Virtual exercise in the gym 利用虚拟现实技术的新健身体验

Play audio file去健身房锻炼身体、做运动对一些人来说是生活中不可缺少的一部分，但也有人认为去健身房就是浪费时间，自我折磨。假设把做运动和虚拟现实游戏结合起来，那么也许一种更有趣的锻炼身体方式就产生了。本集《随身英语》介绍未来健身房里可能会使用的虚拟健身方式和器材。

Vocabulary: exercise 词汇: 运动

Going to the gym can be something that many people find a gruelling experience. It takes time and effort, it often hurts, and it can be extremely tedious. Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps. In order to see any significant change from any one exercise, it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times, for a minimum of three sets, for about three months. Then there's cardio. For some, there's nothing more boring than endless miles spent running on a treadmill.

But what if there were a way to alleviate the boredom of exercise while still getting a good work out? Luckily for us, there’s virtual reality.

In the past, “playing video games was a sedentary experience,” says Jo Stauffer of the VR Health Institute, “but VR changes all of that". He says that the room-scale experience engages your body in full.

Many VR games are played while standing. In order to play properly, the player is forced to move around swinging their arms or using their legs. After an hour of this on a regular enough basis, it’s not surprising that many people unexpectedly find themselves a little fitter. There are already a number of virtual reality games which, deliberately or not, result in their player ‘getting a good sweat on’ if played for enough time. For example, there’s a first person shooter which forces the player to sidestep, duck and dodge incoming projectiles. That’s cardio. Or there’s a music game which forces players to shadowbox in order to hit the notes – that’s an upper-body workout.

The potential for VR to help people get fit has been noticed by one company. They want to take the whole experience into the gym. They are making a bespoke resistance machine, designed to be used in combination with a VR headset. Players challenge a virtual opponent in a series of games, which results in a 30-minute full-body work out. However, the cost of the equipment is expensive and there are safety concerns to be worked out, says J P Gownder from the consultancy Forrester. So don’t hang up your gym shorts just yet.

Although it’s early days, for those of us who struggle to overcome the tedium of exercise, a new solution could be coming. And a world where a person can exercise and have fun at the same time might be something that many people would want – virtual or not.

词汇表

a gruelling experience 一个使人精疲力尽的艰苦经历

tedious 单调乏味的

weight-related exercises 重量练习

set(一)组(练习)

rep(一个)重复(动作)

cardio 有氧运动

treadmill 跑步机

work out 锻炼身体

sedentary 久坐不动的

swing 挥动

fit 健康的

get a sweat on 做一段高强度的运动

sidestep 侧向跨步

duck 猛低头(躲避)

dodge 闪躲

shadowbox 与假想敌人作拳击练习

upper-body 上半身

resistance machine 对抗器材

full-body 全身的

don’t hang up your gym shorts “挂起健身时穿的短裤”，放弃