So you want to become the next esports star. Understanding the amount of time esports athletes put into their training whether that be scrims, team practice, or studying is important so you are able to model your own schedule off of what the best are doing.
Esports players from Europe and America tend to practice between 5-7.5 hours a day including physical activity while players from Asia tend to practice more than 12 hours a day.
However, it’s important to understand that professional esports players have time. A lot of time as this is their only job which provides them a living. If you aren’t earning enough money from esports to support yourself, you will need to make changes to
How Many Hours Do Esports Players Practice?
The hour’s esports players practice seems to be dictated by the cultural influence of each country or continent. Esports athletes from Asia tend to practice much longer hours than those from Europe or the USA [1].
In a survey of 31 professional esports players, of which 93% were of European and North American descent, 42% of players practiced between 5-7.5 hours a day [1]. 20% of these players practiced 7.5+ hours. Training usually occurred 6 days a week with one day off.
This included on average one hour of physical activity. Training time doesn’t just include playing the game.
It also involves video review, theorizing strategy with teammates, and staying up to date with current game information [1]. It can even involve team meetings and other sponsored events.
One professional LoL player from the USA practices around 10 hours a day.
Esports athletes from Asia seem to take the hours of practice to the extreme. Many reports, especially from Korea which has a rich esports culture, that they train 12 hours a day with one to two days off a month.
Essentially, anything that doesn’t involve eating, sleeping, or practicing was not part of their day.
Esports practice time also depends on the game. Games such as LoL, CS:GO, and DOTA require long practice sessions to develop mechanical skills and strategies.
Games like Hearthstone don’t require good mechanics (fast keyboard combinations etc) so actual daily gameplay has been reported to be as low as two hours a day [1].
However, Hearthstone players may spend more time planning strategy and theory-crafting.
How Many Hours Does Faker Play A Day?
Faker is considered one of the best LoL players of all time. It makes sense that many aspiring esports athletes would want to emulate his training schedule as success often leaves clues. So, this is what his typical schedule looks like according to Mobalytics.
A typical day for Faker would be playing the game for 12 hours with an extra hour of practice outside of playing. His free time may also potentially involve studying.
That’s 13-14 hours a day of practice which is approximately double what many European and North American players will hit.
In fact, in a League of Legends documentary on the All Stars 2014 tournament, when Faker is with his team, he says they would train up to 15 hours a day which is insanity.
Based on a few different LoL player schedules, a 50/50 split between scrims and solo queue is the ideal ratio.
What Does An Esports Players Daily Routine Look Like?
There have been a few esports players daily training schedules posted online. Taking our example athlete Faker, his typical daily routine looks like this:
4am – 11.45am: Sleep
11.45am – 12pm: Eat
12pm – 1pm: Practice Outside Of Game
1pm – 4pm: Scrims
4pm – 5pm: Eat
5pm – 6pm: Free Time
6pm – 7pm: Solo Queue/Stream
7pm – 10pm: Scrims
10pm – 11pm: Eat
11pm – 4am: Solo Queue/Stream
A similar schedule has been reported with another professional Korean LoL player:
2.30am – 11am: Sleep
11am – 11.30am: Wake Up
11.30am – 12.30pm: Eat
12.30pm – 5pm: Practice
5pm – 7.30pm: Eat and Free Time
7.30pm – 12am: Practice
12am – 2.30am: Free Time or Free Practice
What you may notice here is that regardless of long training days, they still manage to get 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep. Understand that there is no way you could perform a schedule this intense without adequate sleep.
North American professional esports players’ daily training routines have also been reported but this time for CS:GO. Team Dignitas member “artStar” daily routine would look typically like this:
11pm – 11am: Sleep
11am – 12pm: Work & Emails
12pm – 1pm: Cook, Eat, Family Time
1pm – 5pm: Errands, Chores, Admin
5pm – 7pm: Solo Practise (Video Analysis, Stream, Pugs)
7pm – 11pm: Team Practice
This schedule is a more balanced one and may be a better daily routine to model your own.
How To Create Your Own Esports Practice Schedule
Rather than trying to blindly copy the schedule of your favorite esports star, use their schedule to influence your own instead. That way you are more likely to stick to it as it can fit your lifestyle, preferences, and personality.
Night Owl or Early Bird?
Many people aren’t one or the other. Some are a combination of both or can sway either way. If you normally go to sleep early or late and wake up early or late, stick with what you feel best doing.
You may notice that the professional esports daily routines I posted above are all very skewed for night owls.
There a couple of reasons why many gamers use a similar schedule like this:
- Blue light from screen time negatively affects sleep by reducing the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
- Playing through the night is a cultural part of gaming. We’ve all done it at some point either online or as a LAN party with friends!
Create Time Slots For Daily Life Admin
Some things you just can’t escape. These professional esports players often live in a house with their team and have everything catered for them 24/7. You likely don’t have that luxury.
Having time slots throughout the day that are away from your PC or console to get things done such as grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and any other admin will help reduce your stress and have your life running smoothly.
Create Time For Physical Activity
Physical activity is important for longevity in the esports world. With approximately 78% of the 31 professional esports players performing some form of physical activity each day for around one hour, there is no reason you shouldn’t keep yourself healthy [1].
50% of these players viewed physical training to positively impact their esports performance. Further, having a strong physical appearance can potentially give you an advantage over another opponent during competition.
23.5% of all levels of esports players believed that their opponent had been intimidated by their or their teammate’s physical appearance.
Additionally, 18.3% stated they have been personally intimidated by the physical appearance of their opponent.
It seems having a strong physical presence may give you a psychological edge over your opponents when at a live tournament so creating the time for physical training each day is another layer to potentially improve your competition success.
Make The Best Use Of Your Time When Working A Full-Time Job
As an aspiring esports professional, you need to make a living to support yourself before bringing in the esports cash. If you’re working a full-time job, you’ve already “lost” a large portion of your day that could be used for practice.
However, all is not wasted. The hours you have commuting and your break hours can be used to study video, listen to any game updates, strategize, or even theory-crafting.
This means that when you get home or even before work, you can focus on playing the game and improving your mechanics and gameplay.
Summary Box
- Professional esports players will practice anywhere from 5 to 15 hours a day.
- Practise hours are heavily influenced by the culture of the country or continent, and the game being played.
- Games that are highly mechanical require more practice time while games that don’t require more strategy and theorycrafting time.
- Your own schedule should fit your current life situation. Blindly following a professional esports player’s schedule who has everything catered for is a recipe for burnout.
References
1. Kari, T., Siutila, M., & Karhulahti, V. M. (2019). An extended study on training and physical exercise in esports. In Exploring the Cognitive, Social, Cultural, and Psychological Aspects of Gaming and Simulations (pp. 270-292). IGI Global.
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