How taking care of your physical health relates to trading
I want to take the time to talk about your physical health and how it relates to trading.
You might not think it’s a big deal, but it’s a very big deal.
A lot of trading psychology materials won’t say much about it, or they may take it for granted that you should have your physical health in order.
Some people might think that doing cocaine, drinking alcohol, pulling all nighters is part of the trading process. They may even know a lot of successful traders who do that.
But if you’re even the slightest interested in high performance, you’ll want to focus on your physical health.
Physical Health and Performance
Imagine you have a car. The oil is really old, the windshield fluid is really low, and the gas is watered down with water. How well is the car going to drive? I imagine not too well.
How do you think your body works?
I’ll tell you how your body works.
You eat food. Food consists of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. It also contains vitamins and minerals:
Carbohydrates
provides sugars that your body uses for energy
Fats
stores energy but there are also essential fatty acids necessary for your body to work
Oh, and your brain uses fats (Omega 3 fatty acids) for functioning BIG TIME
Protein
provides the building blocks for your entire body. Not just the structural elements of muscles and organs, but the enzymes and other chemical reactions to get things done
Vitamins and Minerals
help facilitate those enzymes to get things done
If you have one runner with good diet and exercise race against a runner with poor diet and exercise, who is going to likely win? Who would you bet on?
Do you think it’s different for trading?
Trading isn’t Different
You might think trading doesn’t require a lot of physical effort. You sit in a chair all day and stare at screens.
I get it. Makes sense.
However, did you know that your brain uses 20% of all your energy used by your body? It’s doing work. It may not be something like physical labor that gets you all sweaty and tired. But it’s still work nonetheless.
Your brain is firing with its neurons consisting of receptors and neurotransmitters
(Protein)
Brain Cells are shifting constantly to keep up with the activity.
(Fatty Acids)
All this activity requires energy in the form of turning sugars into ATP.
(Carbohydrates)
If you have two traders sitting side by side, one has poor diet and exercise while the other has a strong diet and exercise. Who is going to be able to make clear decisions on the state of the market?
Actually, forget about who would be able to make a clear decision. Do YOU work better when you’re healthy or unhealthy? Would you rather trade with or without all your dietary needs? Without good exercise? Without good sleep?
Sure, there are some days where you’re forced to eat poorly or not sleep. Maybe you had to sleep late, maybe you don’t have time to cook a meal. I get it. But don’t think it won’t affect your decision making. Maybe you’re amazing and you can do without it. But why handicap yourself?
Let’s Talk About Sleep
Let’s talk about sleep. We all know we need it. But it’s usually the first to go when we’re under pressure. Caffeine is often our savior.
If you want your brain to work at max capacity. You need to sleep. 7-9 hours is usually recommended. People can have different individual sleep needs. But regardless, the benefits of sleep are profound. I won’t get into those benefits right now. Rather, check out “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Dreams and Sleep” by Matthew Walker.
How does caffeine work?
Caffeine blocks the receptor for Adenosine. Adenosine is a chemical that tells the body when it needs to sleep. It builds up in your body in the day and gets cleaned up when you sleep. When the amount of adenosine in your body gets to a certain point, your body starts to want to sleep (this is called sleep drive). Your body senses the amount of adenosine with adenosine receptors. When there are many adenosine receptors filled with adenosine, your sleep drive increases.
Caffeine blocks the adenosine receptor. It makes it so that your body cannot actually see how much adenosine is piling up. It’s a bit like saying “nope, you don’t have a lot of Adenosine, you’re fine”. You “feel” awake, when, in fact, you’re functioning like a sleepwalker.
Here’s an analogy
Imagine Adenosine is like garbage in your room. As you go about your day, you start to collect garbage in your room and when you sleep, a robot comes in to clean up the garbage for you.
When you drink caffeine, it’s like putting on sunglasses so you can ignore the garbage piling up. What happens? The garbage piles up more and more. You’re walking around in your own garbage without knowing it, tripping over things, doing things sluggishly and slowly.
That’s how you want to trade?
Will stopping caffeine turn you into an exceptional trader overnight? Certainly not. But it will turn your brain from a zombie to a decision-making/learning machine. If you’re not interested in that, then carry on..
Practical Steps
Here are some steps you can take to start making physical health a priority to improve your trading:
Identify your Basal Metabolic Rate
Google “Basal Metabolic Rate” to get an idea of how many calories you burn
Identify how much protein you need to eat per day for your personal weight goals
1. You can literally google “How much protein do I need to eat?”
2. The number is different whether you’re trying to build muscle, lose fat, or something in between.
Create a diet that allows you to get the protein you need
(1) to either lose weight, gain muscle, or any other goal you have
(2) while maintaining the calories you calculated you needed above
Make sure to get your micronutrients like vitamins and minerals
This is usually where fruits and vegetables come into play
Make sure your diet is balanced enough so you get your essential amino
acids and essential fatty acids.
I recommend engaging in materials from registered
dietitians
Pay attention to Choline if you want even more brain health.
Think eggs, liver, beef, chicken, fish:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-choline
Get 7-8 hours of sleep a day
Exercise appropriately for your personal goals. Please consult a trainer for maximum results.
The internet is littered with resources on how to improve your physical health. It’s also littered with absolute garbage so use your best judgment and common sense. Unfortunately, I’m unable to write things in more detail as it goes outside the scope of the psychology of trading.
So yes, this article may be off topic. But I believe it is super important and not emphasized enough among the psychology of trading space. Wherever you are with your health, I hope I made the case that your physical health is critical for your long-term success in trading. Best of luck to you!
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