Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2020
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management
First Advisor
Thomas Andre
Second Advisor
Martha Bass
Third Advisor
Xin Ye
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Given the rise in popularity of Esports, it is important to better understand the relationship between Esports and the human body. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between blood glucose levels and performance in Esports. Ten undergraduate students (9 male, 1 female; age = 20.3±1.2 years; BMI = 28.8±7.6; Esports mean hours per week = 18.9±14.3) were recruited from the Esports club at the University of Mississippi. Blood glucose levels were measured using a HemoCue Glucose 201 Analyzer (Angelhome, Sweden) a total of 8 times (4 per session). After the completion of an initial familiarization session, participants arrived at the laboratory for two further sessions (fed & fasted) following an 8 hour fast. During these sessions an initial baseline measurement was recorded upon entry to the lab to ensure a fasted state, after which the participant either received a Cliff Bar (Emeryville, CA; 21g of sugar, 250kcals) or remained fasted. Participants then waited one hour before having their blood glucose and mental fatigue recorded. They then played the two Esports training programs Aim Hero and Osu in counterbalanced order for 30 minutes each. Two further glucose measurements were taken following completion of each 30 minute gaming interval, and mental fatigue and enjoyment level were recorded at the end of the session. Mean blood glucose was significantly higher at the pre (110.8±25.3mg/dL vs 90.9±9.4mg/dL, P = 0.045), 30 min (96.3±10.3mg/dL vs 84.9±89mg/dL, P = 0.002), and post (91.9±5.7mg/dL vs 83.7±7.0mg/dL, P = 0.011) recordings during the fed session in comparison to fasted. Mental fatigue was not significantly affected by session and/or time. There was no significant increase in performance (P > 0.05) for any of the measured statistics in either of the training programs; however, mean values for most performance statistics did increase for the fed session of both programs. Given that some increase in performance was measured, further research should be conducted on the relationship between blood glucose levels and Esports performance.
Recommended Citation
Rhoden, Gunner, "Blood Glucose Levels of Esports Athletes During High Intensity Gaming" (2020). Honors Theses. 1474.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1474
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