Stay cool, do your IPPT run on a treadmill

IAF SG

the wonder of WITS! Idea Truly an idea whose time has finally arrived! Mr. Green

Stay cool, do your IPPT run on a treadmill
By Benjamin Nadarajan

OPERATIONALLY-ready national servicemen (NSmen) can soon choose to run the 2.4km for their Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) on treadmills in air-conditioned gyms.

For a trial year beginning Jan 5, the Safra National Service Association clubhouses in Tampines and Toa Payoh will be used as IPPT venues.

Instead of pounding six times round an outdoor track, NSmen will run on treadmills.

Other tests - chin-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run and standing broad jumps - will be conducted at the clubhouses' multi-purpose halls.

However, only those looking to simply pass the fitness test may go the Safra route.

Those aiming for monetary awards of between $100 and $400 and the silver or gold standard must still go to the fitness-conditioning centres at Maju, Khatib and Bedok camps.

After a year, Safra will consider holding the tests at its other three clubhouses at Bukit Merah, Yishun and near Clarke Quay, while the Defence Ministry will decide if all NSmen may take their IPPT at the clubhouses.

Safra president Cedric Foo, also Minister of State for Defence, announced the initiative yesterday at the association's annual general meeting at its Yishun Country Club.

'While the SAF must continue to demand high physical fitness standards of our NSmen, it would be good if we can make it more convenient for our NSmen to fulfill their NS duties,' he said.

The tests will alternate daily between the two clubhouses and be available every day except Fridays and public holidays.

Extra treadmills will be brought in for IPPT runs.

Each test, free to Safra members, should take about 90 minutes.

Non-members will pay $2 for using club facilities.

Banker Jacques Then, 32, feels the music in the gyms will stimulate a person to run faster.

But retired army officer Chan Tien Meng, 53, said: 'Fitness tests should always be done outdoors where the soldier is exposed to various weather conditions. We can't possibly fight wars in air-conditioned areas, can we?'

the Bear SG

i dunno.. IPPT in aircon?

what next? range in aircon??... uhh.. oh.. that's done already Razz

chiong sua pek hai in aircon next then???

sheesh!

wuming78 SG

the treadmill test has been ard – but only for the cat z ppl. but now wat?! everyone else as well?

Fairyland SG

I think you left out the background music over the PA as well.

I think in the not too distant future......you fight war in air-con rooms with PC games interface. All the sweating and dirty work done by unmanned vehicles(air/naval/ground)......Force multipliers -> one PC control 100 combat robots!

At least it seems to be going that way, if we follow the SAF big wits.

wuming78 SG

like tt gd mah. human lives can be preserved

espanol_man SG

just read the newspaper and i cannot believe what SAF is doing nowadays??? does it mean our soldiers are getting softer? good grief Rolling Eyes

paulho SG

I think you never kanna RT b4. When you 18 something anything also can do, peh sua, chiong sua, IPPT no problem.

But for most pple when ROD muscles start to stiffen turn 30 and got working career you will not have time to run here run there jump up and down anymore. So how? IPPT fail kanna RT.

And pls for those who think RT is for FAT ugly pple you couldn't be more wrong. Pple going for RT come from all walks of life like ex-guardsman, infantry, commano units. And some even ex-officer up to rank of OC also have.

I think I kanna RT 7-8 times leow, they coin people like me RT regular. You cannot even imagine how disruptive it is for career guy like me. I'm just glad someone at the top is taking steps to make life a little easier.

sgboy2004 SG

I wonder if other countries have IPPT or the like?

espanol_man SG

oh pls... who's talkng abt RT here? we're discussing abt running 2.4km on a treadmill in an aircon gym. so what if some of us have not been to RT? are we discriminating against pple who have been/not been to RT now? in that case, who gets to do 2.4km in the sun and who does it in the air-con gym? how abt pilots? train only in sims? if SAF trains in comfort, pple will say SAF is weak. train outdoors, pple complain siong... so what should they do?
Rolling Eyes

Fairyland SG

It's good as long as everyone knows SAF is just Hollywood. Don't try to bluff yourselfs into doing too stressful things......

Ok lah.....spend some money on technology if it makes you feel like you can win any war. I think in this respect technology has become morphine to the drug addict already.

Sad to say this but that's what I think......SAF has done really great but has now outgrown itself. Lost child......without a place to go.

wuming78 SG

Indoors fitness test runs 'too soft'
Mindef hopes clubhouse IPPT tests will be more convenient, but NSmen worry image of Singapore soldiers will be hurt

IT'S soft. It makes soldiers look silly.

These were among the reactions of NSmen to a move to let them do their 2.4km run indoors, on treadmills.

Their main worry? It will turn out 'soft' soldiers.

The run, considered by many to be the toughest part of the Singapore Armed Forces' annual Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT), is now done outdoors at stadium running tracks or selected SAF camps.

But for a trial year from Jan 5, NSmen can choose to run at Safra National Service Association clubhouses in Tampines and Toa Payoh. Their gyms are air-conditioned and have piped-in music.

NSman Melvin Tan, who is in his 20s, asked: 'Has the SAF gone soft? We can't possibly fight wars in air-conditioned areas, can we?

'Running on treadmills is quite different from running on uneven surfaces, which have slopes and the like.'

Former NS officer Chim Howe Lai, 51, said: 'We have to fight a war in our natural environment, not in an air-conditioned hall or gym.'

Others conceded that treadmill runs would help them, but they were still against it.

IT professional Goh Hung Kuang, 28, said: 'Anything that makes the test easier for me is, of course, a good thing. But, ultimately, it's ridiculous.

'To use treadmills and air-conditioning for a simple run is a bit much. A lot of things in the army depend on image and psychological effect, and something that is so comfort-centred can make soldiers look silly.'

Regular joggers said that running on a treadmill is far easier than pounding on pavement.

But Safra president Cedric Foo, who broke news of the idea on Sunday, said convenience for NSmen was the main reason for the trial.

The Minister of State for Defence did not address the 'softie' issue but said that treadmills would be adjusted 'to simulate...actual test conditions'.

But even the convenience factor was doubted by some.

Each IPPT test can see 50 or more NSmen taking part. Since they run around a track or around the camp, all can start the run at the same time.

Safra said it will wheel in more treadmills during an IPPT test. Even so, the number that can be crammed into a gym is limited, so those taking the test may have to wait their turn.

NSmen have to complete their 2.4km run in under 15 minutes.

When contacted yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said it would address the issues raised by the NSmen soon.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,223141,00.html?

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its heartening to see that most ppl r not for this silly idea. Very Happy

hm.. mr foo again... Neutral

sgboy2004 SG

I just wonder if it is practical to do tat or not?

wuming78 SG

as highlighted in the article, its obviously not - the number of ppl who can run at the same time is much lesser when using treadmills.

cavsg SG

there is no discrimination, it says any nsmen can go and take at safra. u don't get any $ that's all. i think not only u have not been to rt, u have never even been to in camp. u think all nsmen go to in camp and love training ah! wake up lah! i know a fren go in camp, come back to work, all his things pack up in office and he ask to go. and its christmas eve somemore. saf is trying to make our lives easier becos it knows ippt, rt and in camp is disruptive. if running on treadmill and taking ippt as many times within your birthday, will help them avoid RT, why not! nsmen cares more about his job and getting his salary. without nsmen earning money and paying taxes, where does saf gets its budget! nsmen go rt still get allowance by saf somemore.

end of day SAF == Serve and F$ck Off!

sgboy2004 SG

Maybe it will also help to boost the business of the gyms in SG

espanol_man SG

well, my 'dear' cavsg, if there's no discrimination, then why pass irrelevant comments such as "never been to rt or ICT"? Razz

u "wake up lah"! i never said "all nsmen go to in camp and love training". pls do not put words into other pple's mouth. Razz

it is also good to see that you support SAF's initiative to "make our lives easier becos it knows ippt, rt and in camp is disruptive". Cool

btw, i do support SAF's system of training means i.e. mix of sim training vs real trg. so, running on treadmills as a trg means is ok, but to do it as a test? in principle, pilots also train on sims, but do they base their flight gradings solely on sims Question

Rolling Eyes

IAF SG

Fitness test not a combat training activity

I REFER to the letter, 'Soldiers should train as they would fight' (ST, Dec 2), by Mr Chia Ying Chng and the article, 'Indoor fitness test runs 'too soft' ' (ST, Dec 3).

The Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) is a standard physical-fitness test comprising four static stations and a 2.4km run in T-shirt, shorts and track shoes. It is not conducted under field conditions and is not a combat training activity.

SAF servicemen are trained and conditioned for combat by undergoing a series of field exercises (in skeleton or full battle gear) and not by how they take their IPPT. The combat training the SAF puts soldiers through is compre-hensive, tough and realistic.

The 2.4km run on a treadmill in a Safra gym will require the performance standard and effort of an equivalent outdoor 2.4km run. The treadmill will have the gradient adjusted to compensate for the gym environment. This has been calibrated after careful study by the Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, working together with the Army's Training Department and Army Medical Staff.

The equivalent standard on the treadmill has been cross-validated by having servicemen perform both outdoor and treadmill tests. There is therefore no compromise on the IPPT standards.

The SAF offered NSmen the alternative of taking their 2.4km run in Safra gyms to make it more convenient for them. We recognise that NSmen have to balance demands on their time from their family, career and NS duties. Where we can make it more convenient for them to carry out their NS duties without compromising operational readiness, we will do so.

COL BERNARD TOH
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Defence

IAF SG

if the truth be told, i believe this treadmill thing would have been quitely received and accepted (if not gratefully) without much hoohah and chest-thumping were it not for the fact it was so publicly announced on the frontpage of the newspaper.

hey, let's give our leaders credit when they actually 'do' things to make NSmen's lives easier. Smile

NathanG5 SG

i already recieve email informing me about doing ippt in SAFRA... Rolling Eyes

wuming78 SG

ippt? for reservist or signing on? Wink