frum exercise

Try buying a bike. They get the job done despite the bike itself not being “frum”

Bikes are not a substitute for a complete gym.

You can always try to get hagbah more often. Maybe go to a shul populated with older people.

Forget a treadmill. It’s expensive up front, needs ongoing service, and takes up lots of room. Your best bet is to get basic strength training equipment and get a trainer to come to you. Suggested equipment:

1) Olympic style barbell
Ideally a 7′ – 45LB barbell. If room is an issue get the 5′ – 25LB version.

2) Weight plates 45LB x 2, 25LB x 2, 10LB x 2, 5LB x 2, 2.5LB x 2
Ideally bumper plates (walmart.com acctually has an “Everyday Essentials” set that is very inexpensive). Otherwise regular cast iron plates are fine. Note that even if you go the bumper plate route the 5 LB and 2.5 LB plates will be cast iron.

3) Squat rack. If you don’t have room for a rack you can get squat stands

4) Doorway chin up bar. If you cant do chin ups yet get some assistant bands.

Train 3 days per week. Hire a good trainer to come to your house and teach you how to safely perform the following lifts.

Day 1
Low bar back squat
Chin Up

Day 2
Press
Low bar back squat

Day 3
Chin up
Press

Once you get the above lifts down you’ll want to learn another 3 lifts. the front squat, deadlift, and floor press.

*If you want to bench press you”ll have to add a bench to the equipment above. Since I use the floor press as an assistance exercise for the press I don’t bother with a bench.

For Cardio take a brisk walk on the days you don’t lift. You can also skip rope or do jumping jacks for warm ups on your lifting days.

The “Y” is the best option for gender segregated hours. As others have noted, one or two past efforts to run a “kosher gym” failed financially based on very low turnout from the frum tzibur. Its a great idea in theory but very difficult to make the numbers work. I don’t imagine a frum shul or beis medrash will be willing to take some empty space and convert it to a “fitness room” for their daveners or talmidim and install a few treadmills, exercise bikes and some free weights.

Try walking back and forth from the refrigerator to the table and to the kitchen sink. Bend up and down while moving packages in and out of the refrigerator. Lift grocery bags. Move hampers and laundry baskets. Pick up toys from the floor.
(and these activities have other benefits, too.)

farrockgrandma: Unless you’re talking about groceries and laundry for a family of 12 keyn ayin hara, that’s probably not enough exercise.

Most bochurim probably get enough exercise running around from shiur to essen to davening but not this Alte Chapper.

Everyone should get at least couple of hours of exercise per week. Boosting the circulation (cardio) and your muscle activity keeps your body sharp for all other activities serving Hashem. If you have the space and the funds, alternate between an elliptical cross trainer and a universal machine or free weights. If you can manage a daily daf video while you’re on the elliptical, even better.

What was the op before? (Sam’s is somewhat obvious)

(I think GH thought it was Sam – it’s his sort of talk – but it wasn’t.)