Earlier this month, state workers performed mass physical exercise and were encouraged to climb an 8km (five mile) concrete staircase built into a hillside outside Ashgabat.

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It follows claims that low-flying jets on a training exercise recently led to mass panic, with kittiwake chicks falling into the sea and drowning.

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"When someone starts to exercise, they might increase muscle mass as well, and therefore might be frustrated not to see too much change on the scale in terms of total weight, " she says.

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