To Play or not To Play

Picture this — you’re in the middle of an intense video game. Your mind is running a million miles an hour as you try to get your fingers to press the keys quickly enough. You’re trying to communicate with your team members over the headset about where they are and what their plan is. You’re getting closer and closer to victory. Finally, you succeed!

Then you check the clock and realize you’ve been playing for four hours.

No big deal, really, except for when you try to get up from your chair, you feel your neck stiffen and your back start to ache. “Ugh,” you think, “not again.”

Even if you haven’t experienced this yourself, I’m sure you can imagine just how frustrating it is. Video games are supposed to be enjoyable, relaxing, and exciting. When you’re playing, you want the outside world to be out of sight and out of mind. You should be completely submerged in the world you’re playing in, and you shouldn’t have to suffer any consequences once you’re finished.

In fact, playing video games is actually a great way to occupy your free time. Studies show that playing video games can help improve your coordination, problem-solving skills, memory, attention, brain speed, multi-tasking skills, and social skills. While playing, you receive multiple stimulations, both visual and audial, that can even help you learn new information quicker. If you’re stuck playing in an uncomfortable chair, though, you may not want to play for as long or as often.

The truth is, we weren’t meant to sit in chairs for an extended period of time. Our hunter-gatherer self wants to be standing or walking pretty much all day, except for when we need sleep. However, that doesn’t solve the problem of comfort while sitting down to relax with your favorite game. We know just how easy it can be to sit down for just one or two games and finish playing hours later. There are many important benefits of choosing a chair designed for gamers, even besides the fact that you’ll just look cooler.

First of all, an adequate gaming chair helps you maintain better posture. These chairs are designed to fit your personal shape and allow you to sit both ergonomically and comfortably. Some gamer chairs even offer additional cushions to alleviate back pain caused by poor posture. More than just helping with this back pain, these chairs allow for better blood flow to your legs, even while sitting for extended periods of time. This relieves joints and muscles all around your body, including your neck area.

Gaming chairs are also great for improving concentration. Like we mentioned before, you don’t want to be thinking about anything else while you are playing. With a comfortable chair designed specifically for the task at hand, you will have more time to focus on your skills because you won’t need to be thinking about trying to readjust or fix your seat to be more comfortable. Other benefits of these chairs include their aesthetic design, their room for customization (like built-in speakers), their ability to be adjusted to fit your needs specifically, and their long-term health improvements.

If you notice your neck feeling stiff, your back feeling sore, feelings of fatigue, or just not being able to get comfortable while playing video games, it might be time you considered investing in a gaming chair. We promise, it’ll be worth it!