Couldn't disagree more. Under those circumstances it's critical to maintain the big three. Even if you're working 16-hr days having reasonably healthy food, doing some form of exercise between pomodoros, and resting is doable.

I'd argue it's the most important thing you can do in order to sustain that level of effort for any amount of time. You can't take care of anything else if you don't take care of yourself, physically and mentally.

I think it's especially doable as a programmer. You only get ~5 productive hours a day, so why not take a long lunch break and do some exercise in between?