Body, mind, spirit and... Poker!

There is no doubt that physical development has lots of positive health/life benefits. I think more and more people are starting to realize that and I believe at last EPT main event commentators even spoke about it. We can also see that trend among top pros (Annette Obrestad losing lately some weight and looking really...sharp , Daniel Negreanu exercising in his house etc).

I have already seen here that some of you guys are into combat sports,weight lifting or soccer and I'm curious how our great CC community spends their free time. What sports are you into? What is your lifestyle? Do you pay close attention to what you eat? How did these things improve your game? Did it reduce tilt? Do you have any routine you have to do before you hit tables? What do you suggest for live/online players? You know, basically what do you do, besides studying the game (and ofc playing) to improve your Poker. It does not have to be only physical, like the title suggests -> body, mind and spirit (reading/writing, meditation, travelling, drinking, music etc, whatever that you do)

As for me, mainly I've been lifting weights for about 4 years (nothing serious, I just enjoyed it) and doing Judo/BJJ for about 3 years. Nowadays I turned more into Yoga (I must admit, I've always thought it was for... pus**es until I tried it I've never looked back after ), bodyweight training, sometimes little jogging. I really like to do some Yoga before a Poker session, it clears my mind, gets rid of various idiotic/trash thoughts and really calms me down.

Looking forward to your responses.

Exercise and eating right will improve your game and give you a better focus on the game of poker totally agree any kind of physical activity will give you that mental edge by breaking a sweat and releasing endorphins

Exercise not only is healthy, but it helps relieve a lot of frustration and deal with variance better.

I jog and weight lift regularly and it is extremely beneficial to my poker game. After a couple of sessions you can get saturated of bad beats bad players and bad plays and with a hobby you can just clear your mind of everything.

I play rugby and work out in a pool with weights. The weight workout in the pool forces your body to balance to a greater degree than a ground base effort.

rugby0 said:

I play rugby and work out in a pool with weights. The weight workout in the pool forces your body to balance to a greater degree than a ground base effort.

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What do you mean "in the pool"? Like...in the pool with water? What kind of exercise can you do there? And with weights? :O

For me, general body awareness, and things that develop it like Yoga have been good for my game. I've learned that the things that effect my game- being a bit bored, or aggravated or starting to head towards tiltland, will show up in my body long before they show up in my game. So really paying attention to things like how I'm sitting, how comfortable or agitated I am, etc. really helps my game, and a lot of that starts by getting a better sense of where my body is in general with things like Yoga.

I agree and feel that keeping fit and eating healthy definitely keeps your brain sharp and undoubtedly keeps your endurance up.

Daniel Negreanu also brings fruit and salads with him to the casino.

I think its about mind, win, its a nice!

No I'm joking but you have to have a good mentality going into anything to expect any good result. Otherwise you are waisting your time and trust me, I've been there so keep going on the positive energy my friend.

Like any sport, physical fitness and a clear mind are key to success.

Nutrition and exercise are definitely key to maintaining a healthy state of mind for whatever endeavor you tackle in life.
A good spiritual foundation is also beneficial to a good attitude and approach to dealing with life in general.
And that doesn't necessarily mean go to church every Sunday. It could be any type of spiritual enhancement.
Some here have already mentioned yoga, a form of meditation. Or maybe martial arts, which also concentrates the mind with the body.
There are many types of spiritual undertakings besides organized religion that could improve a person's outlook on life no matter what kinds of games we play.