eSports Training: Fitness and Nutrition
Give your professional gaming career a boost
Overweight, unfit and unkempt - the clichés about gamers persist. But are they true? We at owayo take a closer look at this stereotype and find out just how important nutrition and fitness really are in esports training.
What to expect in this article:
- No level-up in gaming without a healthy lifestyle
- eSports and fitness: a must
- eSports nutrition: achieve top performance with buff food
- eSports fitness: jerseys for training on- and offline
No level up in gaming without a healthy lifestyle
Poor nutrition and not enough exercise damage performance. This is fatal for esport athletes, especially in competition, where a few milliseconds often decide between victory and defeat.
An unhealthy diet in particular has a negative effect on reaction speed and concentration. Sitting for too long is also detrimental to your career: If you sit too long, for example, your back muscles atrophy, you will get back pain and in the worst case you will no longer be able to exercise. This often leads to an early retirement for esports athletes. Therefore, it's important that esports athletes pay as much attention to their fitness and nutrition as footballers or cyclists.
eSports and fitness: a must
Do you want to become a successful CS:GO, Dota or LoL player in the long run? Then choose a sport you enjoy that also provides the perfect balance to long hours of sitting and repetitive movements while gaming.
Finding a balance is important for two reasons:
1. You prevent health issues.
2. If you are in good shape, you can react quicker and can deal with high stress situations.
Sports keep you healthy and help you career's longetivy. Are you still looking for the right sport? Try a team-oriented sport like football or basketball. Also running or cycling can be a welcomed change from gaming.
esport athletes fitness check
How fit should a professional esports athlete be? Benedikt „SaLz0r" Saltzer and Timo „TimoX" Siep, FIFA players for Vfl Wolfsburg, give you an idea (starting at 11:03 min.):
Tendonitis - A big career-ending danger
Tendonitis is a common injury among gamers. The Repetitive Strain Injury Syndrome, also called "mouse arm", is caused by excessive use of the computer mouse and causes pain in the hand, arm or shoulder.
Are you also an esports athlete? You can do these exercises to prevent pain in the wrists:
Strength and endurance training for esports athletes
It’s not just the arms that are heavily strained for eAthletes. The players often spend several hours a day in front of the screen to achieve better results. This takes a toll on the body. The result: eAthletes often suffer from back pain. The only remedy is targeted strength training.
In addition to strengthening your muscles, you should also make sure to train your endurance. This helps prevent fatigue during competitions. Doing a balancing sport also helps you relax and reduce eye strain.
It’s best to have a professional fitness trainer create a workout plan for you.
Nevertheless, one thing is certain: one hour of exercise per day doesn’t make up for long hours of sitting. A more active daily routine is much better. Stand up between games, move around and stretch:
Careful: Consult a doctor for advice on which exercises you can do, especially if you are experiencing pain.
Team sport strengthens team spirit
Sport not only has a positive effect on your health, but can also strengthen team spirit. So grab your eSports team and try out team sports like football, basketball or ice hockey. It will bring you closer together away from the screen, boost morale, and ultimately lead to better team performance in competitions.
eSports Nutrition: Reach peak performance with buff food
A healthy diet is essential to achieve peak performance in competitions, stay focused, and react quickly. That’s why Tal “Fly” Aizik, a member of the Dota2 team Evil Geniuses, also pays close attention to his nutrition and fitness:
Nutrition basics – important for gamers too
According to the German Nutrition Society there are 10 principles of good nutrition:
1. Eat a variety of foods. Don't become the cliché and eat only doritos and mountain dew every day.
2. Stick to the principle "5 a day". This means you should eat three portions of vegetables and 2 portions of fruit. One serving is about a handful. Fruits and vegetables are also an excellent snack between esports training sessions.
3. Instead of using white flour products, you should opt for whole grains. This keeps you full longer and contains more nutrients.
4. Your diet should include dairy products such as cheese or yoghurt every day. 1 - 2 times a week you should eat fish and not more than 300 to 600 grams of meat per week.
5. Use vegetable fats such as rapeseed oil and watch out for hidden fats such as in sausages or sweets.
6. Take care not to consume too much sugar and salt. Especially soft drinks such as cola or energy drinks should not be consumed excessively.
7. Instead of sweetened drinks, drink water. The DGE recommends drinking at least 1.5 litres per day.
8. To avoid ruining the nutrients in your food, you should prepare your meals carefully.
9. Eat mindfully and take your time.
10. Watch your weight. A moderate amount of exercise for 30 - 60 minutes a day will help.
Food supplements in esports
Did you know that there are also food supplements for esports athletes? This is especially useful when traveling or playing tournaments. esports athletes often have little time and this allows you to get important nutrients with dietary supplements - even quite convenient when playing video games.
However, dietary supplements should not replace a normal diet. However, from time to time, for example during competitions, you can use dietary supplements. And who knows - perhaps in a few years the esports scene will be so professionalised that every professional esports athlete will have nutritionists and cooks at their side.
eSports Fitness: Jerseys for training on- and offline
Do you want to improve your fitness skills as an esports athlete? Then train in our individually designed gaming jerseys. You will not only look good at tournaments, but also during fitness training.
Photo credits: Title picture: ©gettyimages/YakobchukOlena, Picture 2: © gettyimages/laflor