PEOPLE
PRACTISE HOME YOGA WITH CPT (NS) Hafiz
12 May 2020
This Infantry officer takes his passion for sports to another level - meet CPT (NS) Mohammed Hafiz, who has a yoga room and a climbing room in his 4-room HDB.
Captain (CPT) (NS) Mohammed Hafiz Bin Akhirrudin has never been one to shy away from a challenge. During his 11 years in the Singapore Army, he completed the infamously tough Ranger Course, as well as the Airborne and Diver Courses.
The 34-year-old left Regular service two years ago to start his own application and website development company, but continues to keep fit at home even during this COVID-19 period.
Check out CPT (NS) Hafiz's tips on how to get started with yoga:
Take us through your fitness journey.
I was Vice-Captain of the Rock Climbing Club back in Nanyang Polytechnic. It was then that I started yoga to help increase my flexibility when climbing.
The Army also played a very important part in pushing me to be very disciplined (when it comes to fitness). Thanks to the teamwork and camaraderie, I pushed myself and my teammates to keep fit and exercise.
How did you start doing yoga more often?
One of my biggest takeaways from yoga are the amazing things you can do with good breathing control. If you know how to control your breathing, you can reduce anxiety in a stressful situation, or pump more oxygen into your blood vessels to give you strength.
I started doing yoga before my wife, but she took the practice more seriously and even started her own company. Now, she's the yoga instructor and I'm the one joining her lessons.
How do you keep motivated on lazy days?
After I left the Army (in 2018), my fitness level dropped for a while. I eventually told myself that I have to keep up with my fitness - throughout my 11-year career I have (always achieved) IPPT Gold! That is when I started my fitness regime of combining yoga and High Intensity Interval Training.
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