
Video gamers have enormous respect for e-sport athletes like Fear, Bjergsen, and countless others who have dedicated their lives to their craft. As we all probably know and wish weren’t true, all of us can’t be as good as them when we play our favorite games. The only thing in our control is getting better at the game and bettering ourselves as human beings. Recent studies show that our physical physique dramatically impacts our virtual avatar’s performance in games.
Here are four reasons why every gamer should strive for perfect physical health.
1. Obesity weighs you down
The quintessential stereotype of professional gamers being obese manchildren is as trite as attractive blondes being stereotyped as ditzes. Obese people in general tend to have lower reaction times, lower testosterone, and mental fogginess induced by sleep apnea.
Since games are getting more complicated in every fashion, gamers who have chosen to inflict themselves with a disability have no right to complain about it affecting their performance. You don’t have to have aspirations of being a professional gamer to see the improvements that being a healthy weight can bring. Increasing your ability to get a better job, date more attractive women, and live longer should suffice for the average man.
2. Posture matters
As modern society becomes more sedentary and escalates its dependency on staring at screens for extended amounts of time, we are becoming a bunch of grotesque hunchbacks. I’ve noticed an uptick in horrendous postures in both genders. The effects of poor posture include shoulder/back pain, reduced lung capacity, and numerous other negative ailments. Bad posture might not directly translate into a bad gaming performance, but trying to defeat the enemy while your back is ailing isn’t fun. Many neomasculinists have offered tips and tricks to help desk jockeys improve their posture.
3. Ergonomics isn’t just a fancy word
One of the most obvious injuries related to video games are those dealing with the hands. Gamers are performing hand movements without taking the proper precautions. This has led to an uptick of hand injuries among gamers. Many pro gamers have had to take breaks and some of them have even been forced to retire because of the severity of their hand injuries. Hai Lam of Cloud 9 was forced into retirement because of hand injuries, and players like FEAR Dota have been sidelined by them as well.
Normal gamers should take note that RSI and carpal tunnel aren’t just confined to pro gamers. Any heavy user of mobile devices are just as susceptible to these ailments as their PC gaming counterparts. It’s of the utmost importance that gamers respect their hands before it’s too late. No one wants to be in their thirties and unable to use a keyboard without intense pain.
4. Seeing is believing
Just as 19th century England dealt with the smog of the early Industrial Revolution, we in the 21st century have to deal with a hazardous side effect of our lifestyles. The amount of time we spend staring at screens is extremely harmful to our eyes. Eye strain from the prolonged gaze of a computer monitor is so common that the medical establishment had to invent a new term, Computer Vision Syndrome, to describe it. And it’s not just our eyes being affected by the over-use of monitors. Humanity’s sleep schedule has been permanently interrupted by the ever increasing usage of monitors.
Respect Your Body
Gamers have a responsibility to improve their virtual abilities as well as their real abilities. Improving your physical self has numerous rewards in the virtual world. You don’t have to be a wannabe pro gamer to take this advice and apply it to your life. Improving your health will have huge dividends and not just in the world of bits.
Read More: 5 Reasons Why Gamers Should Lift Weights