Fitness Alpha

Get healthy and perform better.

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…   

We’re all unique when it comes to how we motivate ourselves to make lasting health and fitness changes.

Some of us may have a health scare and get motivated by fear.

Some may gain new data and get motivated by evidence.

Some may have a goal and get motivated by striving to reach that goal.

Some may want to perform better in other areas of life like our careers.

Some may develop an inspirational relationship with a mentor or a teacher. 

Some may have simply had enough.

Maybe it’s a combination of some of these and other factors.

Performance

Today, I’ll discuss improved performance in other areas of our lives as a motivator to get fit. 

Sometimes, this one gets lost in the mix, but performance is critical for those who are ambitious or who have competitive and/or stressful careers.

Fitness positively affects performance across several areas of functioning which I discuss below.

Many of my readers are involved in investing, markets, or finance where stress and ambition run high so I am going to use it as an example over the rest of this post but these concepts generalize across careers.

Things We Can Control

There are things we cannot control.

We cannot control asset prices. They rise and fall without consulting with us first.

Then there are things we can control.

We can control how we manage risk. 

We can control the knowledge we attain.

We can control the quality of the analysis we perform.

We can control specific performance factors like stress tolerance, self-control, energy, and more…

Fitness Alpha

I define Fitness Alpha as the degree to which performance in various areas like investing can be enhanced by improving our personal fitness.

Get fit and perform better.

By getting fit, we can enhance several areas of functioning that are relevant to everyone working in competitive fields and especially important to those involved in markets.

Getting fit can improve the following:

Stress Tolerance and Resilience - We get better at tolerating stress.

Plus, we increase resilience and bounce back faster and stronger from the stress we do experience.

We wake up fresher and more ready to get back at it even after a series of difficult days.

This is a big one during years like 2022 when markets have been volatile and moved lower.

Focus and Concentration - We improve our ability to focus for longer periods of time and can stick with something better when it is intellectually or emotionally taxing.

This is critical for work that requires recurrent analysis and critical thinking.

Energy and Stamina - We maintain higher energy levels over the course of long days and long weeks, so we have more left in the tank at the close and after hours.

Self-Control - We can increase self-control. 

This is important to those who might benefit in their work from showing restraint and remaining disciplined, which could improve discretion and risk management.

Force and Controlled Aggression - We improve our ability to act with controlled aggression like a boxer.

Being able to act aggressively or exhibit restraint selectively and with precision is a hallmark of great investors.

Flexibility and Balance - We can improve flexibility and balance, two factors that allow us to think and act quickly in the moment and to change directions fast when we need to.

Decision Making - We improve our ability to make decisions, especially during stressful situations.

Huge, given how prone humans in general are to blunder when gains and losses are involved.

I could continue, but this is getting long and you get the gist so I’ll wrap it up.

Fitness Teaches a Lesson in Generalizing Gains

Ok, just one more thing and it’s a meta thing. Forgive me, please.

In addition to the benefits I described above, getting fit serves as a model for how to approach other challenging endeavors.

We:

  1. observe ourselves getting stronger or faster or leaner with continued dedication. 

  2. learn we make gains when we stick with something such that consistency leads to compounding over time.

  3. Notice and increase sensitivity to how other things we do, like nutrition and sleep, affect performance.

  4. experience what progression is like moving from novice to intermediate to expert.

  5. learn that we can improve at something that increases in difficulty. This form of mastery is key for those who want to advance in their professions or whatever.

Over the long-term, fitness serves as a performance model that is generalizable to other areas of our lives like our careers, relationships, and anything else where we want to get better and better.

Prime Cut Links

Here are some links where I discuss specific aspects of getting fit.

Simplicity < Old post, still good!

Getting Started Strength Training < 4 Exercises is all you need really.

This Is What I Do < These days, I do a lot. 

This Is What I Eat < Strong guide with pics!

Where Do I Begin? < How to get started