My Experience Taking Physical Training Advanced

By Corporal Nicholas Ng Kuan Yao of 12^th Kuala Lumpur Company

October 23rd, 2014

There's a saying that goes "no pain, no gain", and this can be said of for one of the toughest awards in BB – Physical Training (Advanced level). As a BB Boy that has passed Physical Training Basic, I took up the challenge and hardship of taking Physical Training Advanced. At first I underestimated the difficulties in progressing through this challenge as I thought it was going to be a walk in the park.

It was during the mid of the year of 2014, when the new badge work classes were introduced into our parade schedule where everyone was required to take up two badge work classes. I was pretty confident at myself and I took up Physical Training Advanced without batting an eye. Never did I realise reality would hit me back hard and I was chewing of more than I could swallow. Never did I realise what my Instructor, a graduate in Sports Science Management would have in store for me.

Now, as I recall back, Physical Training (Advanced) was as hard and as tough as a rock. It was totally different compared to the basic level. Our Instructor instructed us to perform warmups that were basically so hard that we couldn't catch our breaths after them. I missed the taste of a sweeter life. Soon the class was greeted by a series of exercises that included jumping push-ups, weighted squats, rocket jumps and of course the notorious star jumps. These were soon followed by the more intensive combos which were to be done in sets.

 

Training sessions resumed every Saturday during parade. It was not long until I felt the aches and pains from all those intensive workouts. Without holding back, out fitness instructor pushed us to our limits and above our boundaries. Over the course I was dead tired after every session and even though it was tough, I learnt a few important lessons from it. From Physical Training (Advanced), I have learnt to have perseverance and constancy while suffering through hardship. Also, we all learnt to be disciplined to be present for training as well as endure the sufferings.

On top of that, we have learnt that through focusing mentally, we are able to achieve any goal. We should overcome pain easily if we are mentally tough and having endurance is all about mental strength. There's a saying that goes "pain is weakness leaving the body," If we have the mentality to focus and think of pain as our weakness, we would get stronger not just physically but also mentally.

After all the lessons and training that we've been through, the day had come that we take our physical training test. This was the day I had to put my utmost effort on as I cannot accept failure and fail my physical training advanced. Our Instructor tested us on push-up tests, sit-up tests, long jump and also endurance running. In a blink of an eye, after suffering through the tests under the hot sun I was already resting on a bench, cooling myself with gulps of water while wiping my sweat off my body. Our instructor jotted down the results for the test and told us to wait patiently until Awards Day to know whether we pass or fail.

 

Overall, I think that it's clear to not underestimate things easily, as the saying goes “do not judge a book by its cover”, I think I did the test pretty well myself and am confident I can pass and achieve Physical Training Advanced. Even though it was not my cup of tea, I'm glad I have persevered and endured all the training sessions all the way and I give thanks to God for providing me strength throughout the whole journey. If I don't pass I hope that I can continue to strive and improve myself so that I would achieve my goal, and through God I think nothing is impossible. After all, being a BB Boy, we are all taught to give our best in everything that we do.

Page Created: 25th November 2014
Last Updated: 25th November 2014