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Let’s talk Exercise walking shoes. That’s important. Start with a route of about 1 or 2 miles. Pick up your
By now you are eating less vitamin K and have cut down on your portion size. pace a little so you are walking faster than you normally would. In the beginning you
Apparently knish sales are down 50%. So now, let’s talk about the other component of a may need to slow down at times. As you do it more often you will see that you don’t
healthier lifestyle. The Rambam says in Hilchos Deos (4:2) that it is incumbent upon us to need to slow down as often. And then one day you will be walking the whole distance at
do some sort of sweat inducing exercise in the morning. I call it sweat shel Mitzvah! Did a fast pace. You could try using time as a motivator. Maybe once a week time your walk.
you know that exercise is the best doctor? Or, that exercise helps you lose weight? Yes, See if you can improve your time the next week. Who knows? Maybe at one point you’ll
it’s only about 15% of the equation but the positive energy and discipline you get from want to add some running to the mix. Talk to me if you are ready for that.
exercise helps you on your journey. Or maybe you don’t need to lose weight. Exercise is a Another suggestion would be to use time as your measurement instead of distance. That
must for everyone. is, walk the same amount of time every day. You could use an app (Strava, MapMyWalk
First let’s address the number one excuse that people provide when told to exercise. etc). For example, 30 minutes. Use the app to track your distance and see if you can go
“I don’t have time” further after a few days.
It’s true. I’m not going to argue with you. We have families, responsibilities, jobs etc. It’s a How often? Well, that depends on you. Every day (except Shabboss etc) would be
fast-paced world we live in and it’s hard to juggle all of it. And now Shmarya is going to optimal but 4 days per week would be great. Aim for about 150 minutes per week.
tell me to spend 30 minutes a day exercising!! Really! A regular exercise program takes Maybe on Sundays you can go for a longer time.
time. It takes commitment. It takes the 3 P’s I mentioned in my last article. Persistence, Another thing that helps while exercising is listening to music or to a podcast. You can
patience, and perspiration. I just don’t have the time! Change is not easy. Just think listen to a shiur, a Sicha, anything. There are countless apps and podcasts available these
about someone who is told “Eat Kosher, it’s not that hard”! days. Maybe you could do your Rambam. That way, you wouldn’t fall asleep while doing
I will tell you this. You are looking at it the wrong way. it at night. If you do I urge you to get head phones that allow you to hear your
Exercise is not an “expense”. It’s an investment that pays back with interest. No Heter Iska surroundings. Don’t use headphones that cancel out all the surrounding noise. It’s
is necessary! The 30 minutes you spend exercising will be gained back during your day. dangerous. I use Aftershokz bone conducting headphones. They sit outside my ears and
You will be more productive; you will not feel sleepy in the afternoon, your brain will be allow me to hear everything going on around me. In fact, I can have a conversation while
sharper, and after a long day at work you’ll be less tired and grumpy. Also, you’ll sleep I run. If you are using Ipods then consider only using one while you are out there.
better at night. Did you ever struggle with a Tosfos or Sichah at 10:00PM only to Here are some other things you can do during your day that will give you some exercise.
understand it perfectly when looking at it in the morning? Well, think of your whole day Again, I stress that you need to do something that raises your heart rate, but these tips
like that. Those 30 minutes of heart rate pumping in the morning will translate into one will keep you moving.
hour of time savings throughout your day. So, you’ve gained 30 minutes not “lost” them. If you have an appointment on the fth oor, take the stairs instead of an elevator. Or
I know what you are thinking. “That’s all ne and good but I don’t have the 30 minutes to maybe take the elevator to the third or fourth oor and the stairs to the fth.
spare”. Oh, please! Let’s get real. What about the 20 minutes you spend in or after shul When you go to the mall park as far as you can from the store you are visiting.
solving the world’s problems?? Or the time you spend checking social media on your If you travel by air. Instead of sitting at the gate get up and walk up and down the
phone?? Or the time you spend at the meat section choosing the best steak?? Most concourse.
people have some semblance of being awake for 18 hours a day. That’s 1,080 minutes. If you have a desk job, get up and walk around every so often. Or get a standing desk. I
I’m sure you can nd 30 minutes somewhere in there. have one that I can raise and lower with the push of a button.
And here’s another excuse. “I walk around all day at work, so that’s enough”. Fantastic. Here’s another bene t of doing exercise on a regular basis. You will have an easier time
You are one of those who has a job that requires you to get out of your chair. That’s getting rid of extra weight. The discipline you develop exercising will spill over into your
certainly good but is it enough? Probably not. It’s like saying that I have ful lled my eating habits. Just don’t make the mistake of calorie counting. Just because your
Limud Torah obligation by reciting Birchas Hashachar in the morning. You have to get treadmill says that you’ve burned 400 calories does not give you license to eat that
the heart rate up. Walking around at your job does not do that. It is better than nothing second helping! And who knows? I’m not an insurance expert but maybe you can lower
but it’s not enough. your medical insurance costs by having better health numbers.
Now that we got past the two most common reasons/excuses let’s talk about starting an Here's something I can tell you. You can do this. I know you can. Do it for two weeks and
exercise program. The rst thing you must do is decide what sort of exercise you want to you will start noticing a di erence. The hardest part is starting but once you do it will
do. There are lots of options. You could go it alone (like me), you could go to a gym, you become routine and will be something you look forward to every day.
could join a group who meet regularly in members homes, you could take up biking, Believe me when I say that I am talking from personal experience. And those two
running, swimming, or walking. Maybe a treadmill or recumbent bike works for you. excuses I mentioned above. That was me 7 years ago!
Everyone is di erent. You should choose something that you think you can stick to in the Feel free to write to me if you have any questions. I can be reached at health@richler.org
long run. Walking is probably the easiest and most accessible. Either outdoors or on a
treadmill. Maybe you even have a treadmill that you bought and used for a week. In that
case take your shirts and pants o it and start using it for what it was designed for. Shmarya Richler
Whatever you do start slowly. Don’t bite o more than you can chew. I’ll use walking as Montreal
an example. It doesn’t involve a huge expenditure in dollars and time. Get a pair of good

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