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Comment by Ataraxiaist | Hacker News Reader

The fitness industry is an endless string of fashions and fads to get people motivated to workout and convince themselves that this new method is the one they will actually do.

The novelty of VR aerobics will have the shelf life of Tae Bo, Jazzercise, on and on. I have seen more variations on this theme than the Fast & Furious franchise.

At least when you get sick of the workouts you still have the VR headset that can do other things instead of a rowing machine or treadmill that collects dust.

I even have a decent home gym but go to the commercial gym 90% of the time because working out at home is boring and demotivating. You can't replicate the stimulation of the gym at home. The ritual of going, the other people, not to mention the variety of physical stimulus.

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Other people are the reason I don't go to the gym (I'll make an exception for colleagues at the work gym because I can expect them to be respectful). The ritual of going is a pain in the arse because that's time I don't have.

>You can't replicate the stimulation of the gym at home

What works for you doesn't work for other people, which seems to be the one thing in this thread that the typical HN denizen forgets.

Any exercise is good exercise. Cardio, which somehow seems to be a dirty word here, is vital to good health and longevity and is the sort of exercise that leaping around with a VR headset is geared towards (and if you doubt the efficacy of computer based training, there's an entire ecosystem of cyclists that would take issue with that).

> What works for you doesn't work for other people

I think this mindset is extremely destructive. You do not have some unique fitness journey and have to find some niche thing that works for you. Barring significant physical abnormality, strength training--on a physical level--works for everyone and it works for everyone with the same basic programming tenants and the same exercises.

If by this you meant mentally (i.e., what sticks and what is appealing to them) sure, I'll concede that and agree. On a physical level it is absolutely not the case.

But also, people who chase those fads and jump from Tae Bo to Jazzercise to boxdance to VR are having fun and exercising the whole time. These people sign up to classes, go, have fun, they get bored with it, sign up again to whatever is new.

Starting new activity is more fun then mastery for many people - you progress faster. And that is actually ok I think.

There is this tendency to turn exercising into chore that tests your moral quality and discipline or what not. But, it is OK to just chase fun.

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