You can absolutely agree here that nobody sits down to game thinking that they’re going to want to wreck their body while gaming. Now, the average person at least is aware that there are some perils in gaming; at this point, it’s fairly obvious. But yet, that one little mission or level, which would have maybe taken about an hour, turns into several hours. It gets to the point you’re just hunched over, your shoulders are basically up to your ears, your back is hurting, and you get the point here. 

But bad posture is common for a lot of gamers. You don’t inherently do it; it just tends to naturally happen while you get into the game (and in the moment, it probably feels more comfortable). But a lot of bad posture habits don’t even feel serious while they’re happening. They just feel familiar. So, are your everyday gaming habits causing you some aches and pains?

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Stop Letting Intense Moments Pull the Body Forward

There’s a good reason to start right here, and it’s because this one gets gamers all the time. The second something gets competitive, the body starts creeping closer to the screen like proximity is somehow going to improve aim, timing, or luck. It won’t, nope, it really won’t. But it will make the neck work harder and turn the upper back into one big knot by the end of the night.

That habit’s worth catching in real time, especially during the parts of a game that get people the most locked in. There’s the boss fights, ranked matches, hard levels, anything where the brain’s running hot, that’s usually when posture goes right out the window. So, do you clench your jaw while gaming? Do you hunch? Do you get really close to the scream? Well, it’s time to be more mindful of these habits. 

Where are You Sitting?

And why is this relevant? Well, when you’re working, you usually want to be comfortable because you’re going to be sitting there for hours at a time, just focusing on your tasks, right? Well, is that really any different for gaming? Basically, it’s not. If you’re planning on sitting for hours at a time (well, even for an hour), you should be comfortable. 

You should be comfortable, but you should still sit somewhere that promotes good posture. For example, Onex gaming chairs are specifically designed to give support since they’re made in mind with the intention that gamers will be sitting for hours at a time. You need to sit somewhere that’s ideally ergonomic, that’s a regular chair, even a couch probably doesn’t cut it.

Yes, You Need a Break

A lot of gamers wait way too long to move. Well, it’s not like it’s because they don’t know better, but because it’s easy to tell the body to hold on one more round, one more cutscene, one more checkpoint, one more queue. Then the next thing happens, and then the next, and now it’s been forever.

So, you need a little reset, you need a break. Sure, technically, gaming is a break, it’s a hobby, it’s fun, but even then, you still need some breaks here and there. For example, why not just stand up and stretch for a moment during loading screens? You could walk around for a couple of minutes after a match, even stretch the wrists during a game update, but you get the point, because it only takes a minute or two. 

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