Not sure if I'm alone here, but sometimes I find myself feeling very lethargic at the tables. Especially if I play long sessions. Staying up late to try to bum hunt whales and drunks and browse 2+2 certainly doesn't help. I'm sure it's healthier to call it a night at 1 instead of 4 to sleep and wake up at healthier hours but sometimes as poker players it's just not possible.

Can someone who's grinded full time for a while give their two cents? Also how important do you think eating clean and lifting is? Can it boost your win rate a few bb/hr? I feel like being able to play your A game for 10+ hours straight is very important. I'm lying to myself if I say I'm playing my A game if I'm up at 4 bum hunting and I've been there since 6 pm.

Could always sacrifice a few of the evening hours and sleep until 4AM and then head downstairs (or to where ever you were going to be playing). As unobservant as most players are, you simply happen to be the new player at the table...

There are threads in LCP about this, search there.

Get up and walk around.

Its great for your physical and mental health.

I think eating is important but I have no idea why lifting could be?

sitting in a chair for 10 hours straight is bad for you and there's nothing you can do to mitigate that. you can be insanely healthy the other 14 hours of the day and that's good, but it doesn't reverse the 10 hours of confinement.

people are meant to be up on their feet and walking around all day. there's no chair in nature.

if you're lethargic for long periods of time for no apparent reason, you should consult a doctor!

Are you just playing poker, or do you have a day job, too? If just poker, adjust your schedule. Learn to sleep during the day and use night and early morning as your "normal day." Lots of people have to do this for their jobs. Obviously, you should get up and walk around, take breaks, etc., just as you should if you are sitting all day at a desk.

And, of course, being fit and eating healthy is going to make it better/easier. That's a no-brainer.

If this is just for random long poker sessions and you have a day job -- suck it up

If this is your job and you can't change it, then adjust the other parts of your life that you can change. Eat healthy food, hit the gym, and get on a stable sleep schedule even if it is sleeping 6am to 1/2pm.

During your session, stay hydrated with water, stand up and walk around every hour for a bit and every few hours for a full orbit or more. Also, eat healthy snacks during your session.

Try to control the most your can and you should be okay. Most people who can avoid the health issues associated with poker actually eat unhealthy, go to bed on an irregular schedule, and never see the inside of the gym except for the first week after New Years Eve anyway so do your best.

I left and eat clean generally although I do enjoy some fatty food every now and then. I'm just grinding here during the WSOP. I'm a student back home with a PTJ but I'm planning to grind as well during weekends I'm not partying and some weeknights.

So far my only breaks are washroom breaks. I guess sitting out an orbit every few hours is a good thing but sometimes I'm glued to the table for hours cause I have position on a whale.

Nothing wrong with standing up in place between hands and stretching. I do this every once in a while without missing any hands and still being able to watch the action after I fold. This will help out a bit.

Ahem...

Countless studies show that working night shifts is detrimental to your health in a very significant way.

Yes, but there are also studies that I read about in the WSJ that explained that for individuals that are classified as night owls (prefer or naturally adjust to a staying up late schedule), it is best to not fight their instincts and to stay up late if they don't need to wake up early the next day.

The study explained that the biggest problem for night owls in fitting into "society" and having to wake up early the following day. If people can get their full 6-8 hours of sleep, then working night shifts can be managed to reduce a great deal of the negatives associated with such a lifestyle.

Do you even lift Bro!

lifting isn't critical at all... go out for a walk or do some cardio, it will benefit much greater.

get some other faking hobbies, life doesn't revolve solely around the felt... stop drinking.

You can treat poker as a day job too. I know several grinders who play 9-5 (in the day) and find plenty of success at it. You still have to make an attempt to game select and you won't get as many belligerent drunks but sometimes slow drunk players make your hourly pretty much the same as it would be. The Rio itself is kind of a bad example though, the games there do not follow a typical schedule because they are more heavily weighted towards tourney times from 11am-1am or so.

That is moot. Some people work at night, and if someone's job takes place at night, they have to adjust, and getting the right amount of sleep is part of that adjustment. The eating well and being fit is just a good idea for everyone.

The thing is, that studies show that most people can't adjust to that. Their body is simply not made for that lifestyle.

I have no clue about poker players, but health care (nurses..) seems to be one of the few professional fields without a correlation between people working night shifts and depression.

If you can make more money by working at night, wether it's poker or something else, you have to make a personal decision. I know only one person who voluntarily works nights and he's doing 12 hour shifts for one week per month to get the same salary as his colleagues who work a regular 40 hour/week day shift.

True, but those people are in the minority.

OP didn't ask if working nights was bad for him. He asked how to make it better. Trying to adjust your sleep schedule, eating right, and being fit will help. Duh.

Also, this is apparently just part-time, so not that big of a deal. Adjust as well as you can while you can, then go back to a day job.

I lived with an ER physician for many years, so I know what working nights is like for someone. He had a mask and earplugs to help him sleep during the day and he was extremely fit. He did just fine.

Friend of mine that grinds 1/2 1/3 plays when he is awake and sleeps when he is tired. He never sleeps 8 hours straight though. He gets tired heads home at very random hours and sleeps 4-5 hours. He lets his body dictate when he sleeps rather than a clock. Seems to work for him.