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Once upon a time, most Singaporeans lived in kampongs. Kids were rarely fat as play was synonymous with physical activity.

Soccer, playing catch and running around the kampong visiting friends in the area was the norm.

Everyone knew everyone else in the kampong. Neighbours were neighbourly.

Now, most Singaporeans live in HDB flats. Doors are closed most of the time and lifts that bring you right to your floor reduces the need for exercise.

Kids spend most of their time sitting in front of the computer – their main source of entertainment.

This sedentary lifestyle leads to an increase in obesity.

That need not be the norm. You can treat the building as a vertical kampong. Instead or running to and fro between houses, use the stairs.

On rainy days or when I wake up too late to run, I climb up and down the stairs continually for an hour.

I bring my kids with me at times, admiring how our neighbours above and below us decorate their homes with plants. We treat our climbs as tours around the neighbourhood, the greenery being potted plants of all sorts.

Some grow ferns, others orchids, some even grow vegetables ourside their flats which they then harvest for their meals.

With a little imagination, stair climbing can be fun.

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Portable & Affordable Home Fitness Equipment - Free Online Workout Guides. Purchase Today and Start Building Your Ultimate Body

I didn’t run today. Overslept. The sun was fierce when I finally rolled out of bed at 10 am.

Ok. Excuses.
Then I remembered this blog.
Accountability.

Said I’d do it, so I will.
Exercise, that is.

Living in a 14 storey building has its advantages.

Who needs a stairclimber or whatever you call it exercise machine in a gym, when you’ve got the real deal. Flights of stairs that let you get a great cardio workout from the convenience of your home?

We HDB dwellers in the heartlands have got it all.

Got up. Laced my running shoes. Then hit the stairs.

Going up and down 14 flight of stairs continuously can ge boring, so I just lose myself in my thoughts. Reflecting on the past week, thinking about the things on my endlessly long to do list, praying or talking (silently cos i don’t want people to think I’m stark raving mad) as I climb.. and you know what? 50 minutes had passed and I forgot to feel tired.

It’s all in the mind. Really.

When the lift is spoilt and I have to climb 7 flights of stairs, it seems so tiring. When I count how many times up and down 14 flights I’d done and how many flights to go.. it seems like I’d never make it.

Yet when I forget about counting and take the climb as time for reflection, an hour goes by quickly, I work up a good sweat and don’t feel like I’m gonna collapse.

You know what? If you find it inconvenient to run, try the stairs. You’d burn calories just the same.

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