially with the frequent ducking/squatting.

For each activity there are multiple coaches and multiple settings to choose from and the realism, immersion and incredible clarity of the virtual settings is mind boggling. You really can’t appreciate how detailed and colorful and lively these settings are until you put the headset on yourself.

In addition to Boxing and Flow, Supernatural offers Meditation, which gets rave reviews but simply is not my thing, and Recover, which is sort of yoga light plus stretching and cool down, guided by coaches just like the more intense classes.

Besides the workouts, there are a lot of other things to love about the technology and the programming, including the music, excellent coaches presented in a way that makes it feel so personal it is like private training even though they are pre-recorded, and the 360-degree settings, both imagined and real, from the Pyramids of Giza to Machu Picchu.

It’s also very encouraging, and there seems to be a specific ethos to the instruction and language that makes the whole experience less competitive and more supportive than many other exercise platforms I’ve tried. I love my Peloton universe, but many of the instructors have a “push through” aesthetic, forcing those last reps “because this is where the gain is” or a “don’t quit now” approach. The Supernatural vibe is much more “be the best you possible” in way that feels genuine, not forced, and it may be the reason why so many critics who have problems sticking with other routines kept coming back. I think it is an especially good choice for those who are not into fitness, and view a workout as something they need to do for health rather than something they want to do.

The newest wrinkle is an extension of the platform called Supernatural Together that lets you work out and connect with your friends in real-time in virtual reality, where you can see, interact and chat with each other. If you don’t have friends using it, you can use their Quick Match tool to find a new workout partner.

This is quite a departure, as one big appeal of Supernatural is that you are on your own, without judgment or pressure or the person next to you in a class setting, and for those who want that, it’s still the core of the app. But there are also many people who can only commit to workouts that are scheduled, in a class, time and day setting where they have to show up, and for them there is the new feature. The concept is called “Workout Accountability,” and the company cites studies showing that those who exercise with a friend are 32% more likely to reach sufficient physical activity.

A couple of caveats. I do not have trouble sticking with other routines, and my interest is more than general wellness and overall fitness. I am more focused on performance, and because Ido a lot of outdoor cycling, so I want to cycle inside because that’s the best training, and the same goes for runners and treadmills. Supernatural is more like a gym aerobics class in that it’s a great workout but not aimed at sport-specific results. There are still a lot of benefits to weight training you won’t get by moving your arms in boxing maneuvers. For me it’s a great part of a bigger fitness program, alongside other workout modalities. but for those who are just going to do one thing, it’s the perfect solution. With the four options, the offerings are limited, and I’d love to see something you could do on a bike, more serious yoga classes, or more alternatives, period. That being said, it is excellent at what it does, there were no real flaws or weaknesses with the platform, it’s very well executed, and the price is absolutely right.

A subscription to the Supernatural app is just $9.99 a month, or less than a quarter of what I pay each month for my Peloton membership. Many gyms charge $25-$50 to take a single class. And that’s the high-priced way to join. You can pay annually, $99.99 or just over eight bucks a month. They also sell two headset bundles that include a full year of Supernatural, along with the Meta Quest 3 for $550 and the new Meta Quest 3S for $350.

Supernatural is a great post-pandemic product, especially for those who have gone to remote work from home, it’s truly an escape in the most literal sense of the word, for 20 or 40 or 60 minutes a day, without leaving, even in a small apartment (you need at least a 6-foot circle of empty floor space, and more is better). It is especially good for people who need more exercise and are not getting it through gym membership, classes or self-motivation, and for many it can be the primary form of exercise. But it can also be part of more comprehensive routine, which it is for me, not a daily session but an alternative to biking, running or hiking, adding to the mix, varying muscle groups and movements, and definitely burning calories. It’s also great for rainy days and travel.

The Washington Post’s review, written by a tester who “detests” fitness classes and says that “fitness instruction unsettles me in a way I can’t fully describe,” hit the nail on the head: “What sets Supernatural apart from other fitness classes and apps, to me, is how it is calibrated. Its goal isn’t to work users into sweat puddles. It isn’t trying to turn users into Olympians, beauty pageant contestants or other paragons of fitness and fabulous physiques. There’s no focus on dropping pounds. The goal is to achieve an incrementally fitter version of you. So all of that encouragement hits me differently from the approach of some boot camp commandant. It feels attainable — and, more important, it keeps me coming back.”