Adrenaline. It’s the rush we get from riding on a rollercoaster and the jolt of energy we need to run away from a bear (flight) or towards a really good sale. It’s the thrill that pushes us over fatigue while lifting and helps us K.O. our opponents (fight).

That surge of inner strength can be tapped to give gamers an advantage in VR and fitness. How do we unlock it? The TL;DR answer: VR and fitness. The more thorough answer: Keep reading.

Connect to Adrenaline for Fitness and Unlock Health

Our friend (and sometimes foe) adrenaline is something our kidneys produce that sends signals to our bodies and brain. This hormone floods our system with oxygen and increases blood flow, which tells our bodies to double-down on our physical performance.

Once our muscles, heart, and lungs receive the adrenaline (norepinephrine/noradrenaline) signal it also activates signals to the brain to release endorphins and dopamine. The following Gizmodo article breaks down the body’s response to adrenaline.

To sum it up, endorphins reduce pain, norepinephrine fills us with energy and triggers dopamine AKA that exercise high. To tap into our adrenaline we don’t need to go looking for a bear, all we need to do is exist.

Throughout the day we fill up with adrenaline from defensive driving (honk), being a part of a carpool (sigh), or by being on our grind (make that paper). Letting those hormones collect and fester is unhealthy, first. Second, it creates stress states that our bodies are being poisoned with like weight gain, lack of sleep, clogged arteries, and other health problems.

This is a great Life Noggin video to watch if you want to learn about the nuances of adrenaline…

Using VR to Tap Into Adrenaline

What we do with this excess energy and stress is important to our health and well-being. What do we do with it? Some of us choose to sit on our butts all day and leave it there collecting until we become tightly wound balls of stress with health issues. The rest of us burn it off with exercise and VR.

Some of us are natural adrenaline junkies. Naturally, others need a push to help them get that fire started. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere and VR is the perfect tool to start the chain reaction of adrenaline and fitness. VR has been confirmed to increase exercise performance and reduces pain! Use this new knowledge to your health and fitness benefit.

VR to trigger and burn off the rush of adrenaline with fitness:

Zombie Games

The sound of hordes of bloodthirsty undead is enough to make our skin crawl. But, fighting, shooting, stabbing and maiming these fleshy beasts before they hunt you down is going to send adrenaline shooting through your veins. The blood and beasts aren’t real but they are one heck of a workout.

We recommend playing: Arizona Sunshine, Dracula: Vampires vs. Zombies, Killing Floor: Incursion, Zombie Training Simulator.

Boxing Games

Become a prizefighter from a Hollywood movie, get a trainer curated workout or fight other real-life players from around the world. No need to join a boxing gym or a fight club, VR’s got plenty of games to set your rage and adrenaline loose.

We recommend playing: Virtual Fighting Championship, Creed: Rise to Glory, BOXVR, Virtual Boxing League, Fight Sparring VR, Knockout League, Mech League Boxing, Thrill of the Fight.

PvP and Multiplayer Games

PvP’s are popular in eSports tournaments like VR League or Virtual Athletics League. VR is a legit pulse-pounding workout where players compete against each other. Performance and winning is a stronger motivation for some than going to the gym. Make some friends and then replace adrenaline with fitness with these games.

We recommend playing: Echo VR (formerly Echo Arena), Sprint Vector, AFTER-H, Onward, The Unspoken, Beat Saber, BOXVR, Virtual Boxing League, Creed: Rise to Glory, Virtual Fighting Championship.

Rhythm and Dance Games

Music and dancing is known to open the brains door to adrenaline and elevates the mood. Our brains are hardwired for music and dance. Let your body take a breather from slaying zombies, punching up a storm, and competition with rhythm and music games.

We recommend playing: Beat Saber, Dance Collider, Rave Runner, Soundboxing, Holodance, BOXVR.