Virtual Exercise, Real Effects: Impact of moderate/high intensity exercise with inmersive virtual reality on cognition, cardiovascular fitness and satisfaction in adolescents.

Cognitive, cardiovascular and psychological effects of the use of virtual reality during moderate/high intensity physical exercise in adolescents. The present research project aims to introduce virtual reality exercise as an alternative to traditional approaches, and thus learn about the effects it induces on cognition and other health variables mentioned above, in order to promote its use and implementation in daily life. Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset will be used by the experimental group of the research. They will play two virtual games, "The Thrill of the fight" and "Audioshield modded". Heart rate will be monitored with a Polar RS800cx heart rate monitor to ensure that the required physical activity demand is being met. The intervention will be performed primarily by one of the researchers, Joaquín Ordóñez Vega, a sports science graduate with a master's degree in sports physical performance. He has two and a half years of experience. Dr. Borja Sañudo Corrales, in his role as principal investigator of the research project, will assume responsibility for the training plan and supervise the whole process. He is a professor in sports science. He has an extensive background in initiatives addressing the impact of exercise and other aspects of lifestyle in driving improvements in physiological function, quality of life and prolonging disease-free health in clinical groups. The intervention will be conducted for 12 weeks and with a frequency of 2 workouts per week. The duration of the training sessions will be 30 minutes. It will be carried out face-to-face in a secondary school, from October 2024 to June 2025. Participants would be required to be in the range of 60-80% of max. heart rate while completing game objectives, doing aerobic exercise while boxing (The Thrill of the Fight), and "blocking spheres" to the rhythm of music (Audioshield modded). The level of intensity will be assessed using the HR monitor and Borg RPE Scale. The exercise regime will vary depending on the effort that the game generates for each subject. As there is a lot of variation in how each person plays, we will modify the intensity of the game using the different levels of difficulty, thus adjusting to the 60-80% intensity required for each subject. An attendance checklist will be used to monitor and ensure attendance.