Ripple's Brooks Entwistle is feeling the heat and loving it

RAISED in the mountains of Colorado, I was born into a fitness culture and a love of the great outdoors. Over the last three decades having lived and worked across Asia - Hong Kong, Cambodia, India and now in Singapore - I have always adapted my workout regime to take advantage of any opportunities to exercise outside. The grittier, the hotter, the more intense - the better.

Singapore - with its jungle runs and hikes, long mountain bike rides, back-alley outside gyms, ocean Stand Up Paddling and swims - has something for everyone. Spending time inside a posh gym with air-conditioning doesn't do it for me, nor provide the endorphin rush needed to keep the pace at the global financial services and technology firms I've worked to scale over the last 30 years.

In my current role as the managing director for global enterprise cryptocurrency company Ripple in APAC and MENA, I work on a shift basis in order to stay in touch with my colleagues around the world. We're in a phase of dynamic growth, and so with early and late Zoom calls topping and tailing my day, this ultimately drives a lot of my workout schedule throughout the week and really only leaves one pocket of time to work out. High noon. And I love it.

Twice a week, you'll find me with my trainer Lawrence, whom I've worked with since 2013. Lawrence has trained me for big objectives over the years, from pulling sleds and climbing in Antarctica, to a speed ascent of Everest's North Side and skiing Tibet's Cho Oyu, the world's 6th highest peak.

We meet in a deserted parking lot located just outside the city centre for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Hitting it hard on the pavement, while surrounded by beautiful old trees during the hottest part of the day to sweat out the morning calls, gets me mentally prepared for the rest of my day.

Twice a week I get out to the jungle for a run - often through the Bukit Brown Cemetery. With the burning incense and prayer flags, I feel transported to the Himalayas. I love the 40-minute circuit and the time to myself. Once a week, I do a light yoga and stretch routine with Yvette from Yoga by Yvette. As an ageing less than limber guy, this one is critical for me.

My wife Laura and I will also work out once a week together at UFIT. Our trainer Rachel makes it fun and competitive, and we enjoy a coffee together afterwards. We've always made doing athletic activities together a central part of our relationship and it's something we share with our three daughters as well.

On the weekends, I go to the beach with two good friends and our dogs for a stroll along the water, tossing the (American) football and swimming. It's the perfect way to finish off the work week and start the weekend - outside.

There are other elements to my regime that I believe in deeply, like Wim Hof breathing exercises, as well as intermittent fasting. I find these daily practices keep me mentally sharp and focused throughout the day. I track all of my workouts and sleep on my WHOOP band - it monitors my recovery and gives me a sense of how hard I can push it in my workouts, or not.

Some people complain about the sweltering heat in Singapore and say that working out outdoors is not possible or pleasant. I have the exact opposite view - this amazing green city of the future is one of the great urban gyms in the world. I've found it's one of the best places to train for 8,000-metre expeditions and other extreme mountain pursuits. Once the world opens up again, maybe these Covid-era outdoor workout regimes will pay off with another big adventure.

• Brooks Entwistle, 54, is managing director for Ripple in APAC and MENA