Health and Wellbeing

Submitted by coleen.yan@edd… on Tue, 11/15/2022 - 17:35

The greatest wealth is health

Virgil

We may see professional gaming as a desired life, full of perfection and luxury lifestyles, but sometimes our perception may be far from the truth. Professional eSports people have problems like we all do. Health and wellbeing are imperative to successful performance and goals in eSports and in life.

Sub Topics

eSports and gaming lifestyles do not have the greatest reputation and are not often used to promote health and wellbeing. How can we approach the eSports ecosystem more holistically to ensure that the lifestyle professionally or just for play develops these skill sets as well?

Watch: Inside the relentless training of professional gaming stars (23:01 minutes)

Watch this documentary and note down the concerns for players in the industry.

Like any sport, mental and physical well-being is key to performance and with the rise of eSports popularity, so too is the rise in injury and strain on players’ minds and bodies. Sitting for long hours, repetitive movements, mental fatigue, and burnout are just some of the issues facing players today. The problems affecting eSports player performance usually fall into these four areas:

Physical health
Poor general health (nutrition, sleep, hydration)
Poor mental and emotional wellbeing
Lack of structure (training environment) to guide performance goals.

The industry of eSports is relatively new, there's so much that has not been explored extensively to date. New frontiers are still being traced and limits tested inside and outside of the digital world.

When it comes to eSports, the problem that many athletes face is their own assumption that they are still just playing the game and not working in the eSports industry as a professional. Previous unprofessional habits can impact their performance and way of working.

Watch: eSports had a health problem (3:39 minutes)

Watch this video and think about what you could be doing wrong with your health lifestyle and how you can improve and optimise your setup.

Sport Psychology

You might wonder what psychology has to do with gaming, but more and more pro gamers are turning to sports psychologists to help them reach their potential skill level. eSports players share many psychological challenges like traditional sports athletes that influence their success.

Stress and high-pressure situations
Dealing with past achievements and failure
Lack of self-esteem and confidence
Difficulty separating gaming and life
Being a team player

Watch: Meet the Esports Psychologist Who Led Astralis to a 'Counter-Strike' Championship (7:03 minutes)

Watch this video about team Astralis and note down how a sports psychologist helped the team. Take notes about what strategies the psychologist used to understand and address the issues.

Mindset

Having a positive and growth mindset is key to continuous improvement and to deal with defeat.

What is a growth mindset?

A player that believes their abilities can be developed through hard work, determination and input from others has a growth mindset.

A fixed mindset means that you believe your talent and intelligence is fixed so if you are not good at something you might believe you will never be good at it.

Watch: Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset (5:03 minutes)

Watch the following explanation of growth vs. mindset and take notes.

Portfolio Checkpoint 1L: Dealing with Defeat

Every player knows what it is like to lose but it is how you handle that defeat that will shape your future success.

Have you, or someone you know, experienced tilt? What did that look like?
Describe a time you or someone else (like a pro player) lost or tilted.
Describe the gaming situation that caused tilt.
How did you/they feel? What did you/they do?
What actions did you/they take to cope?
By mindfully applying a growth mindset what would be different? Add your answers to your Portfolio.

Let’s face it, eSports isn’t the most vigorous sport you could do in terms of moving the body. Long periods of sitting and repetitive hand movements can lead to health problems.

Times are changing however as eSports players and coaches recognise the benefits of physical activity. Physical training Benefits includes:

boosting brain activity
strengthening concentration levels
quickening reaction time
helping with memory
preventing game inflicted illness and injuries

Watch: eSports players are training like professional athletes (4:07 minutes)

Watch this video to see how professional players are using exercise as part of their eSports training.

eSports Fitness Plan

As you now know, a well-balanced fitness plan can enhance the performance of an eSports athlete. There are many sources you could use to help you design a fitness plan that suits eSports players. Some of them include physiotherapists, personal trainers, and sports coaches. The internet also has training plans by top eSports trainers.

Why is ergonomics important in eSports?

As we have found out, eSports can lead to several different injuries and ailments. A large contributing factor to these injuries is the position a gamer is in for long periods of time. Having a good ergonomic gaming set-up and understanding correct posture can help relieve stress on the body.

Watch: Improve your setup - The Gamer's Guide to Ergonomics (12:49 minutes)

Watch the video below and note down five tips to make your gaming set-up more ergonomic.

It is important as an eSports competitor to participate in physical exercise. As you will have come to learn, exercise is essential for overall physical and mental health and wellbeing.

The following videos provide you with some simple exercises that you can implement as an eSports competitor.

Watch the following video demonstration for stretches you can practice for your wrists.