For a really long time, esports players were considered nothing more than glorified gamers. However, nowadays, we can clearly see how far from the truth that was.
Esports is a 1 billion dollar industry, and with so much capital moving around, you have to give these guys some credit whether you like it or not because, quite frankly – they’re athletes in their own way.
But, we don’t want to get into the whole debate whether esports players are athletes or not because, as far as we’re concerned – they are. What we want to focus on today is whether esports players train like professional athletes, or it’s all just playing games and messing around like most people think it is.
So, without further ado – let’s get started.
The Evolution Of An Esports Player
Back in the early days of esports, professional esports players were just your ordinary gamers, with one key difference between them and the rest of the gaming community – they were a hell of a lot better than everyone else. Whether it was Counter-Strike or World of Warcraft, what these guys were doing was something that the rest of the gaming community could only dream of. They were just inexplicably better.
Now, in the early days when the esports teams first started forming, the guys would only meet up once or twice a year while they were competing in the major tournaments, which meant that they weren’t really that close with their teammates. They knew each other on the battlefield quite well, but not so much on a personal level. They were friends because you just kind of have to become friends with someone you talk to and play games with every day, but something was missing. The teams just couldn’t become a cohesive unit if their only interaction was online.
So, after a few years, we saw a new approach – teams living together. Now, right off the bat, you can see a major problem with this. You put 5 or 10 gamers in the same house and task them with playing games and practising all day long – nothing else is going to get done. Your life becomes about one thing and one thing only, and that’s not good in the long run.
The training results weren’t missing – just to make that clear. These guys progressed and got butter, which is not surprising. When you spend 5 to 12 hours a day playing a single game with the same teammates – you’re inevitably going to get better. But, as expected – other things suffered. Their social life suffered, and due to prolonged sitting and inactivity – their health probably took a hit, as well.
Gamers are, in general, quite inactive when it comes to physical exercise, so something had to change. There had to be a way for these guys to level up the same way the lfc-nwboost levels up your in-game character. So, a new approach to esports training had to come sooner rather than later.
The New Standard For A Modern Esports Player
A few years ago, it became quite obvious that esports is a major deal. Tournaments started bringing in a lot of money, and the industry, in general, has blossomed. That is has attracted some major investors, like Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner, who invested a serious amount of money in an esports team. Naturally, there were other impactful events that took place during this time, but it was this investment that really made it clear to so many people that esports is sports and that these guys and girls are a real deal.
Finally, the new approach was birthed. It was no longer enough for a professional esports athlete to just sit in front of the screen and practice in-game for hours on end. It was time for a full-blown professional athlete approach.
So, before you knew it, a lot of professional esports teams took to this new approach which involved regular training sessions in the gym, strict and healthy sleeping schedules, a cleaner diet and so on. To be fair, many were sceptical of this approach at first, but when you realize that these guys frequently make split-second decisions and that they depend on their precision, tactics, and reaction time, it becomes quite obvious that a healthy lifestyle will make a better esports player. It was quite an easy pitch, really.
Essentially, to be a professional esports player nowadays, you have to go to bed at a reasonable hour, eat clean and healthy, work out multiple times a week, and practice the game of your choosing for hours on end. Well, they don’t have to, but if they want to make it to the top of the esports game – they probably should.
Another thing many seem not to realize is that professional esports players often end their careers by the time they’re 25, and that’s not because they don’t “love competitive gaming” anymore, but it is because they lose their edge and advantage, and they lose those things because they take care of their minds and bodies. Well, at least they didn’t, up until recently.
And, according to some predictions, this new training approach might just change that, and we might just see professional gamers in their 40s in a matter of 10 to 20 years.
So, now that we’ve got that out of the way, it is time to answer the burning question…
Final Verdict – Do Esports Players Train Like Professional Athletes?
In a word – they do. While their training sessions might be “slightly” different, their approach is the same, which is the only thing that actually matters. Volleyball, basketball and Formula 1 athletes all train differently, but their mindset and approach is exactly the same. And, that’s also the case here.
Just because these guys spend less time in the gym and more time in front of the screen doesn’t mean that their training regimen isn’t as rigorous as a professional athlete’s. It’s just slightly different. They still work out, they still rest and eat right – and they train every single day, for hours on end.
In our book, that’s training as a professional athlete.