Using wrist weights

[Scratch]

I wanted to step up my Beat Saber ”workout” so I bought wrist weights few weeks ago, 1kg per hand.

I’m aware of the dangers and I started with lower difficulty levels, but I’ve slowly picked up the pace, adjusted my technique to accommodate extra weight without breaking anything and I’m actually reaching my ”normal” level and even breaking my personal records. I wonder how common it is to use wrist weights with Beat Saber? Many of you using them?

Here is my session from the last evening, I usually go through all the default songs and if there is energy left, couple custom songs.

https://youtu.be/AXk8Px-3Bmk

[Mentasuave01]

it's a bad idea.

[Frog]

That's not very safe, since you aren't moving your arms in a specific way to strengthen your muscles, since of course there is no form to beat saber swinging

[Scratch]

Thanks for posting, I understand your concerns.

But there IS a form to Beat Saber swinging, and when done safely with weights concerned, moves are long, round and known beforehand and ”choreography” is the same every time in every song. You need to support and remember the extra weight all the times, so if you make a mistake and ”choreography” fails, you really need to be careful not to make too sharp and sudden moves to correct it.

[1coolairplane]

I'm relatively new to BeatSaber, but I got a couple of 2lb wrist weights and they are both getting me to the expert+ level and helping me get in shape. Honestly if your health is ok there's nothing wrong with it, the unusual movements really mean that you build up the stabilizing muscles in your arms that traditional workouts miss. After using weights for a while my arms feel light and my movements are much more precise. 10/10 would recommend

[Cosem]

Problem with wrist weights is that they put a huge stress on your joints. You might get away with that while you are young, but this can cause serious medical conditions long term. If you want to intensify your workout do some weight exercises or body weight exercises before starting beatsaber. I honestly cannot recommend using wrist weights at all. They are one of these things that look cool in a movie, but are impractical or even dangerous in real life.

[Captain Baldy]

Weights are fine as long as you remain fluid and use repeating martial movements. Swinging wildly and using no form is going to hurt you so I agree with the above posters who mention it, because most people using weights are going to be wild swingers and that is a bad idea.

[1coolairplane]

I can tell neither of you has played with weights before 🤔😁 when using weights the momentum of the weight forces you to focus on the movements so much more! Without weights it's easy to swing wildly but if you tried that with weights you'd either lose balance and fall or tire yourself out before even finishing a song. Remember the weights are on your wrist, not your hand so they don't affect the "flick" movement at all.

[PewPewPew™]

I tired wrist weights for one session (usually play for about an hour or so) and I had to remove them after 35 min as my elbows were very sore. They hurt for about a week after that. Decided that I wont be doing that again.

[Prince Vegeta]

Ah some arthritis fans eh? Noice.

[Scratch]

Some good points raised here. I guess it all comes down to your current physical condition and preference. Clearly it is not advisable to use them if you feel pain after half an hour of playing etc.

[1coolairplane]

That's a good point. I'm young and in reasonably good shape so to me it is very good exercise, plus I find it helps me focus on smoothing out my movements. It's very hard to hit blocks if you over swing with the weights, so it forces you to keep your movements smooth and use the wrists.
Ran the entire OST on E+ tonight with weights on, needed a little help from SS on a couple levels but getting there! Arms feel like I just did a hundred pushups but in a good way lol this game might actually be better than a gym 🤣

[ccb1]

As a professional swordplay instructor and martial artist for 47 years who spends 9+ hours a week teaching all manner of sword techniques, I carefully worked up to using wrist weights in beat saber over a couple of weeks being very aware that at nearly 60 things are not as elastic as they once were. Concentrating on form and correct alignments, I don't have any problems at "Expert" for most songs with 5 pounds on each wrist. Actually makes it more than simply aerobic BUT I would NOT recommend using extra weight without knowing proper joint alignment, staying on your circle of strength by moving from your hips rather than just reaching and controlled stroke simulation by focusing from the wrist.

[Lazarus {FATE}]

Originally posted by Prince Vegeta:

Ah some arthritis fans eh? Noice.

52 here. Been boxing in vr and playing beat saber for quite some time . Instead of wrist weights you should use weighted gloves ss they are safer. As with any weighted exercise injury is a possiblity, warm-ups a necessity.

[Kurtino]

I thought wrist weights were debunked as awful ages ago. Things like anime's suggesting weighted clothes training was a way to get stronger and tests proved it was bad for you and not worth it?

[ventrix]

Originally posted by Kurtino:

I thought wrist weights were debunked as awful ages ago. Things like anime's suggesting weighted clothes training was a way to get stronger and tests proved it was bad for you and not worth it?

I'm fairly certain there won't be any tests that are worth their ink. Just subjective opinions without any kind of academic or objective background.