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The company announced in December that its technology will soon be available in YMCA locations across the U.S.

In San Francisco, a Black Box gym that uses VR technology is expected to open this year. Clients will be able to sweat it out in the company's signature Black Box Dynamic Resistance Machine using a virtual reality headset and hands-free wearable devices.

\"The dumbbell has remained largely unchanged for centuries, you’re essentially just lifting rocks and putting them down as you stare in a mirror, bored out of your mind,\" Black Box VR CCO and co-founder Preston Lewis said in a statement. \"At Black Box VR we are excited to use these innovative technologies and unique experiences to help people achieve the results they desire, finally.\"

He continued, \"In Black Box you will utilize strength, agility, balance and speed in a larger than life virtual world where we are able to harness the nature that is brought out in video games -- dedication, determination, and longevity - and turn it into real, physical workouts.\"

There are also virtual workouts that are not the same experience as virtual reality -- and don't require a headset -- but do allow users to take part in live classes. One of the most well-known, Peloton, allows users to virtually join a live spin class in New York City from their own stationary bike.

\"PHOTO:
onepeloton.com.
PHOTO: Peloton indoor exercise bike.
>

Some VR and augmented reality apps can also transport users to trainers and workout routes around the world. Here are four apps curated and described by Apple's App store editors.

1. Fitness AR: Brings 3-D topographical map bicycle rides, hikes and walks collected on fitness tracking app Strava to life. Record, recreate and share rides and runs, or choose from a featured gallery of rides and runs to explore famous cycling routes like Alpe D'Huez and Mont Ventoux, and stunning terrain like Yosemite Valley.

2. ViewRanger: Helps people enjoy outdoor adventures through helping them to plan, navigate, record and share their hikes. ViewRanger is now using AR for its Skyline augmented reality mapping to show users on the ground a breadcrumb trail of the route they’ve walked along by labelling key features in the landscape, adding distance markers, navigation arrows when following a route and automatically popping up information at important locations along the route.

3. RunGo: Running app offering turn-by-turn voice navigation for more than 80,000 routes worldwide, now offering an AR View to provide visuals of routes and directions.

4. Gymaholic: Creates a personal avatar in AR that will follow training programs to show which muscles are ready to train and which need a rest. With AR, a personal trainer can appear whenever needed, to model how to complete fitness exercises.

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