Frank Maas is the Ergonomics Expert at TheSandbox, a Deliberate Practice training group for Starcraft 2. The Sandbox has been helping players to improve and find practice partners for over 1.5 years, but one of the things we haven't done too much of is create content that is available to the public. While all the specialists are generally very busy we'll be doing our best to squeeze out time to create more content like this in the future. Hope you enjoy:
Disclaimer: Tips and coping skills to avoid common pitfalls and to help prevent regression, as well as general information to get you on your way is what we aim to provide primarily. None of the information found in this video is tailored to meet the needs of specific individual situations and factors, and as such should not be applied as a be-all end-all solution. For tailor-made, professional guidance which takes into account all specific factors pertaining to you, the individual, we strongly recommend seeking out a professional who specializes in your problem area (e.g. physio therapist, ergonomics therapist, psychologist). All the information provided in this video is explicitly provided as general guideline or advice based on experience.
What is eSports Ergonomics? For our purposes, we'll define eSports Ergonomics as: Creating the most efficient, user-friendly and responsible situation of human interaction with tools and systems, and activities performed. Not only adapting the environment and equipment to suit the needs of the individual, but also the adaptation of the individual to maximize the effect of use and minimize the negative side-effects of activity and use.
Posture, Breathing, Tension, Mentality, and getting into shape vs performing an eSport all work as a big chain. Improving one of these things with have synergistic effects on the others. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. You are only as strong as your weakest link. Here's some guidlines on how to improve your posture while competing
Posture
Knees at 90 degrees
Back at 90-135 degrees (best to watch video for example)
Vary the angle of your back and legs or take micro breaks to reduce pain
Use posture correcting cushions (check /w professional to determine which one is right for you)
Screen Height: Sitting up and looking straight ahead should put your eyes level with the top third of your screen.
Neck: Crown of the head should be directly above spine/sacrum (best to watch video for example)
Arms, Shoulders, rest on desk or arm rests. Avoid hovering or putting your mouse/keyboard at the edge of the desk unless you have significant musculature from similar activities (like extensive piano practice). Even so, resting the arms on the desk will result in longer sessions with less fatigue, as will all of the guidelines listed above.
Micro Breaks
Every 25-30 minutes
Should last 2-5 minutes
Move around
Do not sit or look at a screen of any kind
Refresh eyes by looking at something in the distance
Stretches & Exercises
Leave 24-48 hours of rest between stretching/exercise sessions
Visit an expert to get customized stretches and exercise for you. Each body is different, there is no one-size-fits all regimen.
Relaxation & Meditation
Breath
Be aware of your body and tension
Take meditation breaks
Pain, Coping Skills & Psychosomatic Ails
Avoiding the motion or activity that causes pain can sometimes cause more pain. Don't assume you are okay simply because you've adjusted your posture to avoid a particular pain.
Emotions and stress effect the body. Consider your emotional state before, during, and after playing. Attempt to deal with these emotions before they become overwhelming and intense. It is easier to release a 3 out of 10 level of emotion and get back to 0 multiple times per day than it is to wait until the emotion hits maximum intensity to address it.
When to see a specialist
If you stop the pain causing activity and the pain is still there a few hours later, see a specialist
If you decrease, (but not stop) the pain causing activity and the pain decreases or stops all together, slowly build up practice sessions taking breaks when you feel pain.
Deliberate Practice for Ergonomics Focus, Repetition:
Spend a practice session on a lower MMR, unranked, vs ai, or similar.
Allow your gameplay to go on autopilot and focus primarily on your Breath, Posture, Tension etc.
Go through the checklists provided above mentally as you play, checking in with your body and listening to what it is telling you.
Feedback:
Use a camera to record these sessions from different angles.
Compare your current session to the first attempt or a recording of your normal playing posture before applying these techniques
Balance a book on your head after setting up in optimal posture
See how long you can keep it up. Kappa
Common Misconceptions and Conclusion There are a lot of people who will answer the question of pain and ergonomics in eSports by saying things like, "watch this video with stretches and do them every time before you play" (neglecting to mention a 24-48 hour rest cycle) or "put your mouse and keyboard to the very edge of your desk and use one of your wrist bones as an anchor" (neglecting to mention the prerequisite musculature for this kind of posture). We hope that through this guide you have come to understand the deficiencies in these statements and in the inaccurate statements and misinformation that are likely to come. Each body is different based not only on genetics, but experience that has shaped the different muscles of the body. You'll have likely noticed by now the #1 thing to do is make an appointment with a specialist. It's probably not a particularly appealing piece of advice. You may have to do some research to find one in your area, check your health insurance, or even pay out of pocket, there may be a stigma in your culture that gives you a negative emotional response when you hear the word "Therapist". But we can't stress it enough, just one visit to a physiotherapist or other appropriate professional will give you the best stretching/exercise routine, chair/cushion recommendation, and help you to understand your particular body so that you can have an optimal, pain-free, competitive gaming experience.
lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
With 6/11 in windows and 51% ingame sensitivity? And 1080p resolution?
Thread bookmarked to remember to do some of those stuff x) GJ!
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
I've heard this before but I don't understand it really... lower dpi means you have to movee the mouse more so how does that bring you less fatigue?
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
I've heard this before but I don't understand it really... lower dpi means you have to movee the mouse more so how does that bring you less fatigue?
It makes you use your arm more instead of your wrist which makes less tension in your wrist.
* My #1 learning from workplace, besides taking breaks, which should be kinda obvious in doing any kind of work: Stand up straight and let your arms fall to the sides. Notice your wrists are not twisted in any direction. Now put your arms up and go to type on your keyboard or use your regular mouse. Notice that you bend your wrists inwards to type. This is an unnatural position - our bodies are not meant to twist like this for long periods of time. People who play piano also deal with this. * Think of how you hold a coffee cup while resting your arm on a table. Your hand is perpendicular to the table. A vertical mouse helps keep this natural form. * Move the mouse with your upper arm, not with your wrist. Your upper arm is much stronger than your wrist. This takes a lot of practice to get used to. * Learn to mouse with both hands (unfortunately for a game like Starcraft, that means learning an entirely new set of keyboard shortcuts). There are actually vertical mice for both left and right handers as well. * Similar to mousing, some keyboards can be adjusted in ways that let you type closer to a "perpendicular hand" position. I have mentioned the Goldtouch earlier but there are other brands that do the same thing. Even the "single piece" keyboards tend to curve so that you aren't bending your wrists as much as regular flat keyboards.
Beyond that...
* If you can, find a way to switch between standing and sitting while you work at a computer. There are a lot of creative ways to do this, the most fancy of them being a sit-stand desk and probably the least fancy being a two monitor setup with a bunch of boxes and wireless keyboard/mouse of sorts * Monitor should be no more than an arm's length away from eyes. * Font size should be large enough that you don't need to lean forward and read text (difficult depending on the game
When I started working full time at this company, I played a lot of games, and also a lot of piano. Plus I was on a computer most of the day at my 9-5. I felt tingling in my wrists and hands every week, even some tight soreness occasionally. It's been ~7 years since I switched to "upright" hand postures (and getting new gear as I linked above), and I haven't had any "computer" related physical stress since then.
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
I've heard this before but I don't understand it really... lower dpi means you have to movee the mouse more so how does that bring you less fatigue?
higher DPI means using smaller and more fragile muscles to be accurate with the mouse. Distributing the work between the different muscles helps to avoid overworking a particular group.
Primelot, couldn't possibly guess. Way too many variables at play. Generally people feel better after lowering their DPI but that doesn't mean exceptions won't exist. From what i've read the danger zone hits at around 2000 or so. Personally I injured my wrist at 3700.
As someone who has had an RSI in the past but thankfully haven't had to deal with it in years I'll give the best protip IMO. Get an L shaped desk!
Not exactly my desk but its reasonably close. I got rid of the keyboard tray, put the keyboard and mouse on the desk top. Arms are always resting on the desk 1000000% supported at all times on the same level. The only draw back is it takes up more space than a normal desk. But I'll never use a different style desk again, not worth it.
Arms, Shoulders, rest on desk or arm rests. Avoid hovering or putting your mouse/keyboard at the edge of the desk unless you have significant musculature from similar activities (like extensive piano practice). Even so, resting the arms on the desk will result in longer sessions with less fatigue, as will all of the guidelines listed above.
Arms at a 90° angle, elbows almost below the shoulder, is best practice.. Which means using arm rests and putting the mouse/keyboard at the edge of the desk.. What you are saying is contradictive.
Leave 24-48 hours of rest between stretching/exercise sessions
Can you elaborate on this? I'm an advanced powerlifter and I stretch multiple times a day (static ánd dynamic), why would you want to leave 24-48 hours between stretching or exercising, especially stretching? Also I don't see "tips to avoid cold hands" anywhere.. Cold hands can have multiple causes. One of them is not eating enough or frequently enough, or spiking your bloodsugar constantly with sweets. Another factor would be adrenaline rushes, from intense playing. It moves blood to your muscles, away from your extremities. Less bloodflow = less warmth = cold extremities.
The 24-48 hours things for exercising directly depends on the intensity of the exercising (which itself is relative to your physical condition) ; ie doing a low amount of pushups won't ask for as much rest as lifting heavy weights... And I can't see how it can be true for stretching ; unless you mean hardcore, sportslike stretching sessions of 1+ hour, casual 2-minute stretching like what players typically do before games is fine and you should not wait 24 hours between two streches, because that'd make the stretching utterly useless^^ Apart from that this seems good advice (though there's nothing about not having hunched shoulders?), especially the part about your whole forearm having to rest on the desk.
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
With 6/11 in windows and 51% ingame sensitivity? And 1080p resolution?
Thread bookmarked to remember to do some of those stuff x) GJ!
What is the deal with those settings? Isn't it bette rto turn the ingame sensitivity off completly? Does it not manipulate your mouse sens? Sorry for the bit of topic.
I actually just set my desk 20 cm lower than it was and I'll see how that goes
Arms, Shoulders, rest on desk or arm rests. Avoid hovering or putting your mouse/keyboard at the edge of the desk unless you have significant musculature from similar activities (like extensive piano practice). Even so, resting the arms on the desk will result in longer sessions with less fatigue, as will all of the guidelines listed above.
Arms at a 90° angle, elbows almost below the shoulder, is best practice.. Which means using arm rests and putting the mouse/keyboard at the edge of the desk.. What you are saying is contradictive.
Leave 24-48 hours of rest between stretching/exercise sessions
Can you elaborate on this? I'm an advanced powerlifter and I stretch multiple times a day (static ánd dynamic), why would you want to leave 24-48 hours between stretching or exercising, especially stretching? Also I don't see "tips to avoid cold hands" anywhere.. Cold hands can have multiple causes. One of them is not eating enough or frequently enough, or spiking your bloodsugar constantly with sweets. Another factor would be adrenaline rushes, from intense playing. It moves blood to your muscles, away from your extremities. Less bloodflow = less warmth = cold extremities.
The angle is very important, but in order to get as much information in the video as possible while keeping it short, I have not covered every single topic in as much detail as I'd like.
Basically the gist of it is, that if you have adjustable arm rests that allow for your arms to be at the 90 degree angle, matching the height of the desk exactly, yes you can do it like that and it's fine. Oftentimes though, it is really hard to find a chair that is optimized enough for your size, posture, distance between arm and armrest and more. In these cases I'd generally recommend putting your arms on the desk, with the same rules applying regarding angle and posture. Of course this also depends on the level of customization of your attributes and furniture, but is generally easier to recreate than buying a special chair that fits ergonomic needs perfectly.
As for the second question: The 24-48 hour rule applies to heavy stretching sessions of 30 mins to an hour, and exercising until you get close to your physical limit. This is just a general timeframe of rest, and once again depends on the eating pattern, recovery speed, physical health and to what degree the person in question has to tax his or her body on an average day. If you powerlift or train to failure you could do with 1 training every 5 days, do some light stretches during some of the micro breaks (not all of them). The general rule of thumb is: Everything in balance. Static and dynamic stretches are way more important in your specific situation than for a player trying to casually maintain a healthy physical state while playing starcraft 2-3 hours a day, for example.
The cold hand part is mostly a blood flow issue that is influenced by heart rate, adrenaline as you say, posture, wether or not you take frequent breaks to move around, tension from either stress or less than ideal ergonomic setups. One of the topics I did not cover is the eating habits and patterns. The less energy you spend the less you have to fuel up (SC2 is also mentally taxing so a banana or sweet every once in a while helps with focus), but the amount and frequency depends on the individual again, which is why I strongly recommend seeing a specialist to see what fits you, the individual, best.
In conclusion, the main point we are trying to get across is that you should always seek professionals to guide you in your specific situation, and to not take quick tip videos and conventional wisdom as the ultimate guide to health, which is why the information provided is mostly general with a focus on common sense and removal of stigma.
On February 16 2016 06:48 EJK wrote: lower mouse dpi really helped release tension on my wrists, i have to play twice as many games to feel the same fatigue i used to feel at at 1800 dpi (currently at 750 now)
With 6/11 in windows and 51% ingame sensitivity? And 1080p resolution?
Thread bookmarked to remember to do some of those stuff x) GJ!
What is the deal with those settings? Isn't it bette rto turn the ingame sensitivity off completly? Does it not manipulate your mouse sens? Sorry for the bit of topic.
I actually just set my desk 20 cm lower than it was and I'll see how that goes
If EJK has it off i'm still curious to know if he really plays at 6/11 on a 1080p setting with 750 dpi because that's more than 6 centimeters mouse movement required to go from one edge of the screen to the other if i'm not mistaken.
I tried 800 dpi on my 1366*768 resolution which is faster than that and it felt super slow, maybe i should try again.
Hello, left hand issues with 2 fingers in particular! Therapists didnt find anything same as doctor and checked over everything setup wise... apparently perfect got any ideas?
first of all, thank you very much for the thread and video, it's a wonderful reminder.
but i'd also like to add in different light, please don't over-focus on all of these things as a low level gamer, like stretches, warm up games, etc. i find a lot of players put a lot of extra stress and expectations on themselves without assessing their actual strengths and weaknesses prior to practice. for newer or lower level players, please just focus on spending money at all times. higher money during lategame off 3-4 bases is normal, but high money off 1-2 bases is not, focus on things like those and you're naturally get better, and then you can start creating routines for yourself as displayed in this video.
if u r an overweight, smoker with AB blood type make damn sure to stretch out between games to avoid blood clots. find out if you have factor V in your blood and if you do... stretch out even more.
when it comes to blood clots an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/iNJWuhR.jpg)
Isn't it bette rto turn the ingame sensitivity off completly? Does it not manipulate your mouse sens? Sorry for the bit of topic.
