Nothing bites more than suffering from a preventable injury. Knowing that you could have done something to avoid whatever pain and discomfort you're going through literally adds insult to injury. At my Boston-area studio, Black Belt Fitness Personal Training, I'm constantly dealing with athletes looking for ways to stay healthy while they play the sports they love. And now that gamers are finally getting a reputation for being the serious athletes that they are, it's time to take a proactive approach to staying healthy. So, drop your Nunchuk or DualShock and step out of the Auction House in Ironforge for a few minutes, so you can make sure that you'll be gaming safely and happily until the last of the Mountain Dew is gone.

PREVENTING WII SHOULDER

The shoulder is a very complex piece of machinery. The muscles that make up the shoulder joint raise the arm up and down in all directions, and make it so that your arm can rotate to let your palm face the floor or ceiling. Heck, if the shoulder was any cooler, it would be able to stream Netflix in high-def. If you're doing a ton of Wii-ing around, you need to make sure that the muscles that surround and support the shoulder joint are strong enough to do what you need them to do. For the most part, the large muscles that move the arm up and down -- the deltoids -- are strong enough to deal with the weight and movement of the Nunchuk and Remote. Where you want to focus is on your rotators -- the small muscles that let you rotate the arm. In terms of size and power, if your deltoids are an Xbox 360 (the Elite version with the HDMI port), your rotators are a Game Boy Advance. But because of the way the shoulders are forced to move in most Wii games, these small muscles are called into play almost constantly.

You need to be doing this?

The lying-on-the-floor thing

This is a great way to work the muscles that rotate the arm externally -- or away from the body. Lie on the floor on your left side. You should be holding a very light dumbbell -- three to five pounds -- in your right hand, with your right elbow tight against your ribs and bent at 90 degrees. Your right forearm should be against your stomach and angled towards the ground. (If you don't have a dumbbell, you can use a liter-bottle of water, soda, sulfuric acid, whatever.)

Slowly, without letting the upper part of your right arm move, raise your right forearm so that it's angled upwards -- almost toward the ceiling. Rotate your forearm upward as far as you can without your upper arm moving. Slowly return to the starting position to complete the rep.

Do 15 reps and then flip over and do the same with your left arm.

The other lying-on-the-floor thing

To work the muscles that rotate the arm internally, lie flat on the floor with your upper arms tight against your body and resting on the floor. You should have a dumbbell in your right hand and your right elbow should be bent at a 90-degree angle, so that your forearm is perpendicular to the floor.

Slowly -- and without your upper arm losing contact with either your ribs or the floor -- lower the weight by rotating your forearm toward the floor. Lower it as far as it will go without your upper arm moving. Now, reverse the motion to complete the rep.

Do 15 reps with your right arm and then 15 with your left arm.

PREVENTING MOUSE WRIST

In a case of incredibly bad timing, the human wrist was invented just 16 short years before the invention of the computer mouse. Had those folks in Sweden waited just a few years before rolling out that first prototype human wrist, the world could have been spared a number of overuse and wrong-use wrist injuries. As it is, though, spending hours on your computer -- whether for work or for leveling-up purposes -- can put a lot of pressure on the wrist joint and the muscles that keep it happy. The human wrist isn't designed to be in a slightly bent-back position for most of your waking hours. To make up for the short-sightedness of those Swedish engineers, it's important to strengthen and stretch the muscles that act around the wrist.

You need to be doing this?

Oddball hand movement

With a light dumbbell in your right hand, sit with your right forearm resting on your thigh. Your wrist and hand should be beyond your knee and your palm should be facing up. Slowly, let your wrist drop towards the floor without your forearm moving. Open your hand slightly to let the dumbbell roll toward your fingertips.

Now reverse the motion, flexing your wrist and bringing the weight as high up as you can without your forearm losing contact with your thigh.

Do 15 reps with your right hand and then 15 with your left hand.

Reverse oddball hand movement

I could really milk the word count by going into great lengths to describe how to do this next exercise, but that's not the way I play. To work the muscles that extend the wrist -- and stretch the muscles that flex the wrist -- simply do the above exercise with your palm facing down instead of facing up.


PREVENTING 1080p POSTURE

Ultra-pretty graphics, non-ergonomic television and seating setups, and games like Far Cry 2, Fallout 3 and Killzone 2 have made it easier than ever to develop back problems as a result of poor gaming posture. It's one thing to slouch for a few minutes while you wait for the bus; it's another to spend untold hours hunched over like a human question mark while you make your way through Resident Evil 5. If Achievement Points or Trophies were awarded for playing through games with proper posture, very few gamers would be earning bragging rights. Of course, when you're out of ammo and you're doing whatever it takes to avoid becoming zombie food, the last thing on your mind is sitting up straight. The key is to keep the muscles responsible for good posture strong, so they're able to do their job, while you can concentrate on the on-screen action. You'll be sitting up straighter and taller -- and because you'll be less likely to develop back pain, you'll be able to play longer.

You need to be doing this?

The on-the-ground list-making exercise

Get down on all-fours with your hands aligned under your shoulders and your knees aligned under your hips. Slowly extend your right arm directly in front of you and extend your left leg directly in back of you. The extended arm and leg should be parallel to the floor.

To have the muscles that make up your lower back move through an unpredictable range of motion, you're now going to use your leg to write your five favorite PS3 games, final bosses, cheeses or game journalists. Actually, you can write whatever you want -- as long as you use your entire leg to do the writing. There should be no bending at the knee or ankle.

When you're done, switch your arm and leg and write a cool list with your right leg.

The crushing-things-with-your-shoulder-blades deal

To strengthen the muscles of the upper back that keep your spine all happy, do this really cool move. The cool part is that when you do it, everyone will think that you're being arrested by invisible police! Stand with your arms out to the side and your elbows bent at 90-degree angles. You forearms should be perpendicular to the floor.

Now, pretend a really good friend told you that they were really hungry, and that they needed you to open a walnut by crushing it between your shoulder blades. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold this position for a 10-count.

Return to the starting position for another 10-count before going back into walnut-crushing mode. Do five 10-counts of shoulder blade-squeezing.

To make the most of these exercises, you should be doing them every other day. Gaming doesn't have to be the dangerous and hazardous-to-your-health experience that the mainstream media wants you to believe it is. To get the most out of your gaming, you need to be able to get the most out of your body. By doing a little preventative maintenance, you can ensure a happy and healthy future of fragging total strangers.