Stretch before you play!

Welcome Everyone, I’m Sol and today I’m going to remind you to stretch and warm up before you play, so let’s ease into it! Go ahead and loosen up and get comfortable first though, and a quick Content Warning (CW) for references to exercise, sports and stretching.

We love to play games, and I don’t mean just the royal ‘we’. People love to play, and we tend to rush right into it. Rushing right into it can get us in trouble though, and it doesn’t matter what you are playing! So today I’m going to take some time to outline different ways to stretch and warm up before you go outside, sit down at the table, or grab a controller and get into it. Follow my advice and you’re going to have a better time, every time!

You may be familiar already with the idea of warming up, but for those of you who aren’t let me explain. If you jump right into an activity then you are at a higher risk of injury, by warming up before hand you prepare yourself for the activity ahead and not only reduce your injury risk but also perform better. A warmup takes you through the motions of the activity you are about to participate in, just in a slower more controlled fashion. Now, you might laugh thinking about warming up before a tabletop roleplaying game but trust me, you should be doing it! Thankfully it doesn’t take long, and I have a wealth of suggestions.

I will start will the less obvious idea of warming up before playing a non-physically intense game. When you are sitting around a table throwing dice and laughing with your friends the last thing that might be on your mind is the idea of strain being put on your body, but it is there! Sitting for a prolonged time takes a toll, poor posture can cause muscle strain when poised over a character sheet, and even your voice is getting a workout! If you neglect those then you are going to feel it the next day; a sore back, squashed flat butt, and a scratchy throat has been the price of many an adventurer’s good time!

Before you grab those dice, consider trying a few of the following: shake out your wrists and arms, roll and flex your shoulders and back, warm your voice up with some light singing or speaking softly in character! Don’t neglect your emotions either, they are going to get a workout in as well! Laugh, sigh, hold silence with a pensive or sad thought, grimace in imagined pain, and scowl in anger, then let it all go on an exhale and return to your normal emotional keel.

If your play is physical, say a sport like fencing, then warming your body up by going through similar motions beforehand is probably familiar to you. Dynamic stretching, maybe a light jog, some faster motions as your muscles adapt. All something you’ve probably seen and done dozens of times. That familiarity can also make you less diligent about it, however, so always watch out for your friends and suggest they warm up and model that behavior yourself. Since physical activity is so wide ranging, I leave it to you to select a warmup that fits for you.

Whatever play you engage in, remember to hold space for others and have fun! When you are done, take some time and space to stretch again and cool down physically and emotionally. Take care of yourself and your friends and keep an eye to the future by doing things today that will let you stay fit to play for the rest of your life!

I hope that this article has helped you improve your gaming! If you enjoyed it, please sign up to be a member on my Ko-Fi, your support there makes me able to continue to write these articles and provide excellent gaming content as well!