For quite some time, there is a popular trend of streaming for 24 hours. Often (although not always) it is done for charity. The problem arises when the health of the streamer is sacrificed. People don’t really (want to) realize how much strain is put on the streamer during this period of time. We would like to provide you some information to raise awareness regarding this problem and describe how the physical and mental stress influences the health of the person that’s streaming at the moment. This problem have to be mentioned, especially because there is already a case of a streamer who died after streaming for 24 hours. Those horrors should never have happened.
For this reason, we’d like to present few, but very important guidelines for healthy streaming. Even if you’re not a streamer yourself but love watching others play, make sure to remind them of those guidelines!
Let’s get right into it!
1. MAKE A STREAMING PLAN
You need to stream with intent if you are even remotely interested in 24 hours charity streams, or simply a very long stream for fun or viewers. First and foremost plan your breaks ahead. Decide for a bit, when’s the best time to keep streaming for best viewership, and when to take that 20 minute break when everyone else has something else to do. It’s normal that you can’t satisfy everyone, but it’s your health at stake. When you think about it properly, making a streaming plan takes only a couple of minutes.
Doing things just for the sake of doing them won’t bring you expected results. The same way is about improving your skills in (PVP) video games like League of Legends or Overwatch. Playing competitive matches and hoping you will magically make you better in no time, won’t bring you any significant results. Professionals take their time before the actual game to think and strategize and set their goals for the match. The same way is with your Streaming. Keeping yourself healthy, might require some planning beforehand.
Our bodies are not created to sit for a very long time (although masses of people do sit for many hours at work). Sitting for an extensive period of time may affect us negatively. Not only our muscles shut down but our organs also experience reduced activity.
While planning your stream, think about:
- How long am I going to stream?
- How many breaks will I take and how long will they be?
- What/When I’m going to eat during stream?
It’s strongly recommended to stand up and walk for 5 minutes every hour of your stream. Sitting for an hour causes a lot of blood pooling which can be literally walked off in a matter of those 5 minutes. Although it might be hard to take a break so often (viewers also don’t like when streamer goes on a break so often), consider at least a couple of longer breaks over a very long streaming period.
If you’re going to do 24-hour steam – consider a couple longer breaks (at least 20-30 minutes long). Make sure you take a proper walk, open your windows, get some fresh air, and east an energizing snack.
When it comes to your diet, make sure you’ve eaten a proper meal before you start streaming. Make sure that the diet is balanced and nutrient. Equip yourself with tasty snacks such as candy bars in case you feel hungry during important moments of your stream. You don’t want to feel weakened, believe me.
Also, make sure to stay hydrated. While not enough food will only make you a bit weaker, not drinking lots of water may actually cause some serious health problems. Losing consciousness is the least dangerous thing that may happen.
2. CHECK HOW YOU SIT
It is important to take care of your posture and ergonomics. This will assure that your stream is better and you feel more comfortable and focused.
In the end, if you do have to keep sitting for ten or more hours (which is an issue), it is important to improve your posture and ergonomics. You have to make sure that your muscles are in the best optimal position. Proper posture assures that you can stream longer and won’t have to take a break as often as you’d have to otherwise.
If you care about your back and other parts of your body, and keeping them away from stiffness, check out our blog post where we mention couple nice chairs that are surely very comfortable.
There you go. Make sure to use those important tips while you’re streaming. Also, make sure you share this info with all streamers you know and tend to broadcast for long hours, day and night.
If you still haven’t started your adventure with live streaming, make sure to try it out with our software Mirillis Action! With Action!, you may start your LIVE stream in a matter of seconds
Author: Mirillis Team