Purpose: This research project focuses on the subjects of high intensity acute exercise and the benefits of it, while also looking into how it might affect individuals adept in different games in eSports. eSports has evolved rapidly over the course of the last 30 years where the audience and player base now spans several hundred million. The competitive scene of some games in eSports has also flourished in particular for League of Legends (LoL) and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), where viewership and prize pool often breaks one million. The purpose is therefore to test whether a high intensity acute bout of team-based (TB) exercise can enhance elite eSport athletes’, in LoL and CS:GO, Visuomotor Processing Speed and vigilance in a Timed Chase Test (TCT) and a Perceptual Vigilance Task (PVT) while comparing the effects of the acute TB exercise with a group of healthy non-gamers.
Method: A crossover design was used with 8 elite eSport athletes and 9 healthy non-gamers. The groups received information that both the control condition and the acute bout of exercise should increase their Visuomotor Processing Speed and Vigilance. On each test day 4-6 participants of either group showed up to either 30 minutes of rest in a declined gaming chair or 30 minutes of floorball in two teams with 3 on each team. The groups were then either placed immediately at the computer after rest to execute the TCT and PVT or had to rest 20 minutes after the acute bout of exercise, whereafter they executed the TCT and PVT. Results from the Pre TCT, Post TCT, and Post PVT were recorded in Inquisit Lab 5.
Results: No significant differences were found for any of the interactions in TCT or PVT. A significant main effect for group and time was found for the TCT, where the elite eSports athletes on average made 28,8 more correct moves compared to the non-gamers across all conditions and time points. Significant differences was found for errortype*condition*time with the amount of Legal Errors (LE) during the TCT being significantly higher from pre to post testing of the acute bout of TB exercise. A significant difference was seen for the duration of the PVT across groups and conditions with reaction times (RT) generally being slower from the first two minutes to the last two minutes.
Conclusion: In conclusion no effect of acute high intensity TB physical exercise was found on the visuomotor processing speed or vigilance on neither elite eSport athletes or healthy non-gamers. The study contributes knowledge as to how elite eSport athletes and healthy non-gamers perform in a new way to use TCT and a novel way to interpret results of a PVT.