Flex Your Poker Muscles
When you play online poker or at regular poker tables, you’re stuck in one spot for a lot of time. What a lot of people don’t realize is that they can actually keep themselves sharp by exercising during the game. Not only do they help your physical health, but exercise helps reflexes, endurance, and keeps your mind sharp and focused. We’re going to go over some basic exercises you can do in a chair while playing.
Isometrics
By playing your muscles against each other, you can get quite a lot of work done without moving much at all. Start with your left leg and pace it on the outside of the front left chair leg and push inward, holding it for a five count. Release and repeat it five times total then do the same with the left leg. If you’re playing at home, you can do the same with your arms: push against the arms of your chair on each side for five counts of five.
Leg Lifts
You’ll have to be in great shape to lift both at the same time for long periods, but left your right leg up about five inches slowly and steadily for a twenty-count and then do the same with your left. It’s a good way to keep your blood flowing and keep your ass from falling asleep at the tables, which I happen to think is a very good reason to do them on its own.
Abdominals
My back generally starts to hurt around hour three at the tables and it’s always when I’ve got a good streak going. What I do is try to move my back into the chair by just using my abs. I hold for ten seconds, relax for five, and repeat it. Generally, I can manage ten of these at a time and I find my back feeling much less sore.
These are just a few suggestions of how you can keep your edge by keeping the blood flowing. The more blood you’re pumping, the more gets to your brain, the sharper you’ll play! Try these and see if your game improves. It’ll take sticking to it, just like any other exercise plan, but you shouldn’t be surprised when you find yourself playing longer and being able to concentrate on the game at hand more.
