The wall is two metres high. For some, that is an obstacle. For many NSmen, it is a familiar sight – the kind of wall that once stood between them and the next station, the next command and, eventually, the end of another exhausting training session.
At Singapore EXPO on 26 September, however, there was no parade square or training shed in sight.
Instead, the cheers of teammates filled the hall as participants hauled themselves over the Apex Climb, crawled through a 20m Leopard Crawl, flipped a 50kg tyre and pushed towards the finish line.
Some were NSmen reliving a familiar part of their past. Others were friends and family members experiencing NS-inspired fitness for the first time. And all of them had one thing in common: they were moving forward together.
That was the spirit behind the inaugural SAFRA FitX Challenge, held as part of the two-day SAFRA Fitness Festival at Singapore EXPO Hall 2 on 26 and 27 September.
More than 1,300 participants signed up across the Individual, Double, Trio, Junior and Families for Life Parent and Child categories, turning an NS-inspired fitness challenge into a community experience.
It was fitness, but with a distinctly NS flavour.
And while the obstacles were designed to test strength, endurance, agility and composure, the real test was often less about how fast participants could finish, and more about how they helped one another get there.
For anyone who has gone through National Service, certain words need little explanation: Low Wall. Leopard Crawl. 2.4km run.
The FitX Challenge brought these familiar elements together with functional fitness stations, creating a course that was challenging without requiring participants to be current servicemen. Adult participants faced the 2m Apex Climb, Low Wall, 20m Leopard Crawl, 50kg Tyre Flip, Box Jump, Laser Shooting, 1km Rower and a run of up to 2.4km.
On paper, it might look like a list of physical challenges. On the course, it became a test of pacing, determination and teamwork.
The Double and Trio categories kicked off the competition on 26 September, with 463 participants forming teams of two or three. The atmosphere was competitive, but there was plenty of encouragement too, particularly when a teammate hit the wall, literally or otherwise.
Minister of State for Defence and President of SAFRA Desmond Choo, who attended the first day of the festival and flagged off the Trio category, said that was precisely what the FitX Challenge experience was intended to bring out.
“The inaugural FitX Challenge gives NSmen an opportunity to take part in purposeful challenges inspired by National Service with their families and friends. Each of the challenges draws upon exercises from the military,” says Mr Choo.
It is a familiar lesson to anyone who has been through NS. You can train alone, you can run alone, you can lift alone… but some challenges are simply easier when someone beside you tells you to keep going.
The FitX Challenge deliberately taps into that sense of camaraderie. The obstacles may have been inspired by National Service, but the event was never meant to recreate military training. Instead, SAFRA has taken elements that NSmen know well and reworked them into an experience that can be shared with friends and family.
For NSmen, there is the nostalgia of tackling familiar challenges again, this time without the pressure of a unit commander shouting instructions from the side. For their friends and families, there is an opportunity to experience a small part of what physical training can demand.
That distinction is important. National Service is a significant part of the lives of generations of Singaporean men, but the experience can be difficult for those who have never served to fully understand.
Fitness offers a simple way to bridge that gap. A parent who takes on the course with an NSman can experience the physical challenge together. A spouse or friend can discover why that seemingly simple 2.4km run was not always so simple. And children can get a glimpse of the physical values – discipline, persistence and teamwork – that their fathers or older siblings may have talked about over the years.
“The experience is about resilience, teamwork and mutual encouragement that are familiar to our NSmen,” says Mr Choo.
More importantly, he noted, the experience allows families and the wider public to better understand and appreciate the effort NSmen put into maintaining their physical fitness and operational readiness when called upon.
The idea of readiness can sometimes feel abstract. For NSmen, however, physical readiness is something that has to be maintained.
FitX Challenge takes that concept out of the military setting and puts it into a more familiar environment: a fitness event where people can challenge themselves, have fun and encourage one another.
“The new FitX Challenge is one of the ways SAFRA is doing things differently,” Mr Choo adds. “Instead of speaking about readiness only in a military setting, we are bringing it into everyday life through a fitness experience that is engaging, accessible and open to people of different fitness levels.”
That approach is reflected in the range of categories.
On 27 September, 178 participants will take part in the Individual categories, while 118 juniors aged seven to 12 take on challenges adapted for younger participants. The biggest group is the Families for Life Parent and Child category, with 624 participants – or 312 pairs – registered.
The junior and parent-child courses retained the spirit of the adult challenge while adapting the physical demands. Young participants will take on the Apex Climb and Leopard Crawl, alongside Farmers’ Carry using 2.5kg weights per side, Box Step Up and Down, Laser Shooting, rowing and an 800m run. For parents and children, the emphasis is as much on doing it together as completing it quickly.
And that may be one of the most important lessons of the FitX Challenge: Fitness does not have to be a solitary pursuit, but a communal goal.
The event also highlighted a bigger part of SAFRA’s role – bringing NSmen and the wider community closer together.
“We are also encouraged by the support from NTUC, PA, ActiveSG and Families for Life. Their involvement reflects how supporting our NSmen is a shared effort,” says Mr Choo. For FitX Challenge, SAFRA worked with NTUC, the People’s Association, ActiveSG and Families for Life to extend the festival’s reach to NSmen, families and the public. Volunteers from MINDEF/SAF’s SG Defence Network also supported race management.
The partnerships reflect the different roles NSmen play in Singaporean society. “They are servicemen, workers and active members of the community, as well as fathers, sons and brothers,” says Mr Choo. That means supporting NSmen is not something that happens only during their time in uniform. It happens at home, at work and in the community.
NTUC connects with NSmen through workplaces and the Labour Movement. PA reaches them through families and communities. ActiveSG promotes active living, while Families for Life recognises the families who stand behind them. Together, these networks form part of the wider support system that enables NSmen to serve.
That broader community connection is at the heart of the SAFRA Fitness Festival.
Beyond FitX Challenge, the two-day event featured group fitness activities, a wellness marketplace and live performances, bringing together exercise, health and entertainment under one roof.
The idea was not simply to get people through an obstacle course. It was to make fitness something that could be enjoyed with others – and to show that the values associated with National Service can extend beyond the training ground.
Resilience, after all, is not only useful when carrying a field pack. Teamwork matters outside camp too. And physical readiness is not something that should begin and end with IPPT. These are qualities that can shape how people approach work, family, community and the challenges of everyday life.
For NSmen, FitX provided a chance to reconnect with some of those experiences. For everyone else, it provided another way to understand them.
Ultimately, the inaugural FitX Challenge was not about finding out who could finish the course fastest.
It was about creating a space where NSmen, families and members of the public could experience the physical and social aspects of NS-inspired fitness together.
That matters because every NSman has a community behind him.
There is the family who sees him off for ICT. The employer who supports his time away from work. The friends who keep him active. The community that understands why he continues to maintain his readiness years after completing full-time National Service.
As Mr Choo puts it: “Our NSmen serve to keep Singapore safe, but they do not do so alone.”
That idea extends beyond the FitX Challenge finish line.
SAFRA’s wider efforts, including initiatives such as the FitX Challenge and NS Experience Camps, aim to create more opportunities for NSmen, families and the public to understand, experience and support the values behind National Service.
Because defence is not something that exists separately from everyday life.
It is supported by people who train, work, raise families, volunteer, stay active and look out for one another. And sometimes, it starts with something as simple as getting over a two-metre wall.
You climb. You reach the top. Then you look back and make sure the person behind you gets over too. That is the true spirit of FitX Challenge.
Visit SAFRA Fitness Festival 2026 | SAFRA for more information.
Photos: SAFRA
Your NS Training, Reimagined: 5 FitX Challenges That Will Feel Surprisingly Familiar | SAFRA
More Than Muscle: What It Really Takes To Conquer The FitX Challenge | SAFRA
