If you are planning to go to hajj, it is not too early to start getting fit and exercising. Hajj challanges the even the most athletic among us. The crowds, the heat, the travel conditions and the loss of sleep drain energy from everyone. So it is important that you make sure that, in as much as is possible for you, that your body is not fighting against you as well.
To walk around the Kaaba 7 times, and to go back and forth between Safa and Marwah seven times doesn’t sound so bad. Plan on taking 2 hours to accomplish just that much of your obligations. If you get winded or tire easily, try to build your stamina. Start taking short walks now and gradually increase the length of your excursions until you can walk 2 hours or longer.
Another fitness concern relates to the restroom facilities. Once you leave your hotel and start the hajj, you will not have access to the western “throne” type of toilets. Instead, you will find them built down into the floor. For older westerners who have lost flexiblity as they aged, it is important to begin re-learning an old skill so that they can use the restrooms comfortably.
The easiest exercise for this problem is simply to remember that every time you want to pick up your shoes or anything else on the floor, you should squat down instead of bending over. If you start now, by the time hajj season comes, you should be flexible enough so that you don’t even have to think about it.
Posted by Umm Umar 
