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As a psychologist and researcher, Erick Gallun of Portland, Ore., wanted to learn more about how he could use virtual reality in his work. That interest led him down a path that may have saved his life.
In May 2020, he saw an ad on Facebook for Supernatural, a VR exercise program. “I didn’t start out looking for any kind of workout experience. I just wanted to check out the VR. But it was the middle of the pandemic, and I was feeling pretty tired of being shut in,” he says.
With Supernatural, you wear a VR headset and use two hand controllers for full-body boxing and cardio workouts, and you can join stretching and meditation classes. You can choose locations ranging from a volcanic crater to the Italian Alps.
Gallun, 52, loved those outdoor settings, especially since he missed all the travel he used to do before the pandemic. He thought the music was fantastic, and he discovered he liked the coaching, which surprised him. “I’ve done swimming and hiking, but they are very solitary. I started to really enjoy having somebody working out there with me,” he says.
He remembers when one of the coaches referred to him as an athlete: “That was super powerful. That meant something to me.”
He built a fitness routine during the pandemic
Gallun started doing the workouts daily. “It was a solace during lockdown, and I felt like I was getting better and better. But mostly, I was just doing it for fun. It was a nice break in the day to get my body moving,” he says. His wife started doing the workouts as well.
They weren’t paying much attention to how their fitness was improving. But three months later, when they hiked Mt. Hood, they were surprised by how much more strength and stamina they had.
“We just walked right up the mountain. We thought, ‘What…
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