Wednesday, June 20, 2007
IPPT
Went back with hock, chris and zq to take IPPT at our old camp yesterday. As we walked up the long drive up to the gate, memories of old times came back. It felt a bit like booking in, except we knew that this time, we would be out in a couple of hours or so.
When we saw the guardhouse, we noticed that some things had changed. New shelters had been constructed, giving the place a more imposing and professional look.
We made our way to the training shed and used the free lockers to put our stuff. We wanted to come back to this camp as we knew the place, but when the PTI started explaining things, we realised that they are now using new electronic equipment to test us, which automates everything and stores the result into the electronic number tag, allowing us to get our results immediately after the test.
Up in the MPH, we saw the new machines, all of which looked large and imposing, especially the chin-up bar, which looks more like a huge airport security scanner. We started with that station. With every chin-up, the machine will count it off in a mechanical voice while the LED screen will update the score.
After that, we went for the shuttle run. At first we thought it would be harder since there would no longer be human errors and nice PTIs to give us a little headstart, but the machine gives quite a generous headstart. Everyone had nice fast timings with little problem. The nice thing about using machines is that everything is done at our own time. We start running when ready, we start doing sit ups when ready.
The standing broad jump station was next on our list. We could choose the order in which to do the stations, everything was relaxed and at our own time. The machine can detect line faults, which makes it impossible to cheat it. There are also no markings, so the best we could do was to aim for the end of the green lights. At the end of a legitimate jump, the score is automatically shown and the machine will record the best of two attempts.
Sit ups were last. Instead of someone to hold legs and do the counting, the machine has foot straps provided and counts automatically. It can even detect butt lifts and sounds off an alarm when this occurs, but it still records the sit up. I suppose it's to alert the PTI. They all carry PDAs and can reset attempts wirelessly. I suppose they can change the scores too if a repetition should not be counted. It's all very high tech.
Finally, it was time for the 2.4 km run, also timed electronically. The timing starts when we ran under a wire, and ends when we cross it for the third time. Our fitness levels have all dropped and we ran quite slowly. Personally, I found it more difficult than I remembered to complete the three rounds around the running route. My legs felt heavy and they're still aching today, but now I won't have to worry about IPPT until after my next birthday.
When we saw the guardhouse, we noticed that some things had changed. New shelters had been constructed, giving the place a more imposing and professional look.
We made our way to the training shed and used the free lockers to put our stuff. We wanted to come back to this camp as we knew the place, but when the PTI started explaining things, we realised that they are now using new electronic equipment to test us, which automates everything and stores the result into the electronic number tag, allowing us to get our results immediately after the test.
Up in the MPH, we saw the new machines, all of which looked large and imposing, especially the chin-up bar, which looks more like a huge airport security scanner. We started with that station. With every chin-up, the machine will count it off in a mechanical voice while the LED screen will update the score.
After that, we went for the shuttle run. At first we thought it would be harder since there would no longer be human errors and nice PTIs to give us a little headstart, but the machine gives quite a generous headstart. Everyone had nice fast timings with little problem. The nice thing about using machines is that everything is done at our own time. We start running when ready, we start doing sit ups when ready.
The standing broad jump station was next on our list. We could choose the order in which to do the stations, everything was relaxed and at our own time. The machine can detect line faults, which makes it impossible to cheat it. There are also no markings, so the best we could do was to aim for the end of the green lights. At the end of a legitimate jump, the score is automatically shown and the machine will record the best of two attempts.
Sit ups were last. Instead of someone to hold legs and do the counting, the machine has foot straps provided and counts automatically. It can even detect butt lifts and sounds off an alarm when this occurs, but it still records the sit up. I suppose it's to alert the PTI. They all carry PDAs and can reset attempts wirelessly. I suppose they can change the scores too if a repetition should not be counted. It's all very high tech.
Finally, it was time for the 2.4 km run, also timed electronically. The timing starts when we ran under a wire, and ends when we cross it for the third time. Our fitness levels have all dropped and we ran quite slowly. Personally, I found it more difficult than I remembered to complete the three rounds around the running route. My legs felt heavy and they're still aching today, but now I won't have to worry about IPPT until after my next birthday.
posted by cosine @ 9:22 PM 
