The Healthy Gamer

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Increase FOCUS and ALERTNESS with these CHEAT CODES

We’ve all experienced times of intense focus. Thoughts and actions flowed effortlessly. You didn’t have to think about what to build or when to attack. Your brain was in high gear and you were unstoppable.

This article is focused on strategies to recreate that intense level of focus at will to apply to video games, homework, or anything else worthy of your attention!

Nootropics

Nootropics as defined by wikipedia are “smart drugs, memory enhancers, neuro enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers, are drugs, supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods that purportedly improve mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, motivation, attention, and concentration.” Source

They are a massive topic and cover an incredibly wide array of chemical compounds. Here we will focus on piracetam and choline.

The science behind piracetam and choline for cognitive function is shaky. Hours spent researching the substances mainly brings anecdotal evidence from users on various message boards. The actual clinical studies behind the effectiveness of piracetam mainly focus around impaired individuals and not healthy subjects. So, this is by no means a scientific argument for using either of the substances, simply an anecdotal and personal account of how the nootropics have been useful to me.

Piracetam and choline for me produce a “clean” caffeine effect. What I mean is that they give me the clear-headedness of caffeine without the stimulant effects that caffeine brings about(jitters, racing thoughts, increased heart rate). So without being able to produce good scientific documents the only thing I can say is, this has been my experience, and there are anecdotes across the internet for the effectiveness of piracetam with choline producing increased attention/memory. It’s up to you to do your own research and decide whether it’s something you’d like to try.

Find CDP Choline on Amazon, and Piracetam on http://www.CognitiveNutrition.com

I dose piracetam at 400mg morning with 150mg of choline, and again in the afternoon with the same doses.

Caffeine

We’re all aware of caffeine’s ability to increase our alertness, but do we know how to dose it correctly?

If your answer is to “chug mountain dew before the raid starts”… wrong! Most people use caffeine as a crutch. They drink caffeine as an aid to stay alert when their body starts to become tired.

To achieve the maximum effect from caffeine you should allow your body to follow its natural rhythms. Take caffeine in the morning upon waking so that it enhances your natural alertness. As the day progresses and you feel yourself coming down and becoming low in energy… great! Go with it. Your body NEEDS rest. To constantly fight it by revving its engines with caffeine when the body becomes naturally tired is to wear yourself out. Instead during that low time do something less taxing; read a book or better yet take a short nap!(Art of Manliness article on the power of naps) Then when you are through the bottom of the period of low energy take more caffeine to help kick start the upswing. In this way you can take full advantage of caffeine’s cognitive enhancing benefits without(too much) detriment to your body’s normal energy cycles.

Also consider getting your caffeine from some pure form of green tea like Matcha, this article on essential health tips for the online gamer talks about the benefits of Matcha. Essentially, you’re getting the leaves and all.

Stay Hydrated

Lethargy is a symptom of dehydration. Drink water. All day. Don’t stop. Go drink some water right now! Also, did you know, that if you are well hydrated when you go to bed it makes waking up easier because you won’t wake up completely dehydrated?

Standing Desk

I have a whole write-up about my standing desk here. Aside from all the health benefits the relevant part of this article is that standing makes you more alert.

You are one talented sleeper if you can manage to fall asleep or even get close to nodding off when you’re standing. Having a standing desk has improved my productivity more than any other single lifestyle change I’ve made.

Stand and fight, like a man!

Meditation

One curious side-effect of my own meditation practice has been an increased ability to focus in games. It makes sense. Meditation has been shown clinically to improve your focus, so then it makes sense that it would carry over to games.

When I was around twenty two and at the height of my gaming/internet addiction my attention span was so bad that I would alt-tab, from WORLD OF WARCRAFT, DURING fights, so that I could check forums. Yeah. I was that guy, who would randomly go afk for 20-30 seconds in the middle of a raid. 

“Why didn’t I move out of the fire? … I saw a picture of a cute cat.”

I’ve been meditating 20 minutes a day consistently for a year now. The benefit to attention span is incredible. I have been standing here writing this post for the last hour and forty five minutes, and only stopped to check reddit twice. Yeah, pretty goddamn strong iron discipline right there.

I’d suggest incorporating small bouts of meditation(five to ten minutes) in the middle of your gaming sessions. Re-focus your mind, clear away distractions, and re-center yourself.

Exercise

Again, duh. But still. I wouldn’t feel like this article is complete without at least  mentioning exercise. Forty five minutes of moderate intense physical activity of ANY KIND will increase the blood flow to your brain for the next six to eight hours, leading to better focus and concentration. Ontop of that, it makes you sexier. Also, causes manliness.

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Sixpack Guide for Gamers Pt. 3 – The Best Gym Routine for Beginners

Choosing the right workout is as important as choosing the right character class. You need to base your choice on your goals. You wouldn’t roll a priest if you wanted to tank. Similarly you wouldn’t do P90X if your goal is to get really big and strong.

Why is a structured workout routine important?

Having a structured workout routine is fundamental to your success. Your body needs three things to grow: adequate nutrition, proper rest, and progressive overload of the muscles. Progressive overload means that you’re putting more stress on your body from week to week, and this is what a structured workout routine gives you.

Without a routine you’ll be like your one dumbass friend who can’t decide which character he wants to play. He has eight different alts but not one level 60. He’s constantly begging you to run him through SM. Don’t be that guy.

Get BIG and STRONG with 5×5!

My favorite routine is the 5×5 system. You can find a wonderful and detailed explanation at StrongLifts here.

5×5 is a total body workout that calls for the big compound movements three times a week. Follow it for a year and you’ll build a great foundation of strength and mass. I used 5×5 almost exclusively until a year ago and now cycle 5×5 with a few other more advanced routines.

It’s not like the workouts you read in magazines because it’s designed for regular people who haven’t already spent years in the gym and who aren’t on a boatload of steroids. Magazines and bodybuilders are always trying to push out new and exciting workouts to grab your attention. Fuck new and exciting. You want something that WORKS. You want to build muscle. You don’t want to waste an entire day doing thirty sets of triceps just because Ronnie Coleman says so.

Pros: 

  • Built in progression from week to week
  • Works your whole body
  • Designed for building mass and strength
  • Workouts can be completed in 45 minutes three times a week

Cons:

  • Long-term use causes manliness.

 

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Sixpack Guide for Gamers Pt. 2 – Macro Nutrients and Why They’re So Important


Macros: Protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Not binding your rune strike to your death strike so that it will fire when it’s off cooldown(aaaaand now I want to play WoW again).

Macro nutrients make up the food that you eat. You can look at a hamburger as a combination of proteins, fats, and carbs.

Protein

Essential for the building and repairing of muscle tissue. Found in the highest concentrations in meat. I take in about one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. So at 195 pounds I eat roughly 200 grams of protein per day. For the non Americans, eat 2.2g of protein per kilogram of weight.

Think of protein as your character’s primary stat(str, dex, int). You need it no matter what build you do.

Meats, eggs, and nuts are all high sources of protein. More detailed breakdown of protein containing foods.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates that you eat are turned into glucose by your liver. This glucose is then sent into your blood stream to be used as an immediate source of energy while the rest is stored in the liver and the muscles for future use. The liver and muscles can only store a finite amount of glucose and extra glucose that can’t be stored here is then stored as fat.

Carbs are the burst DPS of the macro world. They give you quick bursts of energy but stored glycogen can be used up after only twenty minutes of intense exercise.

Pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice contain high concentrations of carbs. Fruits and veggies are also made up of mostly carbohydrates but are less dense.

Fats

Fats give your body prolonged energy.

Fats are sustained DPS. They’ll keep you going when the bursty guys have blown all their cooldowns and have died in fire. So then it makes sense that your body stores excess calories as fat, because they are what your body calls upon to keep itself going when in need of energy.

 

Eggs, meats, avocados, nuts, and cooking oil contain high concentrations of fat.

Manipulate Macros to reach goals

I don’t keep detailed track of my macro nutrients at all, I think it’s tedious and unnecessary and if you try to count every calorie then you’re going to drive yourself mad. I make sure to get 30-50g of protein from whey powder after workouts and have a large portion of meat with every meal. Eating well and losing fat/gaining muscle does not have to be a tedious process. Following simple rules and being consistent gets great results.

 

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Sixpack Guide for Gamers Part 1 – Introduction

This post will give you a quick introduction and orientation to the Sixpack Guide for Gamers. The intent of this post is to give you a broad overview of what it takes to achieve a lean sculpted body and will try to dispell a few myths as I go. And the best part, I’m not going to throw a bunch of BS at you to try to sell some e-book. This series is 100% free and the information is sound to the best of my knowledge, it’s all information I’ve pulled from my 10 years of research and experience.

Structure of the Guide

The guide will be built piece by piece and I’ll take you through a linear process of exposing you to the best nutrition and workout strategies to achieving sub 10% bodyfat while maintaining or even gaining some muscle mass. The end goal is to have a step-by-step resource for gamers who want to really take their fitness to the next level and achieve their dream physiques.

Abs are built in the kitchen, not in the gym

The biggest misconception beginners have is that they need some “secret” ab exercise, or they need to do a thousand situps every night in order to get defined abs. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Having visible abs is a combination of having developed abdominal muscles and then not having a bunch of excess fat that covers up those muscles. Your abdominal muscles actually have a very low threshold for growth, so you’ll never grow your abs to the point that they can be seen under 20% bodyfat(and that would make you look really weird as well, like those bodybuilders with distended guts from taking too much growth hormone).

The lower your bodyfat, the more abs you’ll see. At around 16% bodyfat(these numbers are for males, add about 4-6% for females) you should start to see your top abs appearing. At around 10% bodyfat you’ll have a visible six pack. At around 6% bodyfat you’ll have abs that make people say “wow”, and sub 6% is where you get into the territory of that elusive unicorn otherwise known as the eight pack.

The most effective and really only way to ever drop below 14-16% bodyfat is through a well-thought out and well-planned nutrition plan. Notice I don’t say diet. I hate the word diet. Diet implies that you’re going to do this temporarily and then go back to eating shit. I will not give you diets in this guide. I will give you strategies and tips to eat delicious meals that are healthy and help you reach your body composition goals, all without feeling like you’re starving or depriving yourself, because when it comes down to it the most effective diets in the world are useless if you can’t follow them for more than a week at a time.

You don’t need to do endless hours of cardio to get a sixpack

Plenty of people out there have gotten sub 6% bodyfat without ever doing a minute of cardio. If you are disciplined about what you put into your body and maintain a caloric restriction then cardio becomes completely unnecessary.

With that being said I like to incorporate cardio to the end of my sessions just because there’s a lot of general health and mood benefits to cardio, but don’t let the fear of having to spend hours on the treadmill keep you from pursuing your dream of a sixpack. Generally 15-20 minutes of cardio three times a week is more than sufficient to help boost your fat loss.

Subscribe to the newsletter(the form over to the right) to receive updates when the next segments of this guide are completed. Next up, Sixpack Guide for Gamers Part 2 – Macro-nutrients and why they’re so important.

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