The best VR games and apps that make working out fun

Like Peloton for VR, Supernatural brings the gym experience home with classes that feature real-life trainers with personalities (is that Tiffany Haddish?!) Unlike Peloton, it then transports those workouts into the wildest, most gorgeous photorealistic settings, from serene Scottish hilltops to the moon. Offering one of the most complete, traditional full-body workout routines, there are four main exercise categories: flow (rhythmic squats and arm swings), boxing (with a focus on proper form), stretching, and meditation. There's an expansive library with routines for each category set to the beat of popular music, and a wide range of workout lengths with three intensity levels (low, medium, high). While they aren't live recordings like Peloton classes, there's more aliveness to Supernatural than similar titles like FitXR, which uses digital avatar trainers. The mo-capped trainers get a bit cheesy, but their encouragement and connection did compel me to keep going and coming back. What sets Supernatural apart the most, though, is its mind-body approach to fitness, and not from the inclusion of meditation. Their week-long programs incorporate rest days, and the coaches care about putting you in the best headspace as much as the right form by avoiding all toxic diet culture language. While well suited for all levels, beginners will especially appreciate the guidance of long-term programs geared toward steadily ramping up to high-intensity training.

Platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Gear VR

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and full-body workout, from high to low intensity.

One of the most beloved VR titles overall, Beat Saber's fitness strength comes from being such a well-designed rhythm game that you won't want to stop playing no matter how tired you get. Most folks just buy the game to play then, a month in, realize they're suddenly in much better shape. Equipped with two laser beam swords, you slice blocks to the beat of an eclectic music library while dodging obstacles. Though plenty of tunes come with the base game, the DLCs allow you to cater to your taste, with music packs for Lady Gaga, Skrillex, Billie Eilish, BTS, Panic! At the Disco, and more. 

Platforms: Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality, PSVR

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and arm workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while playing tennis, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

Audio Trip is one of the only dance rhythm titles (VR or otherwise) that actually let me get so lost in the music that I forgot I was even playing a game. Unlike other VR fitness apps and games that advertise dancing exercises, Audio Trip feels like actual dancing rather than aerobics. Better still, it encourages more dynamic movement than other rhythm games like Beat Saber, engaging your lower body as well as your arms. The biggest drawback is Audio Trip's slightly limited music library, which is almost exclusively indie pop and EDM. There is an experimental feature allowing users to create custom choreography to their own music, though we were not able to test it out ourselves.

Platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Viveport, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality 

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio, upper, and light lower body workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while playing tennis, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

Pistol Whip might as well be called "The Matrix Presents John Wick: A VR Exercise Game," allowing you to play out all those gritty futuristic gunslinger fantasies to get your heart pumping. With only your pistols, fists, and reflexes for protection, you must survive waves of enemies through a variety of levels (or "scenes") with distinct vibes and soundtracks. The scene selector allows you to inhabit different film archetypes, too, like a vengeful femme fatale assassin or space outlaw on the run. Similarly, the two campaigns currently available weave scenes together with cutscenes that establish minimal yet engaging story premises. With a beautifully trippy art style and focus on synthy music, Pistol Whip transports you so that you only realize how many squats you've done after the headset comes off and the soreness settles in your glutes.

Platforms: Oculus Quest, PSVR, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio, upper body, and lower body workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended playing tennis, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

This is essentially racquetball in space—on speed. And it's fantastic. Racket Nx has the humor and vibe of the beloved non-VR game Rocket League, replacing the wacky physics of car soccer with zero-gravity racquetball. You must not only hit increasingly difficult targets in the floaty arena, but also figure out techniques to rack up the most points through powerups and creativity.  While definitely fun solo, Racket NX shines as a co-op game you can play with strangers online or friends. In my few online experiences, the interactions were wholesome and cooperative rather than competitive and toxic. It's an easy game to jump into, but opens up in complexity the more you learn to perform advanced moves (sometimes from your own co-op partners).

Platforms: Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and arm workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while using the elliptical, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

Blaston is, in a word, wild. A 1v1 gunfight, you must scramble to grab an arsenal of different weapons floating around you to hit an opponent—all while dodging their chaotic barrage of attacks. This cowboy gunslinger cage match demands more dynamic movement and strategy than more traditional VR shoot-and-dodge exercise games on this list. You can ease yourself in with the campaign by facing off against computers, but the game is most exhilarating (and exhausting) when you enter the arena with the thriving and highly competitive online community. Just be warned: You're gonna need a pretty generous play area to avoid knocking into furniture while getting way too into this one. 

Platforms: Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Intense cardio and medium-intensity full-body workouts.

I don't know whose treasure we're training to steal or what galaxy we're in, but I'm all in on Space Pirate Trainer. Whether played solo or in online multiplayer, this exhilarating action arcade game is a true Matrix-simulator, where you shoot down swarms of robots pelting you with bullets dodged in slow-mo. What really sets Space Pirate Trainer apart is Arena Mode, where you and a friend can actually take your headsets to any large 10 x 10 play area (like a basketball or tennis court) to wage virtual laser tag war on each other. Access is definitely a barrier to this rad feature, though, as you'll need a big empty, flat-surfaced, safe space to look totally ridiculous in (and two wireless headsets, like the Oculus Quest). But it's the rare VR game that lets you interact with friends IRL, rather than silo you in digital isolation.

Platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, PSVR, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and medium intensity full-body workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while using the elliptical, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

If you're like us, you never outgrew the childhood dream of becoming a ninja—and Ninja Legends is here to make you sweat to turn that dream into a (virtual) reality. While not originally created for exercise, it offers one of the most dynamic, intense, and strategically-demanding workouts on our list. Thanks to a variety of weaponry (from the traditional katana to gauntlets and a bow), special skills, and coordinated attacks from different enemy types, this is not a fight easily won. There's no story to speak of, and the graphics are somewhat rudimentary. But that doesn't make you feel any less like a badass while playing. The three difficulty settings and 18 levels make the game adjustable so you can gradually build more skill and stamina, no matter your athletic ability.

Platforms: Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and full-body workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while using the elliptical, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.

Playing roguelikes (the game type where you lose all your progress and weapons each time you die) in VR astronomically raises the genre's already high stakes. In Until You Fall, your real-life body must fight through the strain and anxiety of desperately trying to stay alive so you don't have to start back at square one. A sword hack-and-slash with a pretty compelling game world, you play as the last remaining knight defending a dying civilization from an infestation of monsters. Until You Fall focuses more on the upper body and stationary stances than Ninja Legends, but it’s still just as intense. The pauses in gameplay after every death, where you can upgrade your weapons and special powers, also makes for less constant heart-pumping exercise. But for those who need a sense of purpose to even want to exercise at all, Until You Fall sucks you in with its original synthwave soundscapes, boss fights, and mysterious story.

Platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, PSVR, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

IRL exercise equivalent: Cardio and upper-body workout. Rated as equivalent to energy expended while using the elliptical, according to the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.