Hopefully this is a good, non-controversial topic, but still very relevant to a gaming forum. Sizes and results may vary....
I wanted to bring up the subject of your health. Take care of yourselves, good ergonomics, and remember: you are higher priority than the game. So, the game can wait 30 minutes while you go stretch and exercise.
I've been at this for awhile, and it's not just gaming: it's called having a desk job, followed by going home and playing games at a desk. Not good, but we try and ameliorate the consequences. Now, my body's starting to pay the price, but I did do some precautions and exercises through the years. I don't have carpal tunnel (thank goodness). I'm the only one in my family who doesn't need glasses. But I'm finding areas where my ergonomics and exercise was not absolutely perfect, and that's what's coming back to bite me. Especially the younger folks, I don't want to happen to you what I have had to deal with (or worse...some avid gamers are gamers because they are confined to a chair to begin with...ouch).
For the most part, I don't have irreversible damage (good). But...you know...age is irreversible. But I'm working through a LOT of pain, and digging myself out of a big hole I dug for myself. Had I followed some different gaming habits, I would not be going through this. And I know why I didn't: if I wasn't feeling pain in the moment, then I did not have a problem I could not just deal with later. Meanwhile, I've got a boss to kill. Not all consequences are like the South Korea gamer who played Diablo for 48 hours straight and then died--it can take years of cumulative strain. And I DID set up some reasonably good ergnomics, and I would take time out to walk or run every day, weather-permitting.
My mistakes I made:
1) My glutes are EXTREMELY tight, from sitting down all day. As a runner, I paid almost zero attention to glutes. They're not leg muscles. Mistake. Now they are very hard to stretch, because they're not just tight: they are strong. It takes a lot of arm strength to pull on my glutes, to stretch. Now they're so tight, they are exerting "superhuman" force on my pelvis and sternum. Which is quite painful. It even produced one kidney stone.
2) What is an IT band? Only recently did I even find out. Obviously I haven't been stretching them, since I didn't know they existed.
3) Hip flexors, obliques (mostly the hip flexors). Sitting down, gaming, really made these weak and tight. I should have been not only stretching these, but weight-training them. Weight-training the hip flexors also helps strengthen the involuntary lumbar muscles. But of course, when you weight-train, you have to offset that with more stretching.
Hindsight 20/20, I always knew about those stand-up workstations. But I didn't want one, because I really wanted to sit. I think instead I should have gotten one of those adjustable workstations, so that I could do 50/50 sitting and standing. Now, standing just 50% of the time: I can handle that. That way you're neither sitting nor standing all day: you're moving.
Anyway, I hope you guys are more proactive about your gaming habits, before the pain sets in. You can head a lot of this off by not waiting until then. I WAS proactive, to an extent, but I wasn't perfect at it. Even if it's as simple as getting a foam roller and an exercise ball, just get up from your chair, do some exercises from time-to-time; pain or no pain. Work your core. Sitting down all day weakens your core, and I was neglecting it. Bench press, leg press, cardio workouts, no problem...but neglecting your core can get really painful in the end.
I wanted to bring up the subject of your health. Take care of yourselves, good ergonomics, and remember: you are higher priority than the game. So, the game can wait 30 minutes while you go stretch and exercise.
I've been at this for awhile, and it's not just gaming: it's called having a desk job, followed by going home and playing games at a desk. Not good, but we try and ameliorate the consequences. Now, my body's starting to pay the price, but I did do some precautions and exercises through the years. I don't have carpal tunnel (thank goodness). I'm the only one in my family who doesn't need glasses. But I'm finding areas where my ergonomics and exercise was not absolutely perfect, and that's what's coming back to bite me. Especially the younger folks, I don't want to happen to you what I have had to deal with (or worse...some avid gamers are gamers because they are confined to a chair to begin with...ouch).
For the most part, I don't have irreversible damage (good). But...you know...age is irreversible. But I'm working through a LOT of pain, and digging myself out of a big hole I dug for myself. Had I followed some different gaming habits, I would not be going through this. And I know why I didn't: if I wasn't feeling pain in the moment, then I did not have a problem I could not just deal with later. Meanwhile, I've got a boss to kill. Not all consequences are like the South Korea gamer who played Diablo for 48 hours straight and then died--it can take years of cumulative strain. And I DID set up some reasonably good ergnomics, and I would take time out to walk or run every day, weather-permitting.
My mistakes I made:
1) My glutes are EXTREMELY tight, from sitting down all day. As a runner, I paid almost zero attention to glutes. They're not leg muscles. Mistake. Now they are very hard to stretch, because they're not just tight: they are strong. It takes a lot of arm strength to pull on my glutes, to stretch. Now they're so tight, they are exerting "superhuman" force on my pelvis and sternum. Which is quite painful. It even produced one kidney stone.
2) What is an IT band? Only recently did I even find out. Obviously I haven't been stretching them, since I didn't know they existed.
3) Hip flexors, obliques (mostly the hip flexors). Sitting down, gaming, really made these weak and tight. I should have been not only stretching these, but weight-training them. Weight-training the hip flexors also helps strengthen the involuntary lumbar muscles. But of course, when you weight-train, you have to offset that with more stretching.
Hindsight 20/20, I always knew about those stand-up workstations. But I didn't want one, because I really wanted to sit. I think instead I should have gotten one of those adjustable workstations, so that I could do 50/50 sitting and standing. Now, standing just 50% of the time: I can handle that. That way you're neither sitting nor standing all day: you're moving.
Anyway, I hope you guys are more proactive about your gaming habits, before the pain sets in. You can head a lot of this off by not waiting until then. I WAS proactive, to an extent, but I wasn't perfect at it. Even if it's as simple as getting a foam roller and an exercise ball, just get up from your chair, do some exercises from time-to-time; pain or no pain. Work your core. Sitting down all day weakens your core, and I was neglecting it. Bench press, leg press, cardio workouts, no problem...but neglecting your core can get really painful in the end.
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