Exercising in the morning is a bit like boiled broccoli; it’s good for you, but we try our best to avoid it.
Until you enlist for national service, the thing you’d dread most is probably your alarm clock. But once you’re a soldier, it’s 5BX.
For those who don’t know, the 5BX is a series of exercises designed to warm up soldiers’ bodies after dreaming of civilian life for eight hours. Torture, in other words.
Sleepy soldiers would drag their feet to the parade square early in the morning and do the five exercises – jumping jacks, the high jumper, crunches, push-ups, and running – before grabbing breakfast.
Even though this exercise routine has been in place for years, it will be replaced by something equally effective but less strenuous.
SAF Removing Iconic 5BX & Replacing It With PX
In a bid to reduce injuries and improve mobility, the army has developed a new exercise regimen.
The Prehabilitation Exercises (PX), which will supersede the 5BX routine, will also help soldiers sleep, eat, and train better.
PX had been approved for army-wide use in April, after a successful trial in the Officer Cadet School (OCS) in 2018 and 2019.
Under PX, soldiers will do mountain climbers, forward lunges, and alternate arm and leg raises instead, among other exercises.
The Benefits
According to Grace Heng, head physiotherapist at the Centre of Excellence for Soldier Performance (CESP), there are two main advantages of PX.
The first is mobility. The new exercises increase the range of motion and leads to greater muscle flexibility as well.
The second is core stability, which will be useful in reducing injuries when soldiers are carrying heavy loads, which they often have to do.
In fact, the OCS trial showed that injury rates fell from 6.3% to 2.6%, when comparing groups who engaged in the 5BX to those doing the PX.
It also enhanced soldier performance during military training, such as mission exercises and live firing.
Less Strenuous, But Just as Effective
PX is less strenuous than the 5BX regime, but it’s just as effective in improving fitness.
Fitness test results between the group doing 5BX and the one doing PX at the OCS trial were comparable.
The PX regime also offers greater flexibility with the choice of two exercise programmes – one with 14 exercises and the other one with 15.
Each exercise is done for 30 seconds with a slow tempo.
Unlike the high tempo and high-intensity exercises that soldiers frequently engage in, these new exercises focus on form and controlled movement.
You can have a look at some of the new exercises in the video below:
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