Like a lot of people, I have noticed that my activity level has decreased. Significantly. And after seeing my nephew’s incredible transformation, and knowing I need to do something similar I’ve decided to try to do something about it.
The good news for me was and still is, that with the first lock down, my Taekwondo Master got innovative and decided to teach his classes on Zoom. Yay. The classes are a little shorter, and not quite the same intensity level. I think that is all circumstantial. There is a difference between kicking actual targets and kicking air. For the most part this is working out really well. And I was continuing to do class 2-3 times a week. Right up until I realized I needed a break because of what seems to be injury. So, I took a roughly three-month break. This was helpful for the injury, not my activity level.
I have been seeing improvements in the injury and solved some other problems that were likely contributing to it and I am starting to kick things into gear again. Which led me to looking for some solutions for better fitness. Yes, I still have the vertical climber that I got early in the lock down. And I do use it, just not as much as I wanted to. It has exposed a weakness in an ankle that starts to hurt after a period of use. I’m working on this because that climber is great exercise.
I saw an ad for a Fitness Boxing game on the Nintendo Switch and thought that would be a good fun way to get some exercise. A couple of years ago I tried boxing in VR on my Oculus Rift and found it to be effective at working up a sweat. But I’ve taken down my VR setup so, I set about trying to get a Switch. They tend to be intermittently sold out everywhere. Which is really frustrating.
Then I tried looking for weight training equipment since I enjoy that sort of exercise. That was super frustrating. Half of what I wanted or needed wasn’t available, it’s all sold out. And then when I could find what I wanted or needed I looked and the price and thought about where I was going to put it and that Switch started looking like a much better option. But. Sold out.
I decided to try to find something for my Xbox or computer that was an active sort of game thing. The Xbox ones all require a Kinect which I don’t have. As I was looking one of the top listed ones was BoxVR for PS4VR. Wait, isn’t that what I have for the Rift?
At the beginning of the lock down I had setup my rift on my laptop and cleared some space in the dining room to use as my “gym”. It wasn’t an ideal setup by any means though I did use it, about three times. Then an announcement was made about Oculus accounts having to use their Facebook accounts. And without really investigating what this meant, I was not at all happy so I took the setup down and removed it from my computer.
I was irritated by the move and terribly disappointed. I see so much potential for VR for so many things and find it incredibly fascinating. I felt a little betrayed by Facebook and Oculus. Oh. Before I get too much further. Let me explain why Facebook or Oculus can push this requirement to use your Facebook account. Several years ago, Facebook bought Oculus. Just as the headsets were becoming available. At the time I was saddened by the acquisition because I didn’t see it as being a good thing in general. However, I was able to admit that the sort of presence of a big name or known entity being involved could improve the development of the gear, even if it was just through a regular cash flow. So, I grudgingly accepted the event as potentially useful.
Fast forward a couple of years and the headsets are now more readily available and I decide to take an online VR development course and I want to do the final part for Oculus instead of mobile. It’s a perfect reason to spend the money on the headset and an add-on card for my computer. I can’t say that I used it as much as I thought I would, or maybe thought I should. It sat for many months without me using it. Then I got BoxVR and I was better at using it for a couple of weeks. I had issues with a foot or that ankle, I’m not sure which and then I just wasn’t keeping it up. And then we had the pandemic and it seemed like a good solution again. And then Facebook decided to get even greedier than they already are. And I put it away.
Once I saw that BoxVR was highly rated as a fitness “game” and I realized I have said game, I had to decide if I was willing to go through the hassle of possibly converting my account. As well as, if I had space, and what would the setup look like. This is the Oculus Rift. Not the new one. It requires a tethered headset as well as two sensors. I finally decided that I could give it a try and see what happens. And for the account situation, it turns out that all new accounts must use Facebook accounts. All existing Oculus accounts can use their existing Oculus account until 2023 they just won’t have access to the social features.
I set my Rift up in the living room with just enough space to do the boxing. It required me to move the laptop if I wanted to watch TV or do my Taekwondo class. Which I’ll get back to in a moment. I made the goal to get up in the morning and do about 15 minutes of BoxVR every weekday before breakfast. Then eat and shower and head to my desk for the workday.
I did this for about a week trying to see if I would keep up with it. And in that time, I learned a few things. First, is the hand controllers eat up batteries like crazy. The headset isn’t really sized for someone my size, it’s a little big and I have had to make some adjustments to get it to stay where I need it. I wear glasses, I have to wear them with the headset, and they fog up as I get hot and sweaty during the workout. And I’ve discovered that either, the headset really is too heavy for the type of movement I’m doing or the muscles in my neck aren’t very strong. I think it might be a little of both.
On the other hand, VR boxing is one heck of a workout. I get my heart rate up, I sweat, and believe it or not, I end up with some sore muscles. Many of the workout routines have squats and dodge requirements and they can be quite effective. The first few routines I did, had some squats, and some dodge but the dodge was only to one side. This didn’t seem right to me. I felt like I should be able to dodge both directions. I found a routine that is more balance and does dodge to both sides and I discovered what is probably the source of many of my injury problems. Oh, holy cow, those back and side muscles on that left side were sore. Yeah.
I mentioned that to do my Taekwondo class requires moving the laptop. Well, the week before I setup the Rift again, I was feeling better injury wise and decided to try a class. I did some of my forms on my own and didn’t hurt from them, so I thought it worth a try. So, I tried a class and made it all the way through to the end. Right now, I’m trying to go slow with it and do one day a week. I think it’s getting better and I can tell that what seems to be the bigger antagonist for my ‘injury’ is sitting too long in the wrong position. That doesn’t mean I can just jump right in. After three months the legs aren’t as flexible and not quite as strong. I am making progress, and I feel good after either a Taekwondo class or workout, and after the BoxVR workout. And that’s the point.
That was a couple of weeks ago when I first started writing this post. Things changed a day or two later. I was doing a more extended BoxVR session and got frustrated that suddenly the program couldn’t see my controllers. There are a few possibilities that I could think of why this was happening. They all came down to possible technology issues that, coupled with the headset frustrations sent me looking to see if there was a Switch available.
I reasoned that if the Fitness boxing was as good a workout as the BoxVR, or even close, then it would solve the headset issues. No heavy headset and no fogged glasses. And maybe it would solve this technology issue. My biggest worry was if I would use it enough to justify spending the money on it. Then I thought about my gym membership. I paid per year for my membership at the gym what the Switch and the game will cost. I went to the gym only on the day I met with my trainer. Once a week. If I use the Switch and Fitness Boxing once a week, it’s really very similar to what I was doing. If I use it every day or even three times a week, it is very much worth it.
My search was fruitful. I got the last one available at my local big box electronics store and it was ready in less than an hour. There was a demo for Fitness Boxing 2 so I downloaded and tried it out before I made the full commitment. I liked it. So, I purchased Fitness Boxing 2 online from Nintendo and it downloaded to my Switch. It has a lot of nice features that BoxVR doesn’t have. There is much better tracking of your progress. And there is guided, to an extent, workouts.
As far as the “game” is concerned, I had to start back at square one. I don’t think that is a bad thing. The timing is different, and the instruction for the different punches is better. Also, I think, having more difficult stuff unlock as you get better, is a good sign of progress. And I have progressed. Not just by the “game’s” standards, also by my own. My shoulders aren’t sore every morning when I start. They still get sore during the workout so there is still room for improvement there. And there are a lot more routines to work up to. I have finally progressed to the squats and dodges. And the workouts with the ducks and weaves are a good challenge.
An interesting side effect to the workouts with the shadow boxing games is that I started feeling a lot better and I wanted to add more to my workouts. That had me thinking about that weight gear again. I don’t really have the space for it. And yet. It would make a difference and I don’t want to join a gym just for that. So, I did a little more searching and found a few items, that would help, and I could add on from there. I found a bench and a heavier kettle bell. Those have arrived. I combined them with some of what I already have and created a workout for myself. After years of working with various trainers, I have a wide variety of exercises I already know and can pull from to develop a nice workout on my own. It was effective. I have done that workout once, and it took a couple of days for the legs to recover. I also ordered a convertible dumbbell/barbell set. When that arrived, I got a good workout getting it up the stairs.
And yes, that has been the big news and events of my past couple of weeks. Well sort of. There was also the recognition that I have a bunch of additional stuff I need to learn for my day job and that got a little overwhelming. I have a handle on it, I think. I have identified what will be the most widely useful thing to learn and what I need to focus on for accountability, as well as what I need to get a rudimentary understanding of for discussion and likely future implementation. That’s a start. At one point I was just exasperated by all that I need to learn because, I still have more to learn for the stuff I currently use and do. And now I have all these other things. What that means is that right now a lot of my non-work time is taken up with trying to get up to speed on stuff that will help me with work.
I have always fought this. I perceive it as a lack of balance and feel like I’m somehow being robbed of personal time and my personal interests. However, I’m hoping that if I dive in and try to tackle some of this, to the level I need to know it, and not fight it, then it might go more smoothly, it might cut down on my frustrations, and even possibly make my day job easier. And perhaps it will clear up some brain space for more art and music.
At least, all that is how things stand right now. As I was looking at those things I need to learn, and the ones I want certifications for, I found some study modules that I missed for one thing I thought I had completed. That’s ok. I was planning on going back through all of that again before I started to prepare for the test. And I would like to get that test taken and passed. That means, that, with trying to increase my activity level, and studying, I have not been getting to much else. That will have to do for now. There is too much going on at work for me to try to make my after work life complicated or stressful. I’ll still have updates to share though. And, as much as I shift from one thing to another, you never know what else I might get into.