Editor’s Note:
With the $40 Million OSS XL tournament series kicking off this Sunday, we reached out to ACR Pro Ana Marquez for her insights on preparing for an intensive online poker series. In this article, Ana shares her personal strategies for maintaining peak performance during extended periods of online play. Her advice covers nutrition, exercise, and sleep optimization, providing valuable tips for players looking to excel in the upcoming series.
September has always been one of the biggest times of the year for online grinders. Being a month full of online series and coming back from the summer, which usually tends to be a more relaxed time, it is important to prepare for the coming month of nonstop online action.
The extra-large version of our flagship tourney series (OSS XL) is around the corner, and I would like to share with you how I am preparing for it. It is a month full of online value, and we want to be on top of our performance and stamina to play as many tournaments as possible, be effective with our routines, and not get burned out.
What are my pillars of performance, and how do I manage them in a time of full action online where we want to maximize our time and energy?
It is key during this time to increase focus, energy and execution. Our nutrition, exercise and sleep need to be right on point.
Let’s start with nutrition. Let’s be honest: at a time where we are playing most days of the week (and the ones we are not, we are either studying, session reviewing or resting), cooking healthy meals is not entirely feasible.
However, there’s no doubt that eating unhealthy and unbalanced meals in a time where we have to perform our best is simply not optimal.
How do I manage this issue? Batch cooking.
The week before the OSS starts, I have dedicated a full day to prepare meals that I can freeze and later on put in the microwave or oven to have them readily available. As for snacks, having foods like nuts, fruits, boiled eggs, yogurts and more, are perfect options to fill in the gaps.
Next, exercising. This is highly personal in terms of your regular workout routines. However, two things are undeniable: physical activity is of paramount importance for energy levels and focus, plus the added value of taking care of our posture since we will be sitting down at the desk for many hours during the series.
The way that I organize my workout routine is to go hard before the series starts and maintain during the series. I prefer to do longer workouts now, and during the series balance shorter workouts but still be consistent, and definitely add stretching or yoga to give my body a break to enjoy mind/body connection.
Be very mindful if working out makes you tired, and this is something that you can experiment with in the weeks before the series starts. If that is the case, simply do your biggest workouts in the days that you are not grinding or have a shorter schedule, and just incorporate softer activities like yoga or stretching, swimming, taking a walk in the days of full grind schedule.
Finally, sleep, which I consider the most important pillar, yet at the same time, in my case, because of the intensive travel schedule I go through all year round, is the toughest to optimize.
Sleep is paramount in our recovery, and if we want to perform our best for a full month of intense online action, it is necessary we don’t neglect it.
I could write a whole separate article on how to optimize sleep but let’s just focus on how to prepare for the following month.
If you asked me what the one single thing is I can do to optimize my sleep, it would be to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. With the online grind depending on your time zone, this can be challenging. What I usually do, and not only for online series but also for intercontinental trips, is I try to adjust my schedule to the time zone I will be grinding beforehand. That way, my body is adapted and has the same levels of energy and focus while I’m in the venue, no matter what time zone it is.
Optimizing these aspects can seem challenging but once you get used to it, it will increase your win rate in poker and life. Good luck at the tables!
To learn more about Ana Marquez, visit her ACR Pro page.
