*Note: I am not a doctor or a physical trainer. I am only sharing my opinions, things I’ve read, and most importantly my experiences. Every person is different so what has worked for me may not work for you, but I wanted to share because this has been working for me. Please, if you do suspect a major problem or are experiencing a lot of pain, see your doctor.
I’ve been working out consistently now for well over a year now and it has taught me a lot of different things. A l
ot of things that surprisingly, correspond pretty closely with esports, playing video games, and sitting at your desk for long periods of times. I say, surprisingly for a couple different reasons. Surprising because typically most people don’t compare physical fitness and gaming. Surprising because, even knowing myself that there are still many similarities, I wasn’t sure that I would experience them until I did.
One of those things I now use every single day is stretching. I try to stretch my legs and back and other large muscles every morning. I always make sure to continue stretching my forearms, wrists, and hands throughout the day.
When you stretch before and after exercise you are doing a couple different things. Mainly, you are warming up your muscles, improving your range of motion with those muscles, and helping to prevent injuries. These same principles apply to gaming. When you are trying to perform at your best in a game or if you’re just trying to feel better while sitting at your desk all day at work, stretching should be something everyone should do.
I started running a while back to try to help lose some extra weight. I was running just fine and after some conditioning, my heart could handle it just fine. It was my legs and back that couldn’t hardly handle running for more than a mile. After some research and some trial and error, I realized first hand, that stretching out these major muscles before and after my run, I cut my pain down to almost nothing. Because of this, I ran my first 5k last month.
The real revelations started when I realized that playing games and sitting
for extended periods of time, uses the same concepts as working out. Doing these activities put the same types of strains on your muscles as running does. If you want to perform your best, grow the amount of time you can play, and help prevent injuries for as long as possible, you should start stretching.
So how do you get started? I’ve learned a lot from the physical therapists over at 1-hp.org. They have a great, quick wrist stretching routine that I would definitely recommend. Not only does it really help, but it feels so good when you’re doing it too.
Do you have any stretches that you do daily or when you’re feeling sore? Have any other questions about my routines or what I do to stay healthy? Feel free to comment on this post or hit me up on social media. You can find me @DevonSchreiner on Twitter or @MeatyMitts#7089 on Discord.
This article was originally posted on LeagueKC.com.
