Fighting Dehydration with Water at 5/28/2008 12:57:00 am

Sweating is a way our body regulates its temperature. During a hot afternoon, you may sweat as much as 1 litre per hour! During exercising, the temperature of your body increases and you sweat more and lose more water. Lack of water can cause dehydration and dehydration can cause minor problems from headaches and muscle cramps to fatal ones like unconsciousness or even death. It is therefore good to drink water regularly during exercise.














It is recommended that you bring a water bottle with you whenever you exercise and drink adequate amount of water. A good guide to know when and how much you should drink is to follow your thirst. Another way is to pay attention to the colour of urine. Normally, it should be light yellow but once it turns dark yellow like chrysanthemum tea, you should drink up. A totally clear urine is overdoing it.

When drinking water, it is best not to drink too much at once. One should drink small quantities over the period of exercise. This is because our body responses through hormones have a certain lag time. When large amount of water is consumed at once, the osmotic pressure in the blood increases and the brain starts to produce less Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH) which decreases the reabsorption rate of water. Even when the osmotic pressure reaches the normal level, there is still an absence of the required amount of ADH to increase reabsorption. This may again cause excessive loss of water and leads to a secondary dehydration.

Basic Training Gear at 5/25/2008 02:34:00 am

All cadets, this are the things you should have when you come for training, PT not included.
You are expected to have all the compulsory items. Absence of training gear violates the basic uniform code and is punishable by the extent so please check and double check before you come for training. Excuses will not be entertained.

Compulsory items:
1) No. 4 shirt- No need to starch but its good to keep it neat and straight. Velcro to the max when you come for training.
2)No. 4 pants- No need to be ironed but should have all pockets buttoned like the no. 4 shirt.
3)Beret- This is one of the most important head gear. Make sure you bring it. Keep in pocket when not in use but conceal it.
4)Jockey cap- Used during IFC and Trainfire sessions as well as training and PTs. Make sure you bring it as it can sometimes replace the less comfortable beret.
5)Name tag- Sewn on and not Velcro. New tags are non-camo but older cadets need not get them changed.
6)Singapore Tag- Sewn on. Only issued to new cadets. Older cadets need not get them.
7)Epaulette- NCC epaulette is important to help MPs differentiate between a cadet and a soldier. Make sure you do not wear your no. 4 without your epaulette. For officers, the rank is also on the epaulette. (NOT "amulet"!)
8)Rank- Keep your rank updated. A cadet without rank may face temporary relief of position or may be punished.
9)Green Socks- Make sure your socks are green. Socks of different colour are not allowed and you will be punished. If your socks are damaged through training, get a new set. You may also want to have multiple sets when going for camps.
10)Garters- Garters keep your pants from covering your boots. Make sure you do not use rubber band substitutes. Cadets who did not bring garters will be punished.
11)Boots- Boots need not be polished to shine but should be darkened if there's mud or scratches.
12)Water bottles- All cadets are supposed to bring water bottles of at least 500ml for training consumption. From now, water breaks will have lesser canteen-going sessions and more stationary breaks. This is to improve training efficiency.
13)Pen/Pencil- All cadets must have either a pen or pencil in his pocket. The writing material should not be protruding or visible from outside.

*14)PE shirt-From now on, all cadets are expected to bring your half PT kit for every training. No excuses.

Optional items:
1)Wallet- So far, the only optional item is the wallet.