Fitness in IB, PE, high finance, etc.

Hey all, I’m an incoming freshman attending a target school this fall. I love lifting, and fitness is my passion, but I hear about the crazy hours in banking. How feasible is it to actually be fit in finance? Ideally I’d want to go at least 3 times a week for about an hour and a half each session. Is this possible? Thanks

15 Comments
 
Most Helpful

100% possible if you make it a priority. I was the exact same way in college, and knowing what I was getting into with the IB hours post-grad, I made it a personal goal to try to keep up my physical fitness as much as possible on the job.

I'm at an EB and my office is known to work fairly hard, but I was still able to make it to the gym probably 4-5x a week on average throughout my analyst years. There will definitely be pockets of time here and there where you'll be too busy on a live deal and can't step away from the computer or you're just way too sleep-deprived to work out, but in general even during busier weeks, you can usually squeeze in a few sessions in the mornings or on the weekends if you really want to.

I want to note that I could do this because fitness was one of my top priorities outside of work. So there were definitely some instances where I skipped on going out with friends and staying out late because I hadn't been able to hit the gym all week and really wanted to get a session in the next morning before work or something like that. I will usually go in the morning since hours are unpredictable and you never know if you'll get out before the gym closes on any given weekday. If you build a routine and stick to it, you can definitely maintain your fitness even in banking.

 

Priorities as IB analyst:

  1. Work...2-5: Getting enough sleep, gym, seeing friends / family, hobbies

If you need 7-8 hours of sleep to function, then on most weekdays you will only get to choose 1 of 2-5.

However, unless you're getting trashed both nights every weekend, you should be able to make it to the gym both Sat/Sun at a bare minimum and be in decent shape. But without eating super clean all the time, it's tough to maintain the college physique especially if you were used to getting intense lifts 5x a week.

 

Aut omnis debitis quasi voluptatem enim itaque. Odio veritatis ut rerum repudiandae.

Exercitationem corporis est quam occaecati. Eligendi est qui est sunt fuga ullam. Voluptate quaerat et veniam molestiae qui dolore. Excepturi fugiat sint aut nisi modi assumenda. Quidem in unde omnis mollitia voluptas error.

Tempora dolorem sed ut in eum est. Illo blanditiis labore molestiae earum. Eaque aut odio doloremque. Doloribus cupiditate magni aut sapiente iusto molestias delectus unde.

Et iste ipsum omnis et culpa. Animi consectetur facilis modi. A dolores ea est ratione. Eos ipsa ut ut optio optio est quibusdam. Quis sed dolores vitae natus ut. Dolores voluptatem sapiente qui. Dolore voluptatem saepe dignissimos laborum.

Money can purchase freedom, if you have the guts to buy it

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”