Taking better care of your "other" equipment. Physical Injuries, etc.

[Blade]

If my recent Birthday is any indication I'm not getting any younger.

That said, there are times when playing games sometimes hurts my thumbs around the joints and wrists.

So I am wondering if people have any advice for keeping "fresh": avoiding injuries, keeping your reflexes up, keeping limber, doing stuff like extensive combos (like, how do you keep your energy up when doing very long and aggressive combos and guard strings?)

Example: I was playing Nu-13 the other day and trying to do some of her Gravity Seed Cancel combos, and either because of my layout on my dpad or some other reason, I just couldn't do it to a point that my wrists started hurting.

I know the simple answer is "take a break"... but at some point players have to learn how to do stuff like this to get good at characters, right?

And relatedly, assuming someone DOES get injured... what should they do about it as a gamer?

I figured I'd ask you guys since e-sports are a real thing, and therefore injuries are a real thing to consider too!

[Airk]

Take MORE breaks.
And no, that's not snarky advice.

Take breaks BEFORE you start to hurt.  Take a break at LEAST once an hour, probably every 30 minutes.  This is mentally useful as well as physically.  They don't need to be LONG breaks - 5 minutes or so is fine, but do something different. Stand up. Stretch.  Get a glass of water. Do ten pushups.  Walk the dog around the block, whatever.  The idea here is to reduce your chances of some sort of repetitive strain injury by breaking up the monotony and to let your brain absorb info.

Also, definitely stop if something hurts. Don't try to man up and power through it.

[Angry Guy of DE]

That advice also goes to people that try to learn stick because they believe it will help them.

Treat it like doing an exercise that uses muscles you normally don't use.  Short periods of practice to get used to doing something and stopping when you feel any pain will help you more in the long run.

Before you run a marathon first walk a block and work from there.

[TD]

Happy belated, blade.

 

pretty much take more breaks as already said... At this point, it's the game vs your body. If there is nothing in the market that will cushion the impact between the directional buttons/joystick and your thumbs then you have a serious problem. Same goes for the wrists. Might want to think about investing in a wrist guard.

 

can also do wrist/thumb exercises, such as moving them in slow circular motions in both directions, moving your thumbs back and forth, etc... 

If the pain persists go to your local doctor and explain to him what is going on. He may be able to identify what is going on and if you can help the issues or if they will persist through your lifetime and even get worst. Info is paramount.

Besides pain, the main goal in doing long combos is patience. Break every bit of the combo into chunks, doing 2 hit links and once you get that, and doing the next 2 moves in the sequence all the way to the end. This helps with control (feel what your hands and wrist feel, slowly), calm (many small victories still equal one big victory but doesn't equal all the stress), and will get you where you need to go. Granted it's slower, but learning is learning, and the characters have all day and night to execute the combo, so don't fret. Breathe, take it slow and -focus-. At the pint of doing a combo, nothing is more important than getting it - besides your injuries of course. Point being, you have to want to get it. Badly.

Edited August 14, 2015 by TD

[Poultrygeist]

Honestly I really think age is just a number.  There are older people than you out there bodying people in every game.  Look at Valle, he's like 37 and he's still wrecking people in SF4.  That said, it's possible you're having issues unrelated to the game that are only making it worse.  If you're getting aches and pains you might want to see your doctor before you sit down for another fighting session.

[MechaBaphomet]

Warm up your body before you start playing matches. Doing wrist and hand exercises before you start playing will allow your muscles to warm up and "breath" when you actually start playing. 

For example:

Whenever I play a show or have rehearsal, I always warm up my entire body before I start playing. I do this so I don't get tired/play like shit when playing extremely fast (Blast Beats, Double Bass, etc.)

This applies to Musicians, Athletes, or anything else stressful on your body.

[Airk]

Got suggestions for exercises?

[Fortune]

I think this is relevant info that I came across a few weeks ago. Hope this is useful.

http://floobynooby.blogspot.fr/2015/07/animators-guide-to-health-and-wellness.html?m=1

 

[indie_animator]

I think this is relevant info that I came across a few weeks ago. Hope this is useful.

http://floobynooby.blogspot.fr/2015/07/animators-guide-to-health-and-wellness.html?m=1

 

Hey, an animator's guide to health/stretches.  Good post.  I've been doing those for 20 years for animation & games (though less often). 

I'm 41 & am thankful not to have any repetitive stress injuries.  Had a prob w/the right thumb from animating long ago, but eventually recovered.  Only thing messing w/my focus is chronic nerve pain in the palate (3 years).  Can't wait to finally get that treated (if it can be) to see if my gameplay improves a bit.

Watch out for random injuries, especially concussions.  Two years of head pain was a low point in life, including gaming.  All that's left is the nerve pain...

Edited August 18, 2015 by indie_animator

[heavymetalmixer]

Hey, an animator's guide to health/stretches.  Good post.  I've been doing those for 20 years for animation & games (though less often). 

I'm 41 & am thankful not to have any repetitive stress injuries.  Had a prob w/the right thumb from animating long ago, but eventually recovered.  Only thing messing w/my focus is chronic nerve pain in the palate (3 years).  Can't wait to finally get that treated (if it can be) to see if my gameplay improves a bit.

Watch out for random injuries, especially concussions.  Two years of head pain was a low point in life, including gaming.  All that's left is the nerve pain...

Wow, and old guy playing FGs :0 , man I thought you were on your 20s like me.

I think this is relevant info that I came across a few weeks ago. Hope this is useful.

http://floobynooby.blogspot.fr/2015/07/animators-guide-to-health-and-wellness.html?m=1

 

Nice, gotta start practicing all this stuff.

[Fortune]

FGs for all walks of life \o/

 

Yeah these stretching exercises look legit, my fingers are usually dead from grad school life and propping my head with my right arm probably doesn't help. Hmm, no wonder my execution has been so slippery later.

[Airk]

Awesome, bookmarked.

 

And holy crap, someone is older than me.