PRACTICING VISUALIZATION FOR FITNESS IN SL

FOR FITNESS IN SECOND LIFE

Rob Santana

Visualization is creating a state of mind to help you to achieve a desired outcome. Many examples exist where this can be worked on in Second Life. Perhaps the most common example is when it comes to our RL fitness journeys. We all know that trying to start a regular fitness routine on your own can be hard if you don’t have access to a gym. Everything starts in the mind, so why not take some time out of your second life to create some fitness goals and share the experience with your friends? This month, I’m going to share a bit with you about the SML virtual gym that has many locations to visit and workout in with your partner, alone, or with friends, surrounded by other avatars focused on their workouts. Just a quick mention, massive body building avatars are available for you to try, however, I prefer to stick with my Signature Gianni body and just enjoy the gym for normal fitness. It’s a personal preference how you want to look, so don’t feel like you need to have a muscle bound body to use this gym— quite a few avatars stick to

their current mesh body and just go there to have a fun work out.

So what are the steps to get started? You’ll need to visit an SML gym and join the group: [SML] TRAINING GROUP

This will allow you to get your fitness HUD and your workout of the day. You will need to visit an SML gym to do your workout. Once you reach a fitness level of 15, you can buy your own gym equipment and set up your own gym, but for the first 15 levels, you will need to head out to one of the existing public gyms.

Visiting a certified SML Gym will allow you to pick up a free HUD, wristband, and gym bag that will enable you to do a 1 hour + daily workout . The workout for the next day starts at 5 pm SLT, and you can only accumulate work out points by regularly showing up to work out for the hour you are given. Sometimes, you can earn bonuses for additional work out time. SML Equipment shop - Flexington Heights

The catch for buying the gym equipment is you need to reach level 17 on your exercise HUD, which should take about three weeks of workouts to achieve.

Be sure to put on your workout HUD to confirm your fitness level, and you will be eligible to buy it. You also need the fitness pack in order to send the daily workout to visitors coming to work out in your gym. Building your own personal gym can set you back a bit, but it’s honestly a great way to get together with a friend and work out or set out to meet others, or just get a workout routine established and benefit from the visualization experience which helps develop a healthy mindset doing something positive each day. You can also get your gym certified to be in the SML Training Group to open your gym up to the public.

In the gym I’ve built with my wife Rya, we’ve added a locker room with a shower and additional

beauty of Second Life: we can make our ideal dream gym and build it our way., After all, we are here to experience things in the virtual world from the comfort of our own home.

Now, if you work out at home in RL with nothing more than a pair of dumbels, you can learn over 20 dumbel exercise from SML Training that translate to RL. Not everyone has the space for a home gym, but these dumbbell exercises give an excellent upper body workout.

One good place to set up your SL gym is in a skybox, and I recommend using an “anywhere go walking” tp device to head into the gym. It’s a cool way to teleport to another location, as all you do is place it near an entry way you want for your gym. Clicking the “anywhere go walking” arrow will animate your avatar to walk through a doorway and teleport you to your gym skybox. The same device will send you back to the gym entrance when you are done working out. Personally, I’ve been doing more upper body workouts with the dumbbells I have at home since I’ve been using the SML Gym in Second Life with my wife Rya. I honestly think it makes a difference. Things we do in Second Life can easily carry over to our real lives with positive results; you also may make a new friend or two while you work out. Have a great Second Life!