Mental recovery for gamers: 9 tips for a brain restart

Those who recover efficiently will be fit again more quickly and can concentrate better. These pause strategies take your game to the next level.

Table of contents

1. Gaming is relaxation after all. Or not?

2. Tips for more mental recovery after gaming

1. Gaming is relaxation after all. Or not?

On the one hand, a round of gaming is ideal for clearing your head after a day at work. On the other hand, not everything that is fun or leisure is automatically relaxation.

Even if you're gaming just for fun, it's putting a lot of demands on your brain and your eyes. Concentration, reaction, adaptation to changing light and image conditions and so on: gaming is multitasking for professionals.

In professional sports, regeneration has long been considered an important element of good training planning. Only those who regenerate well can stay healthy in the long term and perform well. This thinking has long since arrived in e-sports.

The supercompensation model

The term supercompensation originally comes from training theory, but can also be transferred to the brain. The basics are simple: If you exert yourself over a longer period of time, your body needs a certain amount of rest to recover.

During this time, reserves are built up, the body processes the stress and prepares itself to be able to cope better the next time. In other words, your body learns during the break.

Alternating stress and recovery allows you to get better. If the recovery is too short, the opposite happens. You will gradually become more exhausted and your performance will decrease. From this point on, in sports we speak of overtraining. In gaming, you notice this lack of recovery, for example, in difficulty concentrating, slowed regeneration, headaches, a weakened immune system and other non-specific reactions, such as listlessness, low mood, fatigue and overall poorer performance.

Once it gets to this point, you'll need quite a while and a lot of time away from the computer to get back on track. So it's better not to let it get to that point, but give yourself a break when you realize that you need it. And to be honest: just chilling out isn't that bad.

One of the most important factors for recovery after gaming is good sleep. These 7 tips will help you avoid bad sleep after gaming. Sleep & Recovery helps you quickly get to dreamland (thanks to melatonin), while the saffron extract it contains promises your eyes an all-round wellness treatment.

2. 9 tips for more mental recovery after gaming

Recovery after gaming sounds easy. However, not all time off is the same. The more you can actually recover during your gaming breaks, the more you will benefit from them. The following tips make your breaks a real restart for the brain.

#1 Move

A break is time to get from your head into your body. Time out for the brain, variety for your sitting muscles. It's no secret that almost any form of exercise is good for the body. But the brain also benefits directly from exercise.

When gaming, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for completing mental tasks, primarily works. The networking of brain cells is also trained. But every now and then your brain needs a break. And it works best when the movement center takes over and gives the thinking center a break.

In addition, exercise promotes blood circulation in the brain, ensures the release of growth hormones and, last but not least, supports the networking of brain cells and thus improves the brain's learning performance. Stress hormones are reduced and happiness hormones are released. The ideal mental recovery after gaming!

Enough reasons to put your sports shoes next to your computer? We think so too.

Tip: If you feel too exhausted to exercise after a long session, our Energy Bites will give you a jumpstart. With energy from dates and nuts, natural caffeine from Guarana and a mix of important vitamins.

#2 Drink something

Namely water, thin juice spritzers or unsweetened tea. Our brain consists of around 80% water. If we drink too little, the consistency of the blood changes, meaning less oxygen is transported to the brain. You'll notice this in difficulty concentrating, headaches, fatigue, etc. Permanent lack of fluids can even cause brain mass to shrink.

To prevent it from getting that far, it's best to drink enough while you're gaming. Every break definitely needs a glass of water to recover from gaming.

Tip: The next session is already coming up? Then you can kill several birds with one stone with our Next Level Booster 2.0: 500 ml of water, 100% caffeine from Guarana and 100% natural taste. This means you are well prepared for your next round.

#3 Fresh air for everyone

Oxygen perks up tired people. In order for this to reach the brain, you not only need water and exercise, but also fresh air. In order to stay focused, your whole body needs oxygen. Ventilating regularly reduces the risk of headaches and fatigue and helps you stay focused. Banal, but important.

#4 Take a deep breath

While we're on the subject of air: breathing always helps! Close your eyes and breathe long and slowly into your stomach and breathe out just as long and slowly. Meditation for gamers is becoming increasingly popular. Breathing is the first step towards this. Slow, conscious breathing calms the central nervous system, reduces the release of stress hormones and initiates various processes that support mental recovery after gaming.

Our tip: Begin each break by closing your eyes and taking three long breaths in and out with full focus. This is how you mentally check yourself out of the game and start the break.

#5 Eat healthy

This only has something to do with taking breaks, but it is essential for gamers' mental recovery. A healthy diet and a balanced and needs-based supply of all micro and macronutrients is the be-all and end-all for mental and physical health, recovery and performance.

#6 Switch to real life

Unfortunately, binging YouTube clips for a short 15 minutes to relax or researching tips for a higher score is not valid. Your brain wants break, not input. In order to recover, your gray cells have to let go for a moment. Leave the room, make yourself some tea, talk to your roommates or look out the window. This change in setting gives you the opportunity to let go of everything for a moment and then start again afterwards.

By the way, looking out the window not only makes your head happy, but also helps avoid gamer eye.

#7 Enjoy your break

A break is only a break if you enjoy it. And that is THE prerequisite for mental recovery after gaming. Work emails, scrolling social feeds and doing laundry or annoying to-dos are basically a screen break and (in some cases) give you exercise, but are not considered real relaxation.

#8 Value your break as a performance boost

Instead of being a necessary evil or prescribed off-time. Breaks are not a sign of weakness, but part of the game. Just as the character needs to recharge in order to have full life energy again, you also need breaks in order to be able to give 100% and stay healthy. Not to mention that being refreshed always feels better than being exhausted. A good break is effective self-care for gamers.

#9 The final break – But please do it correctly

Sleep is and remains the best means of (mental) regeneration for gamers. During sleep, the brain processes all impressions, stores what it has learned and recovers from the demands of the day. At the same time, metabolic end products are transported away, brain cells are linked and other countless metabolic processes are carried out to maintain health and performance.

Blue light, irregular sleep patterns and long sessions on the weekend can throw a spanner in the works. Our 7 everyday tips to prevent bad sleep after gaming will help you recover mentally without destroying your gaming routine.

If that's not enough, our Sleep & Recovery with melatonin and saffron extract is the perfect bedtime treat for your eyes.