What Day[9] and Starcraft can teach us about fitness

First thing’s first: I know things have been pretty quiet around here recently. I’ve intentionally gone radio-silent over the past month because I’m working on a few other things. Big things that I think you will all like a lot. Stay tuned...

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If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you are somehow involved with the Paleo/Ancestral Health/Functional Fitness community. There’s a decent chance you are in Boston right now for the Ancestral Health Symposium. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here when I guess that a lot of you folks don’t pay much attention to the eSports scene... or even know what that is.

In short, eSports is the professional competitive play of video games. I’m guessing that will strike some of you as a little silly or dumb; “playing video games isn’t a sport! Those competitors aren’t athletes!” Suspend your disbelief for a moment and consider these facts:

One of the most popular games in eSports is Starcraft. Starcraft is a real-time-strategy game (RTS) - you construct buildings that produce units and then you order those units to do things, like gather resources or fight enemy units. Every click of the mouse or tap on the keyboard is an “action” and RTS players often talk about APM, or “actions-per-minute.” Take someone who is not an RTS player but is comfortable with computers/video games and sit them down in front of Starcraft and their APM is somewhere between 10 - 20.

Pro Starcraft players have APMs in the 300s - 400s. That’s over 5 actions per second. And they can sustain it for 20 minute games. That’s monstrous. AND, not only are these players fast, they’re accurate too. They have to press the right keys, click on the right areas of the screen, etc. I could maybe get up to 300 APM for a moment, but only by mashing wildly at the keyboard. Watching a skilled Starcraft player in action is almost frightening - the amount of focus they bring to bear on the game boggles the mind.

How do you get that good? Practice. Then practice more. And then practice even more. The best pro gamers have rigorous training schedules - 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Practice is the only thing that will work - it’s true for Starcraft just as it’s true for everything else in life.

You need to love what you do to practice like that. You need to be 100% invested in the process. You need to get excited about it and then maintain your fire through the inevitable setbacks, discouragements, and difficult times. It doesn’t matter what we’re talking about; Starcraft, Parkour, the piano, your own health & wellness, etc, you need to find that love in order to succeed.

Once in a rare while, someone comes along who not only has that deep love, but can articulate it in a way that makes it accessible to other people. In the Starcraft world, this person is Sean Plott, a top level Starcraft player better know by the handle Day[9]. For the past few years, Day[9] has run a daily webcast where he analyses a Starcraft game, breaks down the strategies and delivers high level commentary in a way that is accessible to everyone. I strongly encourage all of you to watch a few episodes of his show. The games and strategies are interesting, but it’s the way Day[9} presents larger themes that I find so compelling. Woven into every show are simple but powerful ideas. Consistent practice. Relentlessly chasing down and eliminating weaknesses. Focus on fundamentals. And, most importantly, take pride in what you do. 

For his 100th show, Day[9] did an episode he called “My life of Starcraft.” It’s long - nearly 2 hours - but you should watch it. It’s ultimately less about Starcraft and more about working hard for success in doing something you love.

Day[9] loves what he does, loves that he loves it, and manages to get everyone who watches his shows interested and involved as well. He does this by showing vs telling. He helps you understand what’s happening and guides you through it in a way that makes you want to learn more. He doesn’t preach or push any agenda - he simply says, “This is interesting and here’s why...”

We in the fitness industry can learn a lot from this approach. We need to spend less time shouting about what to do, how to eat, etc. and spend more time helping people discover their own love of movement. We need to get people excited to discover what they are capable of. We need to spend less time pushing products and more time cultivating a community that is passionate about health, fitness, and physical skill. 

I try to convey to people how absolutely amazing the human body is and all the incredible things it can do. How cool is it that we can learn how to do spectacular things? How utterly wondrous is it that we can progress to do things we once thought literally impossible? How sublime is the feeling of pushing your body and your mind to the limit, to feel the blood course through your veins, your muscles tense and relax, your focus sharpen, your breath deepen? If I had a little bit more of Day[9]’s skill in connecting with people and conveying passion then maybe I could get everyone to a place where they couldn’t not exercise - where a life without movement would be be a bizarre notion indeed. We can do that, you know. We really can. We just need to practice our skills, walk our talk, push less, and guide more. We need to build communities. And, we need to keep working. I love this quotation:

“You want to know my secret? I just show up. Every damn day.”

Want to guess who said that? Day[9] did. We can all learn from him.