I find it very difficult to work out these days mainly because I haven’t had the motivation to go out and run or go to the gym. I know I should go just to maintain my health, but it’s hard to find a time when you have a job and kids with extracurricular activities. However, I have had a bit of time in the mornings to hop on my Meta Quest 2 and engage in some Liteboxer action, about 20-30 minutes a day. What is Liteboxer? Liteboxer is an at-home workout experience that normally consists of the Liteboxer hardware that gamifies your experience with music. With the VR app, however, we can forego the hardware and workout virtually, anywhere in our home or outside of it.
The Liteboxer VR experience takes a bunch of the hardware we would normally need, and condenses it all down into an app you install on your Meta Quest 2. Because this is virtual, you can workout in the Liteboxer virtual space without any outside distractions you would normally have working out in your living room. What you will see is the patented Liteboxer hardware, portrayed virtually as well as the “tablet” interface you would normally need as well. It actually looks pretty good in the virtual space and looks exactly like the real hardware.
The virtual app is easy to use and is as intuitive as you using your fingers to touch a display. Speaking of which, you don’t even need to use the Quest 2 controllers for this. If you have hand-tracking enabled in the settings, you can use your own hands to do everything. Liteboxer will see your hands and display them in the virtual space. That means you can use your fingers to make all the selections and your real fists to punch the Liteboxer VR hardware. Of course, it also works just as well with the Quest 2 controllers.
Secondly, you will need to pay a subscription fee to access the workouts. First-time subscribers will need to pay $19.99/month, which is a bit cheaper than the fee on the physical hardware. This will include all workouts and all the licensed music tracks that you can punch to.
There is much to do in the app though. You can access actual workouts with Liteboxer fitness trainers who will go through an entire routine with you personally (pre-recorded). These can last anywhere from 10-minutes to over 30-minutes. Each routine includes not only the boxing workouts, but also stretches and cooldowns. You can also forgo the workouts and do a quick session by choosing the music you want to workout to and just punch away on your own. Both modes include workouts and sparing sessions.
So how does Liteboxer actually work? Basically like any other music-based rhythm game. Follow the lights and punch the circles where the lights end up. Think Guitar Hero or Beat Saber, but with your fists. It’s actually a lot more physical and you really do work up a crazy sweat playing this. While you don’t get the satisfaction of actually punching something physical, you do feel the burn in your arms, especially if you go all out, and the increased heart rate and breathing. Liteboxer keeps track of your perfect punches and how long your punching streaks are and someone comes up with a score at the end that is posted to a leaderboard. You even get the number of calories burned too.
Anyways, what I like about it is that these Liteboxer workouts are quick. I don’t have to waste time driving to the gym and can workout in the safety and comfort of my own home. I can even use this to workout in a hotel room for instance if I wanted to. This is the perfect way for me to at least move around and flex my muscles a bit and I can do it any time when I have free time.
This is great for those who are of the “work from home” crowd and need something to do that isn’t just sitting around all day in front of your computer. This will get you moving at least a few times a day which is much better than zero times a day. I think I especially like it because doing these workouts just feel like a game to me, which makes it more fun in the end.
Liteboxer VR will be available starting March 3, 2022.
