1.  The Armed forces personnel undergo rigorous training in  preparation for war and peace time operations.  The forces also assist  civil authorities if required whenever the need  arises like in case of disaster.  To carry out such tasks Armed forces requires candidates with robust mental and physical health. The candidates should also  be capable of withstanding rigorous stress and strain of service condition to perform military duties in adverse terrain and uncongenial climate in remote areas.  Therefore, only medically fit candidates are selected.

2- As a Defence aspirant you need to plan and make your life style  inspired by the military life style  so that it becomes easy for you to be fit and later adapt to the life in Defence Forces.  For this you can  follow the steps mentioned below:

(i)- Make a habit of getting up early in morning.  After that go for jogging, cycling, walking or go to the gym or make routine and do exercises regularly at your home or whatever you prefer to do. Doing this your body will feel refreshed and body parts will function healthily.  Set  target for each day before you start your schedule  and achieve it.

(ii) – Start doing three main types of physical activities. They are aerobic cum cardio, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening.Thiskeeps one motivated and physically fit in achieving the aim. You must do the following exercises daily to keep your body energized everyday. This includes following basic fitness routine:

– Start by doing physical exercises regularly.

– Brisk walking or jogging: This keeps you active and helps in physical endurance.

– Cycling: Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat level and there is more to it.

– Climbing stairs or hills: It helps you to lose weight. Climbing stairs/ hills for an hour is a very intense form of exercise and has visible impact on body.

– Push-ups : This is the best overall exercise to keep your body fit, you can increase the level by keeping extra weight on yourself and increasing your body strength. 

– Sit-ups : This can be done simply laying on the mat kept on floor. Sits ups can be of different type, for eg. scissors, reverse crunch, Leg Raise Sit ups etc..

 – Running : This is the best overall exercise to keep your body and mind fit. Run at least 3 km everyday and increase your stamina day by day.

– Yoga: We all know that doing physical exercises keeps us fit from outside but yoga is for the betterment of our soul. It relaxes our mind and soul. By doing various asanas  like sun salutation, kapalbhati, anulom vilom, shavasanas, dhanur asanas etc our body’s internal organ perform well and immunity of the body increases.

3.  Listening to music can be very beneficial  as listening to the music helps in relaxing and  in releasing the feel good hormone  which helps in improving the  memory. This you can do during your study break time. So, if you regularly follow this routine than your memory will be boosted everyday and it will become easy for you to memorise.

4.   Eat the right balanced food:  Fruits and vegetables are the best thing to eat when getting into shape. No matter how bad your stomach is telling you to go for junk food/ sweets instead of healthy food, try to stay away from it. As this will not help you get in shape.  Intake of fibre fruits makes the stomach feel full for up to 3 to 4 hours. Green vegetables such as green beans and broccoli keep the digestive system clean and running.

5.   Keep track of calories and food intake per day: Keeping track of how many calories you eat in a day will be helpful in planning out your physical exercising. For Example: If we take case of body builders there body masses are so big. That is because they plan out their meals and take in more (healthy) calories than the average person. 

6.  Stay Motivated: An important key to being in shape is to set goals and keep a positive mindset. If you stay positive, you will be able to push yourself to get that fit body you’ve always wanted.

7.  Good physical and mental health is extremely important:   Exercising  helps living life with positivity and  feeling better mentally also helps in protecting you from heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure  and it can make you look younger, increase and maintain bone density, improve the quality of your life, and may keep you from getting sick. The Mental and Emotional benefits of exercises are many. Thisreduces mental and physical stress level and results in the following:

    i) Sleep better and increased productivity

    ii) Happiness

    iii) Self Confidence

    iv) Enhances  Cognitive Functioning

    v) Better interpersonal relations

9. Practicising self-care is important to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself as it produces positive feelings and boosts your confidence and self-esteem.  As not ensuring this can lead to all sorts of health problems, from anxiety and depression to insomnia and heart disease.

10. Sleep right on time every day and wake up on the same time every day. Develop the habit of waking up early in morning for better fitness results.  It is crucial to get enough sleep to recharge the body’s batteries. Around six to eight hours of sleep will keep the body going throughout the day.

By,
Maj Nasreen Fatima
(Sqn Ldr Retd.) Ex. NDA Instructor, IO
Academic Head CEPL