Esports continue to captivate audiences worldwide, but few understand the unique demands placed on the athletes. Conditioning for Esports: A Guide to Training and Performance is the first resource of its kind to explore the specific training needs of serious gamers. Written by top experts in the esport field, it applies evidence-based knowledge to real-world scenarios that will help you understand the science—and the necessity—of training the body to sustain the repetitive stress that comes with balancing fine motor skills, mental focus, and gaming performance.
With insights from exercise physiologists, registered dietitians, strength and conditioning professionals, and physical and occupational therapists, you will have access to real-world esport narratives grounded in research and analysis. Gain essential knowledge on injury prevention, specialized exercise routines, cognitive enhancement, and esport-specific nutrition strategies. Plus, delve into often-overlooked topics such as overuse injuries; the mind–body connection; and sleep, fatigue, and recovery.
Conditioning for Esports is your ultimate guide to preparing athletes to dominate the esport arena and achieve optimal performance in the competitive world of gaming.
Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.
Preface
Andy Walshe, PhD
Introduction
Joanne DiFrancisco-Donoghue, PhD, ACSM-CEP, Hallie Zwibel, DO, MPH, FACOFP, FAAFP, and Jerry Balentine, DO, FACOEP, FACEP
Chapter 1. Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Sports and Esports
Taylor Johnson, MS, CSCS, USAW, CES, PN2
Chapter 2. Player Development Within the Esport Ecosystem
Summer N. Scott
Chapter 3. The Cognitive Athlete—Making the Mind–Body Connection
Amber Sousa, PhD
Chapter 4. Role of Performance Psychology in Esport Player Development
Doug Gardner, EdD, CMPC, Emeritus
Chapter 5. Nutrition and Esport Performance
Taylor Johnson, MS, CSCS, USAW, CES, PN2, and Chris Algieri, MS
Chapter 6. Sleep, Fatigue, and Recovery in Esports
Gordon Schmidt, PhD, FACSM
Chapter 7. Esport Injury Assessment and Care
Mark Gugliotti, PT, DPT, OCS, COMT, Pamela Karp, EdD, OTR/L, CHT, and Caitlin McGee, MS, PT, DPT
Chapter 8. Corrective Exercise Guidelines for Esport Impairments
Matthew Hwu, DPT, OCS, CSCS, Caitlin McGee, MS, PT, DPT, and Abilio Gabriel Rodriguez, DPT
Chapter 9. Physical Training and Exercise Guidelines for Esport Athletes
Matthew Hwu, DPT, OCS, CSCS, Jake Middleton, MS, Abilio Gabriel Rodriguez, DPT, and Alex Rothstein, MS, CSCS, CEP, CPSS, EP-C, USAW
Chapter 10. Physical Training Programming for Esport Teams
Matthew Hwu, DPT, OCS, CSCS, Abilio Gabriel Rodriguez, DPT, and Taylor Johnson, MS, CSCS, USAW, CES, PN2
Taylor Johnson, MS, CSCS, USAW, CES, PN2, began his career as a performance coach in Division 1 Power Five schools, ultimately leading him to the National Football League (NFL) and the San Francisco 49ers. During his NFL tenure, he managed strength and conditioning, nutrition, and rehabilitation while also overseeing their sport science initiatives. Johnson then transitioned into the realm of esports, where he built player and coach development programs for professional teams and academies. He coached some of the world’s best gamers on teams such as OpTic Gaming, Astralis, eUnited, and Evil Geniuses. In addition to coaching, Johnson helped lead teams pioneering software and research studies of cognitive athletes at Aimlabs. Blending neuroscience and gaming technology led to the creation of one of the largest esport training platforms in the world. He now coaches and consults groups across sports, esports, business, and the military and is a partner of Liminal Collective. He holds a master’s degree in exercise science and rehabilitation and a bachelor’s in exercise biology, as well as certifications in strength and conditioning, corrective exercise, nutrition, sport performance, and neurolinguistics programming.
Joanne DiFrancisco-Donoghue, PhD, ACSM-CEP, is the director of clinical research and a professor in the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) in Old Westbury, New York. DiFrancisco-Donoghue has been at the NYITCOM since 1998 and has dedicated her expertise to the study of exercise physiology and nutrition. Her extensive clinical research over the past 25 years has resulted in a vast number of peer-reviewed publications, contributing significantly to the field of esport medicine. She has also presented her findings at both national and international level. DiFrancisco-Donoghue has emerged as a leading figure in the field of esport medicine, conducting pioneering research in this area and earning her recognition as a keynote speaker on multiple occasions. She has received funding from renowned organizations such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the American Osteopathic Association, The Marfan Foundation, General Electric, Fnatic, Secretlab, and the National Institutes of Health. She currently serves as a board member of the Esports Research Network (ERN), holds the position of associate editor for the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, and serves as a member of the American College of Sports Medicine research committee for the greater New York region.
Jerry Balentine, DO, FACOEP, FACEP, is the executive vice president and provost at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where he evaluates new opportunities for university growth and expansion, especially in the area of faculty research, as well as overseeing strategic resource allocation. His areas of responsibility also include all six academic schools at NYIT, dining services, global campuses and programs (Canada and China), and two academic health care centers, as well as the Center for Global Health, Center for Sports Medicine Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobility Treatment Center, and Parkinson’s Disease Treatment Center.
Balentine is an editorial board member and published author of the International Journal of Esports, the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, and the Journal of Medical Regulation. He has authored multiple textbook chapters and journal articles in the field of emergency medicine and is a frequent contributor and editor of articles in the WebMD network. Before joining NYIT in 2014, he was the executive vice president and chief medical officer of the St. Barnabas Hospital (SBH) Health System in the Bronx, New York. In his role at SBH, he was responsible for a large physician group, a level-one trauma center, multiple outpatient facilities, a Medicaid health plan, a nursing home, and a federally qualified health center. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the emergency medicine residency program at the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, where he served as the chief resident. During his career, Balentine had the opportunity to work as an emergency medicine residency program director, emergency department director, and medical director of a hospital and trauma center. He has served as a chief medical officer of a medical malpractice fund, established an urgent care center on Rikers Island, served as a consultant to SBH Prison Health, and owned and operated his own urgent care center in the Bronx for 10 years. Balentine is the past president of the New York chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and has served as vice chair of the New York State board of medicine, as chair of the finance committee of the NYITCOM educational consortium, and on the education committee of the Federation of State Medical Boards.
