Hong Kong esports gamer ‘HotDog29’ takes health and fitness to new level with workout regime
- The 31-year-old Yeh Man-ho found his way to ATP Personal Training, revamping his body and his diet over the summer
- The Street Fighter V and Tekken player says he feels much better, has more energy and is having quality sleep, which helps him perform at his profession
The professional video game player was living a sedentary life, playing for hours on end and eating loads of fast food. Things have changed for the 31-year-old, and now after every workout he checks himself out in the mirror.
“After the workout is when you look the best,” Yeh said. “After a workout you have that pumped feeling and look good.”
After three years of professional gaming, Yeh, who plays Street Fighter V and Tekken, said he had let his health slide, competing in fighting game tournaments internationally that are one player versus another in a round robin style tournament.
“The good thing and the worst when you are travelling is you eat so much good food,” said Yeh, whose “Hot Dog” nickname is a phonetical play on his name and not related to the food. “When you are at a tournament in a city and you haven’t been there, like Paris or Tokyo, these kind of places have so much good food. I’ve been an esports player now for three years and in the first two years I gained about 10 kilos.”
Hunter said when he showed up at ATP in June, he knew they had some work to do.
“Hot Dog was your stereotypical gamer, very sedentary, the opposite of a picture of health,” said Hunter, who said an initial consultation broke down both his physical and nutritional goals. “So the first session was definitely an eye-opener for him to show how his previous lifestyle has led to his current situation. At that first assessment, he struggled with five push-ups and a length on the sled track, so it was a real struggle at the beginning.”
But Hunter said it wasn’t long before Yeh was able to use his profession to his advantage. He said after a few sessions the esports player was able to tap into a mindset that proved beneficial in getting through a lot of strenuous workouts many times a week while switching his diet away from processed foods and into whole foods.
“The strength of these gamers is their mindset,” Hunter said. “They are very psychologically tough, and that was definitely visible in Hot Dog during his time here at ATP. You can tell he took that experience as a professional gamer into this realm and utilised it.”
Professional esports players regularly practice their chosen game for hours on end, day after day, and the esports industry is now valued at around US$950 million, a figure that is expected to double in a few years.
Multiple professional sporting leagues, like the National Basketball League and National Hockey League, already have esports franchises in games such as League of Legends, a multiplayer battle arena game.
Yeh said after 14 weeks on a strict programme, which also included working out through a period of quarantine, he’s noticed some physical and mental benefits. He said Hunter was great at helping him build up slowly and he ended up dropping 12kg while also enduring a gym lockdown at ATP.
“The best thing is my sleep quality are so much better,” he said. “For me playing in a tournament, sometimes I can play for six or seven hours a day, so it has helped with that too. I feel like I don’t get as tired as easily and I have more energy.”
He said the best advice he can give to anyone looking to get fit like him is to make sure the goals are achievable and a part of your daily life.
“The best thing is to make tiny changes, but make them constant, and do them every day consistently. So tiny changes, but make them permanent. I mean, no fast food is a pretty easy one too.”
