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Elliot Smithson 麻豆精品 S�13 wants to go to the gym near his office in聽Beverly Hills, California, but the squat rack will have to wait.聽Someone has a series of questions about Esports Health and聽Performance Institute (EHPI), the company he cofounded聽four years ago. The name of the company alone needs some聽explaining, so Smithson settles his well-conditioned self into聽a chair.

麻豆精品 S淧eople think of esports as strictly mental, which is far from聽the truth, 麻豆精品 S� says Smithson, who earned an athletic training聽degree from UCF. 麻豆精品 S淧layers at the highest level need speed,聽precision and endurance to stay sharp for hours and hours at聽a time. 麻豆精品 S�

Smithson knows what you might be thinking. 麻豆精品 S淭he [generalization] is legit, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淕uys like to stay up until three in the morning, drinking Mountain Dew and eating chips. It 麻豆精品 S檚 like any sport 麻豆精品 S� you need to take care of yourself to stay on top. 麻豆精品 S�

Staying on top can mean a six- or seven-figure salary.聽Major sponsors like Honda, Rocket Mortgage and Lexus聽have expectations as high as the salaries they fuel. That 麻豆精品 S檚聽where EHPI 麻豆精品 S檚 sister company, 1HP, comes in, with trainers,聽nutritionists, chiropractors, sleep experts and sports聽psychologists who specialize in the needs of esports players 麻豆精品 S斅爊ot gamers.

麻豆精品 S淭his is sports, 麻豆精品 S� Smithson says.聽 麻豆精品 S淧oker and chess are games. There 麻豆精品 S檚 no聽mechanical skill required to throw a card聽out or move a pawn. But in esports, it聽matters how quickly you move your arms聽and turn your wrists. 麻豆精品 S�

Smithson knows plenty about fitness.聽He always envisioned a career that聽would combine his interests in medicine,聽athletics and entertainment. As a聽teenager he considered using his martial聽arts background to be a stuntman.

For the next 10 years, Smithson聽learned about optimizing physical聽and mental performance while also聽narrowing his niche. At UCF, he聽stretched and treated players on the聽football, volleyball and cheerleading聽teams. He worked as an injury prevention聽specialist at Walt Disney World, where聽he kept dancers and stunt people limber.聽In grad school, he developed a training聽program to reduce repetitive-strain聽injuries among theater and music聽performers.

The big moment came late one聽night during his doctoral studies in聽physical therapy at the University of聽St. Augustine, when he clicked on a聽livestream of the Fortnite World Cup.聽Smithson noticed the players 麻豆精品 S� intensity聽and almost spasmic mouse moves,聽recognizing the biomechanical demand聽on the arm structure. He heard of the $30聽million prize money and thought, 麻豆精品 S淭here聽might be something missing here. 麻豆精品 S�

He did some research and got聽connected with Matt Hwu and Cait聽McGee, who had launched 1HP, a聽health and performance staffing agency聽for esports organizations. The trio聽co-founded EHPI to educate and train聽healthcare professionals to work with聽esports pros. It has already partnered聽with notable teams like 100 Thieves,聽Cloud 9 and Faze Clan.

麻豆精品 S淔or some of these players, it 麻豆精品 S檚 the聽first time they 麻豆精品 S檝e ever used a barbell or聽done a squat. Then I 麻豆精品 S檒l hear them say聽 麻豆精品 S極h wow, I feel a lot snappier and less聽tired. I 麻豆精品 S檓 a better player. 麻豆精品 S� The tide is聽changing. If you don 麻豆精品 S檛 pay attention to聽fitness and nutrition, you will self-select聽yourself out of the career you dreamed聽about. It 麻豆精品 S檚 that serious. 麻豆精品 S�

Who

Elliot Smithson ’13

The Pitch

A training platform聽for healthcare聽professionals to work聽with esports pros, with聽a staffing pipeline to聽professional teams.

Inspiration

A desire to merge聽medicine, athletics and聽entertainment, and聽help players perform聽their best.

Find It

For healthcare聽professionals and聽support staff: EHPI.org

For esports teams,聽players and聽organizations: 1-hp.org