Post National Service Training

This Post is writtten Specially for those who have just ORDed.

ORD may be the greatest releif for most Singaporean men. It marks the time when you no longer need to wake up early for 5BX, no longer need to do those runs, no longer need to train for IPPT or SOC or burn tons of calories outfield surviving on rations. Wait a minute... now is that actually a health releif?


Many Singaporeans will finally face the end of their fittest period of their lifetime... now that is ORD, fitnesswise.

Fortunately for health conscious people like us, the end of army is not really going to spell a period of lower fitness levels if we still remain disciplined enough to keep ourself in shape. Not just because you still got to pass IPPT the next year, but it is for your own good too.

1. Longer hours of sleep
Naturally, this is the first thing you'll look forward to... more sleep! Now I'm not going to stop you from sleeping and suggest that you should stick to the army regime of falling in at early hours in the morning. Instead im suggesting that you make good use of the sleep!
For ages, our Asian parents have linked beyond 8 hours of sleep as signs of laziness, impending corpulence and have misled us from what good it can do for us, especially when us Singaporeans love to have active nightlives at clubs and forget to sleep.
Sleeping is one of the best ways to grow! No, that does not mean sleeping for one straight week is going to make you taller by an inch. Tired muscles repair and replenish themselves best during sleep. Now does that ring a bell? Yes, im suggesting you make your muscles tired everyday before you sleep.
Our nation luckily has a good number of gyms for you guys to have a workout for a small fee of $2.50 or less (or more for you rich ones). Get it? Gym yourself to muscle soreness, then sleep more than you used to during army and grow lean muscle overnight!

2. Civilian Mode
Let go the feelings! You're free! You are the most powerful person in the nation currently... You Are A CIVILIAN! (imagine Hulk transforming)
Spend some time working out at high intensity for the first post-ord workout day. This can be acheived by releasing all the pressure built up during your service. Let loose all that anger you had in one smooth motion at the machines. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or others with free weights.
Best of all, you need not worry about Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or D.O.M.S. For those unfamiliar with that term, it refers to the sensation of muscles feeling fully flexed and sore usually the day after a good gymming session. D.O.M.S. is a sign of muscle tear and an indication that you had a good workout. You don't have to worry about it because now you have extended sleep hours, meaning more time to repair and grow than you used to have in the army.
Infact, if you actually went on to do the exercises you used to do in the army at your own time own target as a civilian, i could say you will become a fitter person with the freedom of having more rest time. Remember, you grow as you rest, not as you workout.

3. Remember to eat on time.
2 years of eating regularly on time would surely have disciplined you to grow hungry at the same time frame everyday. Except that now you do not have a ready and available source of food. This could spell trouble for you to sway from eating at the right time and that would lead to metabolic rate fluctuations. During your service, a high exercise rate and proper dieting period ensured your metabolic rate remained high. Now without the food available at the right time, it is up to you to ensure that your body gets the nutrition it needs at the right time.

Lets start with Breakfast. It is ultimately the most important meal for the day. Except you might want to stick to the idea of having your own version of basic exercises before your breakfast just like you used to have. It is a great fat loss idea, but remember that you still need to stick to your hydration plans before your pre-breakfast workout and have your breakfast within 90mins since you woke up. That would keep your metabolic rate high.

I do not wish to restrict on your food habits on what to eat for lunch or dinner that will have the best fat loss and muscle growth effects as this is the period where you want to experience and enjoy the freedom of choosing your favourite foods and drinks. Just keep in mind not to sway too far. The average Singaporean is known to gain as much as 6kilos within 2 months after ORD alone!!!

Try to have an early dinner like you used to. The traditional Asian bodybuilder rule states that there should be no carb intake after 5pm, infact no food intake at all. So if you want to make some muscle gains after your army before you get to hang out with ladies in the university, it is time you make some decisions on your after-7pm-diet. (5pm for hardcore bodybuilders)

Also remember to go easy on the supplements. Your metabolic rate has been tuned to survive on 3 meals a day for now. Having post-workout protein shakes at this period will increase your body's ability to store fat (this is for our Asian bodies only)

4. Do not forget to run!
You probably used to run for a few kilometres per week during your service and to completely omit this from your training schedule would not be the wisest thing to do. Stick to running atleast once a week of atleast 2.4km. This would help to preserve your cardiovascular state for now.
I would highly recommend swimming as you now have the chance to swim more often than you used to for the past 2 years. Swimming is a great way to tone and could double as a cardio workout at the same time. I suggest you still do some running every week as you still need to pace yourself for next year's IPPT.

So here's the main picture...
Have a good gym workout everyweek. Atleast once, not more than thrice...
Run atleast 2.4km every week.
Have 3 meals a day and eat early for dinner, before 7pm
Go easy on the parties, remember moderation is key.
Swim if you can, learn if you can't.
Sleep atleast 9hours a day! Now that you can afford to!


By the time you enter University, stick to this plan and you'll look and feel great, just like the day you ORDed.