Weekly Recap 11/30 - 12/7
Here’s what we are reading, watching, and liking.
The article of the week is Esports: Fit gamers challenge ‘fat’ stereotype
The video of the week is from Alan Thrall of Untamed Strength with is video “Pain in The Gym, Why and Why Not”
Our first social media post of the week is from Andrew Coates about how sweating and soreness are poor indicators of a good workout Our second post is from Claire Zai about intelligently incorporating cardio into your program.
Article of the Week
Esports: Fit gamers challenge ‘fat’ stereotype
Esports players are up to 21 percent healthier weight than the general population, hardly smoke and drink less too, finds a new QUT (Queensland University of Technology) study.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, were based on 1400 survey participants from 65 countries.
First study to investigate the BMI (Body Mass Index) status of a global sample of esports players.
Esports players were between 9 and 21 percent more likely to be a healthy weight than the general population.
Esports players drank and smoked less than the general population.
The top 10 percent of esports players were significantly more physically active than lower-level players, showing that physical activity could influence esports expertise.
QUT eSports researcher Michael Trotter said the results were surprising considering global obesity levels.
"The findings challenge the stereotype of the morbidly obese gamer," he said.
Mr Trotter said the animated satire South Park poked fun at the unfit gamer but the link between video gaming and obesity had not been strongly established.
"When you think of esports, there are often concerns raised regarding sedentary behaviour and poor health as a result, and the study revealed some interesting and mixed results," he said.
"As part of their training regime, elite esports athletes spend more than an hour per day engaging in physical exercise as a strategy to enhance gameplay and manage stress," he said.
The World Health Organisation guidelines for time that should be spent being physically active weekly is a minimum of 150 minutes.
"Only top-level players surveyed met physical activity guidelines, with the best players exercising on average four days a week," the PhD student said.
However, the study found 4.03 per cent of esports players were more likely to be morbidly obese compared to the global population.
Mr Trotter said strategies should be developed to support players classed at the higher end of BMI categories.
