By Nicolas Newell
TriCore High Performance Esports Pro Coach
Esport athletes all around the world are doing everything they can to be the best in their realm of competition. Enhancing your Gaming performance is essential! Looking back on the number of hours I’ve spent gaming, I’ve realized gaming compares directly to any other sport. The amount of time you spend in a game dictates the level of your skill.
For your computer needs, there is a lot to consider: internet connection, latency, computer specs, and so on. These “problems” are easy to fix by just getting better internet, switching to a wired connection and upgrading your computer. For most, that’s the solution to their problems. However, what happens when you hit a wall and can’t seem to get any better?
High performance health is the new wave in the Esports community. Optimizing your health can help increase performance and set you apart from the others!
Here are my top 5 important elements needed to enhance your gaming performance:
- Fuel and protein
- Activity
- Nutrition
- Hydration
- Recovery
The perfect place to start is to calculate your basic daily needs for fuel. Using the Calorie Calculator from Calculater.net, you can easily determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is the amount of calories you need for your body to function at a specific level of activity. (this is an example image of the calculator)
Fuel, Protein and Activity
Being sedentary or “inactive”, even if you’re very active in your mind can be unhealthy and contribute to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and even diabetes. Here are a couple things you can do today to start improving:
- Total daily activity should be around 60-120 minutes for peak performance.
- I understand that it can be hard to get up and move, especially during competitions, so we developed a way to get your activity in without stepping aside for over an hour to exercise.
- The first thing you can do is get up for 5 minutes every hour to perform high intensity activity.
- This adds up and will help keep your brain functioning properly, blood flowing, energy levels up and body fat down.
- Eat enough of the right foods.
- Food is fuel and fueling your body is extremely important when it comes to performing.
- Athletes all around the world have nutritionists and dietitians helping them with what, when and how much to eat. So why shouldn’t you?
- Eating too much food can lead to weight gain and a decrease in performance. Eating too little food can lead to deficiencies and inflammation.
- Finding the sweet spot can be tough, but being aware of this is a great start!
Nutrition
Nutrition is essentially what you take in to fuel and support your body and brain. Having a healthy diet based on whole, unprocessed foods with lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, and high quality protein are key to keeping your body and brain functioning. And moderately sized high protein meals before gaming can help you stay alert and aware during performance.
So what happens when you are lacking the proper nutrients for your body and brain? The main thing is inflammation. Inflammation can come in many different forms such as headache, cramps, aches, etc. Whenever your body is lacking a certain nutrient it needs to function, your performance will drop and you won’t be using your body to its fullest extent.
If your intake of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) isn’t adequate, supplementation may be the solution. A comprehensive well balanced multivitamin mineral supplement can fill in the gaps. Contact me and I can get you set up to order your supplements! Here is a link to our Thorne Online Dispensary: https://www.thorne.com/u/tricorewellness
Hydration
Hydration is another important factor in performance enhancement. You need plenty of water to support your metabolism and circulation. You will need at least ½ ounce of water/fluid per pound of body weight (30-35 mL/Kg) and replace losses. Lack of hydration can also cause inflammation such as headaches and cramps which lead to a decrease in performance.
Recovery
During a long session at your computer or console, your mental energy can be strained, so body and mind recovery is important. Stress can lead to a decrease in performance as well as other strains on the body and mind. Here are some things to do to help recover your mind and body before, during or after gaming:
- Stress management
- Breathing
- Deep breathing for deep relaxation
- Adequate sleep: 6-8 hours
- Reduce eye strain using the 20/20/20 rule.
- Focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
Recovering properly will help your body and mind get back into the action quickly and more effectively. Take care of your body and it will take care of you!
Your body and mind have a direct impact on your gaming performance! Focusing on these 5 important elements can help enhance your gaming edge and take you to the next level. If you think about it, someone who is using their mind and body at the peak level will ALWAYS win out against someone who is deficient and lacking the proper ingredients for a high performance career!
Thank you!
Nicolas Newell
TriCore High Performance Esports Pro Coach
(239) 219-7718
nic@tricorewellness.com
Instagram @tricoregaming
