An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial
IntroductionEsports have been suggested to enhance hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and reaction times. While physical exercise is known to improve these abilities, its impact on short-term esports performance is under-researched. This study aims to evaluate the effects of specific and gene...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1504205/full |
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| author | Felix Wachholz Nicole Gamper Martin Schnitzer |
| author_facet | Felix Wachholz Nicole Gamper Martin Schnitzer |
| author_sort | Felix Wachholz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionEsports have been suggested to enhance hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and reaction times. While physical exercise is known to improve these abilities, its impact on short-term esports performance is under-researched. This study aims to evaluate the effects of specific and general physical training on gaming performance, hypothesizing improvements in both physical and gaming-related variables.MethodsBaseline and follow-up tests measured global coordination, grip strength, Aimlabs performance, single and 4-fold reaction times, and anticipation. Participants completed a weekly and an ending questionnaire. Twenty-eight participants (12.3 ± 10.1 h gaming/week) were assigned to specific (N = 10), general (N = 9), and no training (N = 9) groups for an 8-week intervention. Variable changes over time and between groups were analyzed using a repeated measures ANCOVA.ResultsTraining significantly improved the overall coordination of those participants engaging in physical training compared to the control group [F(2,25) = 3.858, p = 0.035, η2 = 0.236]. Grip strength also showed significant improvement [F(2,25) = 6.084, p = 0.007, η2 = 0.327]. There were no significant time or group effects for the gaming variables, but the hours played by participants positively influenced Grid Shot [F(1,24) = 4.746, p = 0.039, η2 = 0.165] and Track Point [F(1,24) = 9.613, p = 0.005, η2 = 0.286] performance. The weekly questionnaire indicated a significant improvement in participants' well-being.DiscussionWhile training improved physical variables, no effects were observed in suggested short-term performance. However, gaming hours and experience during the intervention positively influenced performance. Future research should consider the amount of time spent playing as it may affect short-term performance. Furthermore, future research should strive to differentiate between various types of esports performance, such as short-term vs. long-term outcomes. Participants reported that engaging in physical activity within the context of esports and gaming positively contributed to their overall well-being.
Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT06264375). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8938f0f8a8264a6d984fa9787746afc4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj-art-8938f0f8a8264a6d984fa9787746afc42025-01-21T08:36:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672025-01-01610.3389/fspor.2024.15042051504205An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trialFelix WachholzNicole GamperMartin SchnitzerIntroductionEsports have been suggested to enhance hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and reaction times. While physical exercise is known to improve these abilities, its impact on short-term esports performance is under-researched. This study aims to evaluate the effects of specific and general physical training on gaming performance, hypothesizing improvements in both physical and gaming-related variables.MethodsBaseline and follow-up tests measured global coordination, grip strength, Aimlabs performance, single and 4-fold reaction times, and anticipation. Participants completed a weekly and an ending questionnaire. Twenty-eight participants (12.3 ± 10.1 h gaming/week) were assigned to specific (N = 10), general (N = 9), and no training (N = 9) groups for an 8-week intervention. Variable changes over time and between groups were analyzed using a repeated measures ANCOVA.ResultsTraining significantly improved the overall coordination of those participants engaging in physical training compared to the control group [F(2,25) = 3.858, p = 0.035, η2 = 0.236]. Grip strength also showed significant improvement [F(2,25) = 6.084, p = 0.007, η2 = 0.327]. There were no significant time or group effects for the gaming variables, but the hours played by participants positively influenced Grid Shot [F(1,24) = 4.746, p = 0.039, η2 = 0.165] and Track Point [F(1,24) = 9.613, p = 0.005, η2 = 0.286] performance. The weekly questionnaire indicated a significant improvement in participants' well-being.DiscussionWhile training improved physical variables, no effects were observed in suggested short-term performance. However, gaming hours and experience during the intervention positively influenced performance. Future research should consider the amount of time spent playing as it may affect short-term performance. Furthermore, future research should strive to differentiate between various types of esports performance, such as short-term vs. long-term outcomes. Participants reported that engaging in physical activity within the context of esports and gaming positively contributed to their overall well-being. Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT06264375).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1504205/fullphysical activityoverall coordinationgaminganticipationreactionskill |
| spellingShingle | Felix Wachholz Nicole Gamper Martin Schnitzer An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial Frontiers in Sports and Active Living physical activity overall coordination gaming anticipation reaction skill |
| title | An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial |
| title_full | An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial |
| title_fullStr | An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial |
| title_short | An 8-week physical exercise intervention for e'athletes improves physical performance rather than short-term esports performance parameters - a randomized controlled trial |
| title_sort | 8 week physical exercise intervention for e athletes improves physical performance rather than short term esports performance parameters a randomized controlled trial |
| topic | physical activity overall coordination gaming anticipation reaction skill |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1504205/full |
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