[wingerlang]

> I actually started bulking up in my upper arms for the first time in my life.

Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no way VR will bulk up your arms in a way that a simple dumbbell won't do better in 5-15 minutes per day, right?

> exercising parts of my body that running didn't touch

Similarly, running will exercise parts of your body that VR won't touch right?

[littlecranky67]

> no way VR will bulk up your arms in a way that a simple dumbbell won't do better in 5-15 minutes per day

True, but you underestimate the most important thing when working out: consistency - doing it regularly over long periods of time. VR/AR trainings will take off in the future, as the "gamification" (read: instant gratification) will help motivate people to stick with a workout routine and achieve that consistency.

[wingerlang]

I don't think I underestimate it, just in case someone is coming here and thinking that VR is a good way to bulk up their arms, I'm just saying that it won't compare to even the minimum of using dumbbells.

[Broken_Hippo]

I'm just saying that it won't compare to even the minimum of using dumbbells.

Using dumbbells is the main thing here: It doesn't matter if dumbbells do better if it simply isn't an activity you keep up long term. Daily VR is going to be more meaningful and develop more muscle over time than sporadic dumbbell use. And lets be honest, realistically this is what we are comparing. Fun activity with side effects to an exercise in boredom that has better side effects.

[zfnmxt]

The fallacy everyone is making here is believing that consistency trumps all else. But it doesn't if you're consistently subjecting yourself to a stress which does not result in any new adaptations--then there will be no change.

An oft repeated example of this fallacy is in the case of tanning. If you go out into the sun for 20 minutes and get a tan, what will happen if you continue to go out in the sun for 20 minutes each day? Will you get more tan? No. You've already adapted to the stress (ultraviolet light exposure for 20 minutes) and so the continued daily stress of 20 minutes of sunlight will not result in any new adaptations.

That is why if you are completely untrained, sure, VR constitutes a sufficient disruption to homeostasis that you'll get some muscular adaptations. But the stress is so minimal (and you cannot effectively increase it) that you will quickly adapt to it and subsequent exposure to the stress in the future will not result in any adaptations, it will only maintain what little adaptation you already have.

[strken]

"Consistency" in this instance probably means exercising more than once a month. I think you're comparing VR exercise with a hypothetical ideal based on your own exercise routine, when it should really be compared with what a given individual was doing beforehand, which is probably some kind of cardio with no upper-body impact, or absolutely nothing.

[wingerlang]

The original guy said he replaced 8km daily running with VR exercise, so I don't actually think we are comparing 'sporadic gym/exercise' with 'constant VR'. But in the case of that, sure you are right.

[zmmmmm]

I can't really tell you if using a dumbbell would have done more - probably you are right. But there's no way I would persist with dumbbells, I find them excruciatingly boring.

> Similarly, running will exercise parts of your body that VR won't touch right?

Perhaps but not nearly as many as VR hits that running doesn't touch. It certainly forces you to do squats.

[pharke]

> I find them excruciatingly boring

I find the best antidote to boredom when lifting weights is to find the right weight and number of reps so that you're pushing through the burn for at least a third of the set. Hard to stay bored when your arms are on fire. Music is the other major component, you have to really amp yourself up and listening to music can put you in that mind set. Maybe even doing some circuit training would be better for you since you don't have to deal with long wait times between sets.

[Lewton]

> there is no way VR will bulk up your arms in a way that a simple dumbbell won't do better in 5-15 minutes per day, right?

Right, targeted exercise will bulk you up more

> running will exercise parts of your body that VR won't touch right?

What? No

Which muscles do you think you use while running that you don’t use jumping around in vr?

[mbrameld]

> Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no way VR will bulk up your arms in a way that a simple dumbbell won't do better in 5-15 minutes per day, right?

You're not wrong, just missing the point.