The cord-free, standalone Oculus Quest system is one of the best options for VR fitness, exercise and workout routines. Here are our picks the best Oculus Quest and Quest 2 fitness and exercise apps to get your blood pumping.
[This article was originally published in March 2020. It was edited and updated in March 2021.]
The following list is no particular order. It’s mostly apps and games designed with fitness and workouts in mind, however some are more traditional releases with short, repeatable gameplay that will get your blood pumping when played at a high intensity.
FitXR
Originally launched as BoxVR, this Quest fitness app got revamped and relaunched with a new name and overhauled features earlier this year. The basic premise remains the same – it’s a rhythm-based boxing routine that gives you points for speed and accuracy. However, FitXR features more boxing moves, such as uppercuts and side-jabs, that weren’t present in BoxVR. A few weeks back, the platform also added new dance workouts.
Despite being an overall positive upgrade, the transition to FitXR wasn’t without its faults – some features have been changed or are completely missing. But if you’re new to the platform, you’re unlikely to notice. You can read more in our full review.
FitXR is available for $29.99 on the Oculus Store.
The Thrill of the Fight
There are a number of boxing games available on the Quest, but The Thrill of the Fight aims to be the most true-to-life in terms of its boxing mechanics. A few rounds in the ring and you’ll be sweating profusely. We definitely prefer this one over Creed VR on Quest.
The Trill of the Fight is available on the Oculus Store for $9.99.
Supernatural
Let’s not beat around the saber – Supernatural is a fitness-focused Beat Saber clone through and through. Notes fly at you in time with music, which you have to hit in-time using bats and occasionally you’ll be forced to squat to avoid obstacles.
However, the key difference with Supernatural is that you don’t pick your songs like in Beat Saber — every 24 hours, there’s a new workout playlist/routine for you to run through. The aim is to get you sweating with big arm swings and quick squats. The better you perform, the harder the routine will get, thanks to Supernatural’s adaptive difficulty.
The most controversial part of Supernatural is its pricing model – instead of a one-off purchase, Supernatural is a $20/month subscription. For more details, check out our much bigger breakdown piece.
Supernatural is available in the Oculus Store for free (with a paid subscription and free one-month trial) now.
Holopoint
For those looking for something other than rhythm slashing or boxing, Holopoint might be a good option.
At its core, Holopoint is an archery wave shooter that is simplistic in its game structure but unforgiving in its intensity. You’ll be playing for high scores with little sense of progression or story, but what it lacks there it makes up for movement intensity – you’ll be doing immediate and frequent on-the-spot spins and dodging enemies and arrows from left and right.
You can read more in our full review. Holopoint is available for $14.99 on the Oculus Store.
Dance Central
Dance like nobody’s watching! Get down and boogie while staying active in Dance Central from Harmonix. There’s a a bunch of popular songs to choose from and a couple of difficulty settings to keep you occupied and active.
Dance Central is available on the Oculus Store for $29.99.
VRWorkout
VRWorkout offers one of the most intensive Oculus Quest workout experiences hands down, but it comes with some important disclaimers.
First and foremost, this isn’t an official Oculus Store app – you’ll need to sideload it using SideQuest (though it is available on Steam for PC VR). And because of that, it takes a few liberties that an approved Oculus app might not. It’s a more intense experience and more crude in its presentation, plus it requires much more room than other options on this list.
Unlike any other app on this list, it uses the Quest’s controller-free hand tracking – with no controllers, the app is free to instruct you to do all types of traditional workout exercises like push-ups, crunches and more. You can read more in Jamie’s write up from earlier this year.
VRWorkout is available for free on Quest via SideQuest. To read more about SideQuest and how to sideload, check out our guide.
Beat Saber
How could we not include VR’s poster child on this list? This one should be pretty self-explanatory – a couple of levels on Expert or Expert+ in Beat Saber will get your heart rate pumping like there’s no tomorrow.
Beat Saber is available for Oculus Quest for $29.99.
Synth Riders
Synth Riders is, yes, another VR rhythm game and while it takes some visual notes from Beat Saber and other entries in the genre, the gameplay is quite different. You’ll hit floating spheres to the rhythm of the music, and move your hands in circular or curved motions to follow tails that fly off each sphere. It’s similar in concept to other rhythm games, but with its own spin.
The game has implemented a variety of fitness-focused features, such as a calorie counter and a fitness update that arrived earlier this year and included live VR workout sessions, guided by a trainer.
Synth Riders is available for $24.99 on the Oculus Store for Quest.
OhShape
Jamie described this game as “Beat Saber for your body” and said it was a “genuinely authentic fitness game.” Get your blood flowing as your throw your body around to the music, fitting and moving yourself into all different shapes. With the intensity ramped up, you might end up burning calories faster than some of the other fitness games on this list.
OhShape is available on the Oculus Store for $19.99.
Pistol Whip
Pistol Whip might seem like a strange entry for a VR exercise list at first, but play a couple of the levels on harder difficulty and you’ll quickly see how Pistol Whip could qualify as a workout. The ducking and constant quick movements will have your glutes and quads burning after a long session. In the past, I’ve even upped the intensity by holding my arms up in a ready-to-fire position constantly and stabilizing my aim with my non-dominant hand, adding a bit of extra arm strain to long sessions.
Pistol Whip is available on the Oculus Quest store for $24.99.
Oculus Move
Oculus Move isn’t a VR workout app, but rather a feature that will let you track your progress, workouts and calories burned while in VR. It was announced at Facebook Connect in September and should work Quest-wide on all of your apps.
The feature was launched as part of the recent v23 update, however Facebook did note that Oculus Move specifically would be part of a ‘gradual rollout’. Not all users will have access to it yet, but if you do, it’s the easiest way to natively track your fitness and workout sessions in VR on Quest.
Oculus Move can be enabled in the Quest system settings.
Until You Fall
While not designed as a fitness app, Until You Fall is a VR roguelike that will have you hacking and slashing in heart-racing melee combat. At its most intense, the game should offer you something comparable to a light upper body workout. That being said, its roguelike mechanics means it’s more game-y than other entries on this list. If you’re looking for something fun to play that also gives you a bit of a workout along the way, Until You Fall might be best.
Until You Fall is available on the Oculus Store for $24.99.
What are you favorite Oculus Quest VR exercise apps that keep you active in a workout session? Let us know in the comments.
via Mint VR