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INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF GLUCOSE LEVELS AND BRIEF EXERCISE BOUT ON ESPORTS PERFORMANCE AND FATIGUE

H Nelson
T Andre

Abstract

Hannah Nelson, Thomas Andre. University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS.

BACKGROUND: Following 2.5 hours of continuous esports play, there are seen to be decreased cognitive functions (CF), including accuracy which could result in decreased esports performance. To reset CF, research has investigated the impact of a 6 min walk or 6 min rest halfway through 2 hours of gaming compared to continuous play. The active break improved CF more than the passive break, but performance was greatest in continuous play. However, this study included the break after 1 hour and the continuous session was 2 hours. Research has shown an improvement in CF following high-intensity exercise (EX), but long-duration bouts or EX using equipment would not be advantageous in this population. Very short, but high-intensity EX has shown to have similar adaptations as longer duration, moderate-intensity EX. A lack of research exists investigating the impact of a short active break using high-intensity EX during continuous gaming. Additionally, when compared to a fasting state, gaming while in a postprandial state did not seem to improve performance. This is in opposition to research that has seen an increase in CF with the consumption of foods containing glucose (GLU). However, research investigating GLU in esports looked at only 1 hour of gaming which may not be long enough to induce fatigue in esports athletes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between GLU level and CF during long-duration play with and without an active EX break. METHODS: Twenty males and females, ages 18 to 35, will be recruited to participate in an EX and non-EX trial. Prior to each session, participants will fast for 3 hours before GLU and aiming performance (AIM) are measured and then participants will eat a protein bar. Eye tracking will monitor visual fatigue and EEG will examine brain waves for cognitive load and fatigue during each AIM session. After 2.5 hours of gameplay, GLU and AIM will be measured, and then either 4 mins of EX followed by 5 mins of rest, or a 9 min break in the non-EX condition. The EX includes 8 rounds of 20 sec of burpees with 10 sec of recovery between. After another 2.5 hours of gaming, post-tests of GLU and AIM will be measured. Repeated measures ANOVA will be used to compare AIM, GLU, and fatigue between EX and non-EX pre, mid, and post-trials. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: It is hypothesized that the non-EX session will have lower AIM and GLU and higher fatigue than the EX session.

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