Before exercise day man cracked (7)
I believe the answer is:
chapped
'cracked' is the definition.
(chapping is a kind of cracking)
'before exercise day man' is the wordplay.
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'exercise' becomes 'pe' (Physical Education).
'day' becomes 'd'.
'man' becomes 'chap' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'pe'+'d'='ped'
'ped' after 'chap' is 'CHAPPED'.
(Other definitions for chapped that I've seen before include "Cracked with cold" , "in need of moisturiser?" , "Perhaps staffed by men" , "affected physically by the cold?" .)