How important is physical conditioning to you?

[Reaver]

We have all heard the correlations of strong body=strong mind and vice versa....

So how important is physical conditioning to you as far as trading and every day life?

If conditioning is important to you, what do you do for training? Also, what do you eat? Do you follow diet guidelines, or just eat whatever? etc...

Just figured it would be good to share some ideas and have discussion on this often overlooked topic.



I personally USED to run 8 miles a day and do an ungodly amount of PT (calisthenics)...but of course we had SEAL Team 8 H Platoon on board and they were some very generous guys to work with as far as dishing out new and exciting ways to cause extreme pain to yourself in the form of training.

I have toned it down significantly these days. I have a gym set up in a Florida Room (fancy word for a sunroom I think) and it has a standard olympic bench, two sets of dumbbells and a pull up dip bar and of course the heavy bag and a 50lb weight vest to make things more exciting...along with various other odds and ends (sandbags, jump ropes, etc). I pretty much just mix it up to keep myself occupied...I'll tell you, after 4 years of kicking your own ass every day for peak physical performance (I could clock a 1.5 mile run in my Bates 924s and BDU pants in 7:42), it is easy to burn out if you're not careful...so I have to strive to keep things interesting.

I definitely don't work as hard as I used to, and sitting at a desk all day at work doesn't help either. I try to keep things as unprocessed as possible...but I don't go crazy with it....I eat whatever I want sometimes..I love sushi...and I will eat the occasional lean cuisine or hot pocket as well.

Just wondering what everyone else did for physical training and diet, if anything.

[james_gsx]

Not a thing but run up and down stairs all day long. But I would really like to get into running again. Theres something about those early morning cool air runs that gets me going for the day.

My brother in law used to run several miles a morning then do an hour of pushups/situps (he was a Ranger). He would usually wake up around 3 am to start as I was going to sleep.

[TinGull]

The one thing I just started back up doing is walking in the morning. Either that or take a bike ride to the garden which I'm about to leave and do here in a few minutes. Or play the drums too...that gets my blood going more than anything.

To me, physical conditioning is VERY important. Does it need to be as hard core as what you do, Nate? For me it doesn't. It might for others. Last week was one of the hardest weeks for me in a year mentally in this game we call trading. I had a talk with a fellow trader here on the boards and we got to talking about how the subconscious mind has such influence over things you do. Then, I remembered a book I read called "Walking Your Blues Away". Sounds cheesy, yea, but I hadn't realized how powerful it could be.

That day I went on a walk for about 2 miles which it says to do in that book. I took my iPod with me and listened to some Anthony Robbins audio books and some Dr Wayne Dyer stuff and it was that walk that I think has changed my ENTIRE outlook forever. Since then I've seen the markets in a new light, and am seeing my whole life in a new light. The power that a walk and some positive thinking can have on your life is quite simply amazing.

So, I must head out on my bike to the garden now and check on the tomatillos and peppers

[Nick1984]

Im a gym junkie myself. I workout at the gym 3-4 times a week cause I just love to push weights and I love lifting more and more. When I break past a plateau I've been on for a long time it's a fantastic feeling. As I type this I've just come back from a big squatting session and my legs feel like jelly but it's great.

I love to discipline of bodybuilding. It's a very vain sport and it's very taxing on a person both physically and mentally. You've got to love yourself but hate yourself at the same time by constantly finding faults in your physique that you need to iron out. It's winter here atm so I've just come through my "bulking" phase where I've stacked on around 9kgs over the past 5 months of training. I'm 6'4 and in pounds I weigh in at around 220 or so but I'm not sure if thats a good conversion (102kgs).

Now it's time to start transitioning off for summer and to loose the excess fat I've put on with a slow gruelling process of cutting up.

Year in year out, same thing all cause I'm vain and I always think I can do better, push harder, train more intensely. Its a great stress relief pushing some weights, and when you cut up you can do other things like boxing. Have you ever tried hitting the heavy bag for 6 rounds of 3 minutes....thats some intesnse stuff!

Mens sana in corpore sana!

[notouch]

I use an elliptical trainer. Aerobic exercise is what it's all about in terms of health. You can also put it in front of your computer and monitor you positions while you're exercising. Note: not recommended for scalping. :no:

[Soultrader]

woah nick1984. You would be a giant here in Tokyo. Im 5'11, used to be a complete athlete and sports freak but ever since I started trading..... no comment.

I should get back to the gym... I dont think Ive broken a sweat in like 2 years. Oh yea... maybe try the Billy's Bootcamp excersise. lol

[Nick1984]

hehe James yea get back into a gym its fantastic. In the off season when I'm as big as I'm gonna be for a year its a big confidence boost walking through a crowd and seeing that I'm the biggest guy there. When I'm in the gym and I see a lil guy trying to bench my ego sometimes gets the best of me and the Arnold voice comes in my head and I laugh at the "girly man" trying to lift the bar hehe.

I'm about to start my boxing training in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to hop back into a ring and spar. Boxing is a fantastic sport if you don't have a lot of time to spend in a gym. Jump the rope, slug the heavy bag, do some speed work on the speed bag, and then do some polymetric exercises to develop your strength and speed and you'll be fit in no time!

[Reaver]

Tin,

oh no, I am definitely not hardcore...I used to be! I still keep it up as much as I can without feeling like I am going nuts.....it's alot easier to find motivation to be in peak condition when you know you may be getting shot at...but when you work in an office, it's a lot different!

I have found that muscles do in fact have memory...and it is alot easier to get back in chape once you have tuned yourself to that level before....

Another thing is that once you have crossed the threshold of where your brain can override your body (which will always try to tell you it can't do anymore)...you can pretty much do anything.

It's a fact, the body can do ten times more than it thinks it can. You just have to override the feelings of wanting to quit....once you do, the change is permanent.

I think there are some parallels to trading to be found in that statement as well.

[Reaver]

	Quote:	notouch
	I use an elliptical trainer. Aerobic exercise is what it's all about in terms of health. You can also put it in front of your computer and monitor you positions while you're exercising. Note: not recommended for scalping. :no:

hey that's a good idea!

heh heh good one about scalping. lol

[torero]

I think physical conditioning is quite important. I try to play tennis and swim regularly when I can. It's a great way to take your mind off the market and come up with new ideas or just recharge or reduce the tension and stress from trading, especially on bad days. Just the act itself gives you better perspective and focus.