Six things we bought at Decathlon to kickstart our 2022

We didn’t really think much of Decathlon as a go-to place for sports equipment because I guess we were comfortable with what we have. We wanted to do 2022 differently by exploring sports that we wouldn’t usually do. With that in view, Decathlon became our top choice store for the best value sports equipment for beginners.

In case you are wondering, we are not affiliated to Decathlon. This post is also not sponsored.

Door Pull-Up Bar

According to our friend who worked at Decathlon, they do not have local warehouse in the traditional sense. All of their stocks are stored in Malaysia, and they are replenished on a daily basis. This means what is out of stock today can be back in store tomorrow!

Why are we sharing this with you?

We wanted to get the pull-up bar online and it was listed as out of stock. A few days later, we decided to check out the Kallang store in-person and we did manage to get hold of one.

While we won’t necessarily recommend heading down to the physical store if it’s not available online, do check back again in a few days. You’d never know when it gets back in store!

Logistics aside, pull-up bar is probably one of the most useful training tool a person can get. It’s perfect for upper body strength, and doesn’t take up any precious floor space!

If you cannot do a pull-up, you can consider buying some resistance bands to help you get started with your journey to your first push up.

Yes, our founder Yee Yang did literally buy one to replace the one he already had at home. While he does have free access to the pull-up bars in our CrossFit box, he finds it more convenient to do them at home.

Hendaia Boardshorts

If you do water sports often, these  Hendaia boardshorts are perfect! They dry really quickly with Singapore’s climate.

I forgot to bring a change of clothes after going for kayaking this morning. This means I had to wear the wet boardshorts! By the time I got to the bus stop, it was 80% dry.

A lot of people assume kayaking to be a challenging sports for individuals with low back pain. However, that’s not always the case.

If you get back pain from weight bearing (e.g., prolonged standing), kayaking can be a great exercise for your low back without aggravating your symptoms. This is because kayaking is a sport that is performed in the seated position and can be modified to not involve your feet.

Yes, it is true that competitive kayakers do exert heavily on their feet. For the purpose of exercising while you are recovering though, it’s better to kayak with minimal feet involvement than to not kayak at all.

If you have true sciatica from conditions such as disc herniations, you may find your numbness and tingling or pins and needles increase with prolonged time on their feet. Kayaking, again, can be a great exercise for you.

When in doubt, always seek professional advice!

Where to kayak in Singapore?

While we may not have dolphins in our river, there are a couple of pretty scenic spots to kayak in Singapore.

For the beach lovers, consider Ola Beach Club Sentosa. Now is a great time to visit because Sentosa entry is free until 31 March 2022. The team at Ola Beach Club is friendly. However, they tend to be a bit busy so do not expect coaching from the staff if you are only renting. The price is $25 for an hour rental.

If you prefer somewhere more central, PAssion WaVe @ Marina Bay is the way to go. The rental is very affordable at only $9 for two hours. Use promo code ‘INTRO2’ for 2% discount.

Do note that you would have to wear both footwear and mask to your boat. We were told that we could remove our mask only if it was difficult to breath. Given that it’s two hour of paddling under the morning sun, it was difficult to breathe.

We took our mask off and strap it to the personal floatation device. It did stay dry. If you prefer, you could a little ziplock bag to keep the mask.

We also noticed a motorboat patrolling the water. They did come by to stop us when we attempted to cross the river too close to where the Duck Tours craft enter/exit the river. They also swung by to tell us when it was time to return our boats. In that sense, there’s always someone always watching you if you need the extra safety.

P.S., You get to keep your footwear on the beach when paddling at Sentosa. Ola Beach Club also provides ziplock bags for you to store your masks. The masks are also kept on the beach (i.e., you don’t have to bring it in the water with you).

Fit100 Fitness Inline Skates

This is really more of an impulsive buy.

One of the things we really wanted to do for this year is to try new sports and exercises. At $75, we find this pair of inline skates to be a super reasonable price, and decided to purchase it.

If you are on budget, there’s a cheaper end-of-line rollerblades at only $35!

Of course, safety should be your priority! Don’t forget to get the knee and wrist guards to make sure you have a pleasant skating experience.

Men’s Country Walking Shorts NH100

Some time last year, we decided to go for fortnight hikes. One of the things that I find challenging was having shorts that doesn’t seem to allow the range of motion I’d prefer for hiking. We haven’t tried this walking shorts for our hikes yet but it does look promising!

So far, we have done Clementi Forest, which was really a wonderful introduction to hiking in Singapore for me. We have also did a hike from Bukit Gombak to Hillview, which was also awesome.

If you are looking to do one of these hikes, we do highly recommend that you go with someone who is already familiar with the routes. Also, try to go in the morning before it gets too hot! We found 6:30am to be a perfect start time.

Sun Protect Men’s Running T-Shirt

I got this t-shirt for our fortnightly hike. The main reason for getting a long sleeve running t-shirt is so I can avoid skin contact with the vegetation that we hike through.

In hindsight, this may have been a fairly poor choice because the fabric is fairly thin. Afterall, it was made for running. Not hiking.

We’ll definitely give it a shot and give you guys an update on its suitability for hiking in Singapore.

Outdoor spaces in Singapore

It’s probably true to say that we don’t have as much outdoor spaces as compared to other countries. However, there are definitely some really good water and green exercise venues if we look for it.

With all the COVID fatigue, and the uncertainty when it comes to international travel, perhaps exploring Singapore is something we should take more seriously.