H1Z1 Pro League Heart Rate Monitors Reveal Who Can Keep Their Cool

It’s one thing to see how a player reacts to the events of a game, but the usage of heart rate monitors for the H1Z1 Pro League matches reveals much more about the players and their ability to keep cool, calm, and collected. Before we take a look at how the H1Z1 Pros handled the stress of the opening games of the H1Z1 Pro League, let’s look at what would be considered normal for the average person.

I found use of heart rate monitor most interesting last night while watching 15 #esports teams & 75 players in @H1Z1 battle royale format. Expect to see more uses for wearables in future. pic.twitter.com/CRQgpEWAjw

— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) April 22, 2018

As you can read about here, the American Heart Association classifies a normal resting heart rate at between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm). That might seem like quite a big gap, but the truth is that unless your resting heart rate is outside those numbers, it’s fairly average. Those that are very fit might see their average bpm sit under that, most athletes have a lower bpm than the average person, and likewise those that are not very fit might see a slightly higher bpm than the average, but in general your bpm won’t change much just from sitting around relaxing. It’s when we start to do activities that things really get interesting.

A study conducted by Professor Igor Froböse at the German Sports University in Cologne, looked at the physical strains that Esports Pros were put under during their matches, and found some very surprising results. "We were particularly impressed by both the demands placed on the motor skills and their capabilities," Froböse said. "The eSports athletes achieve up to 400 movements on the keyboard and the mouse per minute, four times as much as the average person. The whole thing is asymmetrical, because both hands are being moved at the same time and various parts of the brain are also being used at the same time."

Froböse also looked at the levels of stress hormone "Cortisol" and measured the heart rates of the players in the study to compare the results to established base-lines from other athletes. "The amount of cortisol produced is about the same level as that of a race-car driver, this is combined with a high pulse, sometimes as high as 160 to 180 beats per minute, which is equivalent to what happened during a very fast run, almost a marathon."

So what does this mean for the players of the H1Z1 Pro League? For starters, due to the fact that the players competing in the H1Z1 Pro League are outfitted with heart rate monitors, we are able to see exactly how stressed their bodies become during the competition. While the action is obviously not 100% from the get go, there is still a reasonable divergence between the heart rates of some of these players. This kind of competition is perfectly designed to create a high intensity period for these players, as due to the nature of the game there isn’t really a lot of down time during the match. Right now, the H1Z1 Pro League is the only competition utilizing this kind of technology, which sets them apart in terms of the level of information they are able to provide to viewers. Whether the usage of biometric monitoring will spread to other competitions remains unknown at this time, but everything has to start somewhere, and much like being the first Battle Royale Esport, H1Z1 is leading the way in this right now.

Looking for more H1Z1 action? Check out our interview with CLG’s John "creanak" Houston, stepping in to fill a last minute gap and help CLG to their top four finish.