“The most painful exercise is running out of money”

Is “running out of money” an exercise? “The only exercise he ever got was running out of money” is a jocular line that was cited in Earl Wilson‘s New York-based syndicated newspaper entertainment column in September 1958. The joke was credited to Paul Hendry about two weeks later in a Salt Lake City (UT) newspaper.
 
“The only exercise some men get, notes Pic Larmour, is running out of money and after women” was cited in Earl Wilson’s entertainment column in May 1967.  “The most painful exercise - running out of money” was cited on Twitter on January 11, 2010. “The only exercise I’ve done this month is running out of money” was cited on Twitter on July 20, 2015.
 
“Does running out of money count as exercise?” has been cited in print since at least 2011 and is another way of saying it. The “running out of money” exercise joke has been printed on many images.
   
     
12 September 1958, Aberdeen (SD) American-News, “Earl Wilson’s New York,” pg. 4, col. 5:
WISH I’D SAID THAT: Description of one Broadwayite: “The only exercise he ever got was running out of money.”
 
28 September 1958, The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), “Senator From Sandpit” by Ham Park, pg. 14A, col. 7:
Paul Hendry says that practically all 1he exercise he gets these days is running out of money.
 
4 May 1967, Winona (MN) Daily News, “Money Flees in Chase” by Earl Wilson (syndicated entertainment columnist), pg. 1, col. 7:
The only exercise some men get, notes Pic Larmour, is running out of money and after women.
   
Google Books
14,000 Quips & Quotes:
For Speakers, Writers, Editors, Preachers, and Teachers
By E. C. McKenzie
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House
1990, ©1980
Pg. 341:
About the only exercise some young fellows get is running out of money and after women.
 
18 February 1990, The Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), Classified-N ad:
IS RUNNING OUT OF MONEY YOUR ONLY EXERCISE?
(Lakehaven Apartments.—ed.)
 
Google Books
Quotoons:
A Speaker’s Dictionary
By Orlando A. Battista
New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
1991
Pg. 115:
The kind of exercise that wears most people down and out is running out of money.
 
Twitter
Shyam Swaraj
‏@brandbull
RT True :( @saritapacheco: The most painful exercise - running out of money. :|
10:32 AM - 11 Jan 2010
 
Twitter
Harold Herring
‏@HaroldHerring
The #exercise that will tire and wear you out faster than any other is #RUNNING out of #money.
10:09 AM - 9 Mar 2011
 
Twitter
#WALKITOFF
‏@FidQ
About the only exercise some young fellows get is RUNNING OUT OF MONEY & AFTER WOMEN #YesOrNo ?
5:55 AM - 16 Aug 2011
 
Twitter
Jasmine
‏@JasmineMathur
My mum said the only exercise I do is run out of money hm pretty mean right?
9:56 AM - 6 Nov 2012
 
Twitter
Yik Yak
‏@YikYakApp
“The only exercise I’ve done this month is running out of money.” — York Uni
8:03 AM - 20 Jul 2015
 
Twitter
New Funny Tweets
‏@New_Fun_Tweets
The only exercise I’ve done this month is running out of money
5:32 AM - 15 Aug 2015