At 72, Raymond Soletic is focused on building a sustainable fitness routine for everyone.
Soletic, who operated an independent ear, nose, and throat practice in Manhasset for 34 years, has published his third book, focusing on the exercise methods he has developed over many years of keeping fit.
Soletic grew up in Douglaston, Queens, where he currently lives, and received his medical degree from New York University.
It was a family friend who inspired him to go into medicine, he said. They “presented such a degree of fulfillment and happiness. I said, ‘Wow, this is the kind of career I’m looking for.’”
He also said the surgical technology and need for dexterity sparked his interest in the job.
The impetus for his book “A Lifetime of Sustainable Exercise: Exercise Forever, One Doctor’s Program” came from when he first started getting into a fitness routine in college, Soletic said.
“I’ve exercised every week of my life since college,” Soletic said. “The book is really a culmination of decades of exercise training.”
“The goal of the book was to share with people a lifestyle that provided good health and longevity,” he said.
Soletic also said he was concerned about making the fitness programs as flexible as possible so people of all different experience levels and abilities can use them.
“Not everybody can exercise to the same extent.” The book, he said, was for “anybody from college to 100 years old.”
“Many people have exercise programs that are unsustainable. They’re too intense. They craft the opportunity for injury that then disrupts [their training].” And after an injury, it can be more difficult to keep in a routine.
The book offers a seven-day program with variety built into it so people don’t get bored doing the same thing every day.
The book is full of photographs to show the proper positioning for each exercise.
Each day has some component of aerobic training, and six out of the seven days incorporate some type of strength training using either free weights or exercise machines.
The seventh day includes a QR code that links to a 43-minute YouTube video showing range-of-motion and balance training.
Soletic said he learned from his four years studying Korean karate, “another form of physical conditioning that had great attention to range of motion, flexibility, and balance,” which he used to inform the exercises in the video.
After retiring from his independent practice, Manhasset Otolaryngology, which Soletic said served over 35,000 patients during his 34 years, he took to writing two books for prospective ear, nose, and throat doctors.
His first book, “Ears, Nose, and Toes,” focused on running a successful independent practice and dissecting some special cases he treated during his career.
His second book, “Successful ENT Care,” covered Soletic’s advice and approach to ear, nose, and throat care.
But Soletic said his third book took the longest to produce because of all the pictures needed.
With all his experience across different gyms and various techniques, Soletic said, “I wanted to share what I did because I knew it was something you could do for a lifetime.”
