Tuesday, June 9, 2015

A Challenge for Your Mind as Well as Your Body

Instead of exercising for my usual 60 minutes, I exercised today for only 10 minutes. I feel better physically and am less tired than if I had done the full hour.

To clarify: In one hour at my regular pace, I usually do 6 km. In 10 minutes today, I did 1.51 km.

If I had kept up this pace for 1 hour, I would have covered a distance of over 6 km.

In mathematical terms: 10 minutes X 1.51 on X > 60 minutes X 1.5 on Y

How did I do it?

Continue to read for the answer.



The quiz is a challenge for your mind, but it is based on physical exercise for your body.

This challenge will take you 20 minutes to read and fully understand, and about 5 minutes to answer, Scout's honor!

This challenge is based on my visit to the gym this afternoon. I usually exercise for 60 minutes on the treadmill but today, there were no treadmills available. So, on the spur of the moment, I decided to try the stepper. I had never previously heard the name of the device in English, because in Hebrew it's something entirely different. The name of the machine is suitable because it involves stepping on two steps, as fast as you can.

Here is my health situation. I am completely healthy, both physically and mentally. Also spiritually for what it's worth. I joined the gym, which is right near my office, after my wife told me in January that I needed to exercise more. I am a walker. On Shabbat, I take a power walk from Moshav Neve Ilan where I live to the neighboring Arab village of Abu Gosh. We live in the Judean Hills about 20 kilometers outside Jerusalem. I walk fast (for me) and I get to the village and back in just over an hour. I am not sure how long a walk it is.

Other facts about me: I am 58 years old. In the last few minutes I have checked under the hood (at my initiative, everything as part of a regular annual physical). Eyesight, throat, lungs, mind, stomach, weight, eating habits, sleeping patterns - everything has been checked and is okay.

I work in a marketing company and sit in front of a computer the entire day. I just got a smartphone 6 months ago. Reading texts on the smartphone made me realize that my eyesight is not as good as it used to be. I have ordered new multifocals.

After I joined the gym, just 10 minutes away from my office in Ramat Gan. I started going there 3 times a week. I would exercise on the treadmill and then take a quick shower. After that, I would drive home - a 75 minute drive give or take, depending on traffic.

I typically leave work at 5pm, get to the gym and change clothes as quickly as possible, which in the winter months involves taking off my jacket, etc. And then after the quick shower, I head home. There are only two highways from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I drive on Highway One, because that's the only way to get to Moshav Neve Ilan.

Today I had a meeting with my boss that ended at 5pm. I headed to the gym and started exercising at 5:20. There were no treadmills available, so, as I said, I went to the stepper instead.

I should point out that this is the first time in my life that I have ever exercised on a stepper. We used to have an old-fashioned one in our upstairs bedroom at home, but we threw it out because I hardly ever used it. Okay, I used it at a rate of maybe once a year.

And final information about me. I slept very, very well last night. I have no pressure at work. I am very creative (many of you know that I recently signed with a literary agent and that I am currently working on my 3rd novel). I have never done drugs of any kind, except for once in Amsterdam, where it's legal. I drink one beer a week, if any. I am not on speed, but my mind is very, very focused these days. I talk a lot. I am very open. I talk to strangers (okay, with strangers I just nod and say hello). I have a good sense of humor, that not everyone understands. (Only my wife understood that joke).

I never tell lies. I write fiction, sometimes fiction based on fact. This article is not fiction. It is not imaginary. It really happened today. I am now typing this article in the time I used to spend on the treadmill. My boss is my witness. She saw me leave at 5pm, and return to the office at 5:30pm. She asked me, "Didn't you go to the gym?"

My wife and I have a wonderful, wonderful open marriage - we share everything and there are NO SECRETS between us. I am only saying this because she is the first person in the entire world to read this. She is my alpha reader and she never ever agrees to my publishing autographical or private details about my family in my many, many published articles. Take note: no names are named in this article.

My wife has complained at times, that I am too wordy. I am too wordy. I repeat myself. I say things that are not really needed. Again, and again. In this case, the wordiness is for a reason. To let you see the facts (EVERYTHING IN THIS ARTICLE IS A FACT) but be a bit distracted from the answer (WHICH IS IN CLEAR SIGHT). There is no invisible ink on this page.

I have given you all the clues. 

Wait! I just thought of another clue, to make it easier for you to understand. Why didn't I think of this before? Oh, right, I was trying to make this as wordy as possible to confuse you. So, I will simplify in mathematical terms. Here is my daily schedule, before and I after I discovered this exercise system.

BEFORE
06:30 Arrive at coffee shop for one hour of creative writing.
07:45 Finish at coffee shop.
08:00 Start work day.
17:00 Go to gym, exercise for an hour.
19:00 Arrive home very tired.

AFTER
06:30 Arrive at coffee shop for one hour of creative writing.
07:30 Arrive at gym.
08:00 Start work day.
17:00 Finish work day.
18:00 Arrive home. Not tired. I exercised! I wrote! I have the whole evening ahead of me!

When I tell you the answer, you will be shocked, but then you will start laughing. Because once you know the answer you will just remember that some crazy writer from Israel pulled a fast one on you. It is such a simple question. The answer is so simple. Once you know the answer, you will realize that every single sentence on this page is pointing right at the answer.

So, again, how did I do it???

The answer

is

coming

just

a

few

lines

down

the

page.

Okay, enough of all those fancy tricks. this is a real mental challenge.

Here's the only additional clue I will give you, and I say it to my colleagues every single day, over and over and over again. (Well not in so many words, but they get the picture). I have challenged them with smartphone apps questions, and how to charge your smartphone in a coffee shop. Those challenges will be posted on my blog in the coming days.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.

Enough already.

I am not going to give you the answer. Maybe you know the answer, maybe not.

If you know it, write your answer in the comments below. If you don't know it, take a wild guess.

Everyone can come up with a guess - I am dying to see what you think!

Come back to see what your friends are writing? Will one of your friends see the answer - maybe he/she will see the answer on this page. It is in clear sight!!

There is only one right answer.

I know it. My boss knows it. My wife knows it.


I will tell you the answer.

Not today. I have finished blogging for the day.

Stumped? Want to see what your friends come up with?

Share this so your friends can list their answer.

Post it on Facebook. (I won't know because I hardly go there). Tweet it on Twitter. (I won't see the tweet because although I have a very, very big Twitter profile, I only spend 15 minutes a day on Twitter). Link it on Linked-In. Instagram it on Instagram. Do it on social media platforms that I have never heard of before.

This is NOT a chain letter or trick! I don't want your private information. Do not send this by email - unless you want to inform your friends about it.

Do whatever you want!

Because in reality, I don't care. 

I earn nothing from your answer. My book won't be sold if you answer correctly or not, and it won't matter if 100 people guess wrong and only one person guesses correctly.

This is not for me. It is for you. It is for you to have fun.

Come back tomorrow and read what I will add. The one and only real answer. And then share this article again.

Here is where I will post the answer:




That was it. The answer to my exercise challenge. If you don't see it listed, come back tomorrow. It will be there.

I promise. Because my boss and wife are witnesses.

At work we are constantly striving to get better and better. We are looking for original, innovate approaches to things we are doing for years. (I have been in the company for 11 years already). Everything we do is actually based on the same slogan I just told you: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.

Every promise I have ever promised to you has been fulfilled to the last letter. I promised you only one thing in this article. If I didn't fulfill this promise, never come to ELLIS SHUMAN WRITES again. Seriously.

And that would be the least of my worries. I am more fearful that I will get fired from job and end up in divorce court.


Okay, that's a joke. Sometimes I need to clarify.

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