There’s Now a Gym That Has IPPT Push-Up Machine for Us to Train

This is a true story: one day, BuffLord95 took half a day off even when his IPPT was in the evening. As his nickname suggests, he’s really fit: in fact, once, our boss asked him how many push-ups he did for his last IPPT in camp and he said indifferently, “Maximum.”

With a gold badge on his uniform, we expected him to be $500 richer soon. But he came to the office the next day, fuming with so much anger that we thought it was that time of the month for him.

“I didn’t get Gold,” he admitted.

And all of a sudden, all the old NSmen in the office said, “It’s the cheesepie push-up, right?

“Yeah, it’s the cheesepie push-up! I did like 60 to 70 but many didn’t count!”

I feel for him. As a fellow NSman, I, too, experienced this before.

Electronic IPPT Scoring System

Lest you’re not aware, NSmen (people who have served our two-year NS and are still required to go back for ten cycles of reservist) like us need to go for our annual fitness test. If we perform well, we can get cash incentive; if we didn’t pass, we’d have to attend 20 sessions of physical fitness training the next year.

Here’s a video we’ve done on the obligations an NSman need to fulfil:

The physical fitness test comprises three stations: push-ups, sit-ups and a 2.4km run.

We can only take our tests in a few camps, and these camps have very high-tech machines that automatically count our scores.

For example, for sit-ups, we’ll lie on a machine and when we sit up, the machine will detect our body movement.

The machine’s so high-tech, it can detect movements that are…wrong.

For example, if you do a sit-up and your elbow did not touch your knee, the machine will know and will say something like “Touch your elbow”.

We do not have much issue with the sit-up machine since we’ve been using it for quite a while; but the push-up machine is a different story altogether.

New Push-Up Machine

I don’t know when the machine was introduced, but like what every guy in the office would attest to, it’s the worst invention in SAF after signing within the box.

The correct form is to keep the body straight, go down at least 90 degree with our elbow and make sure our body is always straight.

But no matter what I did, the machine will go “keep your upper body straight” and that rep wouldn’t be counted.

And sometimes, when I’ve gone all the way down, the machine would not count as well.

In the end, even if you’ve done 60, no one will be surprised to see a score of 30.

#WoesofallNSmen

Now, we understand it’s nothing to do with the machine but everything to do with us: finding the right form when we’re used to our previously “wrong” form isn’t easy.

Which is why, this SAF Day, True Fitness in Tampines, a homegrown gym chain, is coming out with the first ELISS (Electronic IPPT Scoring System) outside of SAF camps.

True Group Celebrates SAF Day with Launch of First Public Electronic IPPT Scoring System

In celebration of SAF Day, homegrown fitness brand, True Group, is introducing the first ELISS (Electronic IPPT Scoring System) outside of SAF camps.

Housed at True Fitness Tampines, which is in Income at Tampines Junction, it will be available to all member.

But unlike ActiveSG gym, you’d need to get a membership to go there regularly.

You can request for a free trial there, though.

Now I’m just hoping that ActiveSG would also buy that machine. I’m pretty sure the thing that separate me and Gold is that machine.