Esports Healthcare: Gamer Warm-up

This is the eSports healthcare warm-up.

We developed this to target each muscle

and joint involved in gaming from your

fingertips to your forearms.

We recommend using this warm-up with any

of our programs which can all be found

at our website eSportshealthcare.com.

We also recommend using this anytime

you're gaming, whether it's at home,

whether you're on stream or at a live

event, or anywhere in between. The warm

up consists of 10 different exercises or

movements. You can watch it all the way

through, or you could choose to watch

individually by clicking the timestamps

in the descriptions below.

The first exercise is the opposition

finger tap with a flexed finger. So what

you want to do with this exercise is tap

your fingertips together. So you can

start with your index finger and make a

circle, and then open your hand as wide as

you can and you can make a circle with

each finger down the line from your index

finger to your pinky finger. You want to

do this exercise twice through and that

will be the first warm-up.

The next exercise is an opposition

finger tap with a straight finger. What

you want to do with this exercise is

touch your finger pads together so that

your fingers stay straight. After each

tap you want to open your hand as wide

as you can then you want to go down from

your index finger to your pinky finger

two times.

This next exercise is called finger

abduction, so for the purpose of the

video I'm going to keep my hands in

tight but when you do the exercise on

your own you can keep your arms wherever

you need to. So for this exercise you

want to start with your fingers nice and

wide and then close them slowly and then

open them wide again and you can go

through this five times.

Next is the palms together finger

separation. For this one you want to

start with your palms and fingers

together, and one at a time

separate and bring them back together. Go

down the line from your thumb to your

pinky two times, and you may notice that

one or more of your fingers doesn't

separate quite as easily and that just

means you need to do a little bit more

work on those.

The next exercise is finger circles. For

this exercise you want to start with your

fingertips together as if you were holding

a ball. One at a time separate your

fingertips and roll them forward and

backward go down the line from your thumb

to your pinky. You may notice that one or

more of your fingers feels less

coordinated and if that's the case just

spend a little bit more time practicing

with that finger.

The next movement is the carpal squeeze.

So the carpal bones are the bones at the

base of your hand. So for this movement

you want to try to close your palm

together without making a fist and then

open your hand as wide as you can. Do

this five times total.

The next motions are pronation and

supination of the forearm. Pronation is

turning the palm face down and

supination is turning the palm face up.

Go through these motions five times

total - one, two, three, four, five.

The next movements are flexion and

extension of the wrist. Flexion is

pulling your palm towards your forearm

and extension is pulling your knuckles

toward your forearm. Do these motions

five times total - one, two, three,

four, five.

The next motions are radial and ulnar

deviation of the forearm. The ulna is the

bone on the pinky side of the forearm so

ulnar deviation is this motion. The

radius is the bone on the thumb side of

the forearm, so radial deviation is this

motion. Go through each of these motions

five times total - one, two, three, four,

five.

The final exercise of the warm-up is

wrist circles. So you can keep your hands

open or close them and you want to roll

your wrists in one direction three times

and then roll back in the other

direction also three times.

This exercise is for your eyes, and it

trains near to far focus. Hold the small

object one to two feet away from your

face, at least ten feet in front of the

background. Focus your eyes back and

forth between the object and the

background for two seconds each and

repeat ten times.

This exercise is for your eyes and it

trains smooth pursuit. Hold a small object

directly in front of your nose about one

or two feet from your face. Slowly move

the object in an H pattern as far as

your eyes can gaze without moving your

head. Try to reach all four corners of

your gaze. As a variation you can also

move the object in an X pattern for

diagonal movement.

This exercise is for the eyes and it

trains target gaze. Choose any focal

point directly in front of your face.

Without moving your head, look straight

up as far as you can, like looking at

12:00 on a clock. Then return your gaze

to the starting point. Repeat this

pattern for each of the remaining 11

numbered positions on a clock in a

clockwise fashion. Repeat the pattern

counterclockwise beginning again with 12

o'clock.