How gamers can better manage their hydration and rest during long gaming sessions and esports tournaments
The gaming industry continues its confident development and attracts a large number of players to new projects that are designed for many hours of gaming.
If earlier the game could be completed in 10–12 hours, that is, in a couple of days with average activity, or in one if you spend a full day on a gaming session, then modern quests and online games drag on for hundreds of hours.
At first, the player retains all his important habits – drinks water, eats right, goes for walks, but gradually, with the degree of enthusiasm, he begins to forget about useful habits and may not remember them until he completes key quests and events.
This was the case in World of Warcraft with the release of the Dragonflight update, and many players were stuck for tens and hundreds of hours, going through the storyline with studying all 4 islands and understanding the secrets of the disappearance of black dragons and the reasons why centaurs and giants attack ice, wind, lava and earth dragons.
You can, of course, buy WoW gold and complete the stage much faster, but you will still have to run.
Tips for staying healthy during long gaming sessions
Drink water
When a person sits in one place for a long time, but is in a state of increased stress, and gaming sessions are such, then desiccation begins, which needs to be replenished with a good water balance.
Your eyes will dry out – not literally, of course, you will just experience discomfort, dry lips and just severe thirst.
Gaming sessions are an emotionally difficult activity, because you will always be surrounded by events that require concentration and will periodically evoke not only positive, but also negative emotions.
All the moments that a person experiences with strong emotions, whether positive or negative, have a direct impact on physical health, and it is important to drink a lot of clean liquid, which will help maintain the main resource.
Try to drink clean and filtered water, preferably not carbonated.
No juice or tea can replace pure water in terms of its benefits and will be just a liquid; the same principle, only in a worse form, applies to various carbonated drinks like cola.
Things are simpler with tea, since it has a good tonic effect, especially if green tea or mint is chosen.
You can even use pu-erh, but you need to remember that this is a tea that significantly accelerates the body’s abilities and, at the level of ginger tea, is not suitable for everyone and can have detrimental effects on overall health. You just need to drink such teas in moderate doses and listen to your body, so that if you experience any unpleasant sensations, immediately stop drinking such drinks.
Ginger tea is contraindicated for people with low blood pressure, since tea has the effect of lowering blood pressure and can bring this indicator to a critical level.
Maintain your posture
If you are in a long gaming session and are very passionate about the gameplay, then you may not even notice how you give preference to the process in the monitor, ignoring the comforts and requirements of your body and begin to hunch over and lose your posture.
Nothing will happen over a few gaming sessions, but if you ignore your body’s signals for a long time, you will simply begin to take a hunched position constantly and separately from gaming sessions and being at the computer.
To avoid this, just follow a few rules:
- Exercise regularly.
- Play in a good chair.
- Take breaks.
Exercise regularly
To maintain your posture in any conditions, even if you spend a long time with an incorrect back position, you need to exercise regularly.
First of all, you need to strengthen the muscular frame – this is a group of muscles that hold your back, spine and general posture through pull-ups, barbell rows and other exercises that will help you unconsciously control the position of your back and its stability.
You work for your body, and it repays you in full, allowing you to relax in places and enjoy life, doing whatever you want and spending many hours playing sessions, but do not forget to drink water as a resource for maintaining the body.
Play in a good chair
If you play in a good chair, then you will already solve half of the potential health problems that may arise if you ignore your physical and mental condition.
You need to purchase a good chair, which will be made of good leather, or its environmentally friendly analogues, and equipped with pillows to support the back and lumbar region.
The mechanics are simple – by bringing such a chair close to the monitor and fixing a straight back, you can enjoy a gaming session without any problems without back problems. All you have to do is drink water, and in order not to forget about this, just put a liter bottle in front of you and regularly take small sips to remove the feeling of thirst before it appears. If you already feel very thirsty, it means that you have been ignoring your body’s demands for liquid for too long.
Take breaks
It will be good if you not only immerse yourself in gaming sessions and your favorite online and single-player projects, but also take timely rest and breaks to rest your eyes, body and mind, especially before bed, otherwise you will have too vivid dreams, or You just can’t sleep.
Rest should be understood, first of all, as a full return to reality and a reduction in stress on the eyes, back, and neck.
You need to walk and stretch your legs, do a warm-up for your eyes according to the principle close, medium distance is far, stretch your arms, neck and back, take a walk and drink water, replenish your resources.
If you like to play at night, then you better monitor your sleep and make sure that your rest time lasts 7–8 hours, if of course you can afford such a regime.
6 hours will not be enough, and over a long distance you will begin to feel the lack of these two hours. Gradually, it is better, of course, to return to a good routine and sleep fully all night, because from 11 at night to 6 in the morning all the important hormones of the body are released and no sleep during the day and no amount of sleep can compare with a good sleep at night.
