I'll be working as a SA for a BB in New York this summer, and am trying to figure out when I will have time to run a few miles. I am not looking to go crazy, but just enough to stay in shape/healthy. The office has a gym, so location is not a problem.
Any thoughts or recommendations from what you've done are appreciated.
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I would try to get it in before work because by the end of the day you'll be fried...that being said, if you haven't slept in 30+ hours, not the easiest thing to wake up early the next morning to run a few miles :-)
Maybe late at night once all the MDs and VPs have left you can start a cross fit / HIIT group with other analysts, drop down and do pushups, lunges, shrugs with heavy printers, etc...or keep some resistance bands in your desk so you can get in mini workouts any chance you get.
Sounds crazy, but the hours are crazy :-)
For me, they're more opportunistic than scheduled. If I'm able to get out of the office at 8-10pm or if I have to pull an all-nighter but got 2 hours or so of waiting around, I down a lot of pre-workout and hit the gym. Honestly, I try to fit it in when I can even if it means I go to bed around 2 am rather than midnight. It keeps me sane.
As a SA your best bet is to do it before work and in the weekend. Some people might take it badly if you leave your desk to go the gym when there's work. And if there's no work they will give you a benchmark/comp sheet to update.
Two or three workouts per week should be possible. I'm a gym rat myself - used to go 4/5x a wk in undergrad - but I couldn't find the energy to do any high intensity stuff like boxing when working 100hrs/wk.
Maybe a routine doing pushups/pullups in the morning could work. Saves you the time of changing, going to the gym, dealing with lockers, showers that are full etc. You could save sat/sun for the 'real' workouts.
I usually go from 7.30 to 8.30 in the morning if I get more than 5h of sleep the night before. If I only sleep less than 5h, then fuck it. 3x a week usually
in the evenings ... but will be switching to the mornings for reasons stated above by others
Who knows what banks have gyms at the office?
I don't think most banks allow their Summer Analysts to use the gyms FYI
Seriously? Well that would make it a bit more inconvenient. Can anyone confirm?
SA I knew at MS was allowed to use their gym.
How hard is it to workout during the day? (Originally Posted: 11/06/2013)
If I do IBD BB? Is it something that i you really try to do it, you'll be able to carve out 45 minutes or so during the day? I feel like it would make me more productive.
You can find time, but it'll usually be at odd hours.
I get an hr lunch and I got a gym close to work so its easy to pop in there for a workout
Late afternoon/evening
This. You'll usually have a slow point sometime after lunch where you can step out for about an hour. Largely depends on the bank.
My VP told me while he was at BMO his analyst use to go for a hour at lunch everyday and he would tell him it is the best time to go because the gym would be completely empty.
I haven't had the balls to try that yet.. you'd better be top-bucket rockstar to pull that off.
Makes it a lot easier if you have a gym in the building. During my first 3-4 months, it was near impossible -- I was focused on trying to build a good reputation and it takes a long time to learn and complete new things. But after that, and especially once the interns / new 1st yrs finally arrive, you'll be able to carve out a solid hour somewhere before dinner to go. Depends on your bank, but my BB was encouraging of it (for everyone, including 1st yrs) because they know it leads to saner juniors.
We have a gym in our building, but its pretty sucky to be honest. Its good if you want to go for a run, but if you are trying to build muscle...useless. I go to a gym near my house early in the morning. It sucks for a few days but eventually becomes a habit and actually makes you feel much better/more productive throughout the day.
Agreed with the above.
The best way is to wake up at 5am in the gym by 6am - 8am. Be in the office by 9am (Earlier if you're ECM). You generally do need to go to sleep at midnight at the latest to be able to wake up though ... unless you have superhuman will power to wake up that early on 4 hours of sleep or less.
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