Having a guide to healthy gaming that you can rely on is going to help you enjoy life and be the best version of yourself, both in the virtual and real world.
It is a bit unfortunate that the concept of healthy gaming is often neglected by the very people who enjoy this type of leisure activity. We know now that a person’s gamer personality trait affects the type of video game they choose to play. However, there’s not really much talk about how gamers can strive to be healthy in body and mind.
So today, we’ve decided to chill on gaming news, reviews, guides, and whatnot so that we could provide a guide on how we can all be healthy gamers together!
Jumpstart Learning Healthy Gaming Habits With Warm-Ups
Static stretching, often known as stretch and hold poses, is still frequently thought of as part of warm-ups to help people “get loose” before engaging in any kind of physical activity. Static stretching, however, will make you perform worse.
Yes, holding stretches before (or even during) game time could slow you down by reducing contractile velocity and muscle activation. Luckily for us, there is fantastic news for gamers regarding this matter. You can avoid movement delay by simply adhering to a dynamic warm-up regimen. Latency, in any shape or form, is a nightmare, after all.
Here’s a video of some dynamic warm-up for gamers from another guide to healthy gaming that you can follow along:
A Healthy Gaming Setup Takes Into Consideration Posture and Ergonomics
Sitting for extended periods of time while gaming raises your risk of developing postural pains and aches. The longer that we sit on our butts, the more it raises the chance of shoulder, hip, and spine joint degeneration as well as muscular imbalance.
Nonetheless, good posture is the cornerstone of healthy gaming. By improving it, you can successfully lower your risk of developing any of these problems.
You can fix postural concerns with the help of our guide to healthy gaming by keeping your shoulders back and down. Don’t forget to keep your head back and to tuck your chin in. Be sure to sit up straight and try not to lean to forward towards your computer or TV screen.
Here are some keypoints you should remember from this guide to healthy gaming:
- Ergonomics is about being able to move and function comfortably and efficiently.
- Posture is about how a person carries their bodies while standing or sitting.
It’s likely that you’ve seen ads boasting about the “unique, ergonomic design” of items like gaming chairs and desks. When it comes to ergonomic design, you should remember that your gaming chair’s arms should be just high enough to allow your forearms to rest comfortably whenever your elbows are bent 90 degrees and your arms are at your sides.
You can also place your forearms onto your computer desk or thighs. In any case, avoid bending forward to improve your posture. Additionally, it is crucial to make sure that both the interior of your elbow and forearm (the one directly below it) are not under any pressure. In short, you shouldn’t be feeling discomfort in your funny bone with a properly ergonomic gaming set up.
The ulnar nerve passes through this location, and pressure there might result in Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. It’s a syndrome that produces discomfort, tingling, numbness, and/or weakness on the pinky region of the hand, ring/pinky fingers, and forearm due to nerve impingement. You can avoid this type of impingement with the help of our guide to healthy gaming.
Best Healthy Gaming Practices: Learn to Take Breaks
Taking breaks and engaging in antagonist movements—that is, doing exactly the opposite of the things you do when gaming—are excellent strategies to avoid injuries, aches, and pains. When you’re gaming, for instance, you sit stationary; therefore, throughout your breaks, get up and move around.
We’ve got a set of antagonist movements in this guide to healthy gaming to properly break up your grind that we’ve prepared below.
Take the Time to Perform These Actions Every 15 - 20 Minutes
- During game time: Only the monitor, which is around 20 to 24 inches away from your face, is in focus.
- When taking a break: Look at everything with your eyes alone, at least 20 feet beyond your monitor. As you complete the remaining items on this list, pay attention to various objects nearby and far away.
- During game time: You’re stagnant and just sitting down through the game.
- When taking a break: Get up and move about however you like. You can just get up and move your feet, for instance, instead of leaving the setup.
- During game time: Your neck and head move very little or not at all.
- When taking a break: You should nod your head three times. Don’t forget to turn your head three times from left to right, and bend your neck three times from side to side.
- During game time: Sometimes, you don’t even consider or think about blinking.
- When taking a break: Blink! To prevent your eyes from drying out and burning, blink your eyes vigorously five to ten times in between games.
Bruegger’s posture is another useful technique for releasing postural tension from our guide to healthy gaming:
- Tuck your chin backwards while standing upright; do not tilt your head back; instead, move it over your shoulders.
- Turn your palms to the front while keeping both hands at your sides.
- Instead of shrugging, compress your shoulders by pulling them downward and back towards each other.
- Rest after holding this posture for three to five seconds.
- Do this three to five times.
Partake in Some Healthy Gaming Snacks
Truth be told, it’s not the healthiest habit to snack. Regularly eating tiny meals raises your insulin levels, which can cause a number of health problems.
In fact, you might have to let go of snacking to improve things (like how the Balatro PEGI Rating has now been changed for the better) in your health. But snacking is a difficult habit to curb, especially when you’re playing video games.
So to help you satiate those snack cravings, we got some healthy foods you man munch on while gaming.
- Get Yourself a Bowl of Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Cashews, Pistachios, or Peanuts
Assuming you don’t have an allergy to them, Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Cashews, Pistachios, or Peanuts are excellent healthy gamer snacks. To assist control your insulin, if you prefer the butter variants of these snacks, we recommend having it with celery instead of rice cakes, bread, or crackers.
- Snack on Some Avocado or Guacamole
Other tasty and nutritious gaming snacks include avocados or guacamole. We suggest eating guacamole with almond flour crackers, grain-free tortilla chips, turkey meat roll-ups, carrot sticks, or hard-boiled eggs if you choose to mash your avocado or avocados.
Now It's Time to Do Static Stretches
You’ve finally finished your gaming session for the day. Now that the day is over, you won’t be playing games until later or tomorrow. This is where static stretching comes into the picture.
Just like after an exercise, stretching may improve one’s range of motion and relieve long-term muscle tension from gaming. Static stretching should only be done after game is finished to avoid impairing performance.
Balance Gaming and Life by Introducing Healthy Lifestyle Changes and Habits
Gaming in a healthy way goes beyond the grind. As of right now, the guide to healthy gaming we have is to keep your health in check when playing games.
The following actions will help you stay healthy when you’re not playing video games.
- Drink Water Regularly and Stay Hydrated
One of the most crucial elements of overall health, and consequently of healthy gaming, is fluid intake and absorption. Drinking half of your total body weight (we calculate it in pounds) as fluid ounces is the basic hydration rule.
For instance, you should consume 70 ounces of fluid if your weight is 140 pounds. Water is not the only fluid in this category.
For instance, if you consume 8 ounces of coffee, that counts as 8 ounces toward your cumulative total. Naturally, for optimum health, we advise consuming water as much as possible for your fluid intake.
- Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Sleep
Perhaps the most crucial component of your health and wellbeing is getting enough sleep. Healthy sleeping habits are the most advantageous thing there is. We strongly advise 8 hours every night, without exception, for both healthy living and healthy gaming.
- Stock Up on Your Knowledge of Healthy Foods
Nutrition is just as important as the performing warm-ups, staying hydrated, and getting enough sleep when it comes to health. We’ve given y’all a nudge towards the right direction with the healthy snacks in this guide.
It’s time for you to find other healthy foods that you’ll love to eat. And not just eat for like one time, then go back to junk foods. We’re talking about foods that you’re going to be consuming on a daily basis so that your body gets all the nutrients it needs.
Use This Guide to Healthy Gaming to Your Advantage
Health is the absolute wealth that everybody has. If we’re not healthy, we won’t be able to enjoy life and play all of the video games we want to get our hands on.
So go on and use this to guide to minimize health issues and maximize living life as a gamer to the fullest.
Be sure to read our other guide articles to keep up with what’s hot and what’s not in the gaming world. Stay tuned and catch the gaming current with GameEels!
