Keeping up a healthy lifestyle is hard enough at the best of times, let alone during Ramadan (and in a pandemic!). The Islamic month of Ramadan starts this week, where Muslims around the world will be going without food or drinks between sunrise and sunset for 30 days.
‘A period for mental resolve and spiritual benefits’, Ramadan is a time that’s about more than just abstaining from eating and drinking. It’s a time where you’re encouraged to stray away from distractions and luxuries. A time to live more simply and be closer to God.
Fasting for Ramadan has many benefits to the mind and body that’ll occur over the 30 days.
- Improved mental discipline
- A chance to rekindle your spiritual connection and shut away from any distractions
- Time to allow training/diet to take a backseat and focus on higher priorities
- Potential for restored insulin sensitivity and nutrient partitioning
- Higher growth hormone output during the fast
Although you won’t necessarily be following your usual training regime, there’s no reason to stop training altogether. Training makes you healthier, more balances and more disciplined and there’s no reason as to why you should give this up during Ramadan.
Although there’s many pro’s to fasting during Ramadan, there are a few things to remember…
- Work out what time suits you to work out. Ideally, try to train directly before or Iftar (breaking of the fast). Before is okay, but after is better. Training after you’ve broken the fast will result in you having more strength and power. If you choose to train before, you’ll need to be more conservative with your training intensity. Ultimately, it comes down you to and how you feel!
- Avoid super intense cardio. You’re likely to be more dehydrated than usual and also more sleep deprived which doesn’t always bode well for doing hard core workouts. It can also be possible that you’ll have lower blood sugar levels than normal which can leave you feeling light headed if you overdo it.
- Avoid HIIT workouts. Lighten the weights, increase the reps and take longer rest periods between sets. Your body isn’t working at its full capacity so you shouldn’t be working at your usual pace however don’t make them too long; 2 minutes should be sufficient.
- Eat a hearty breakfast before sunrise with complex carbs – try including oats, dates and bananas. This will fill you up and release energy throughout the day. If you’re a follower of low carb diets, you should ignore this over Ramadan as they’re important for providing you energy for your workouts. If you stick on your diet, your performance will suffer. Your body stores the carbs in the form of glycogen when exercising which will then be broken down into glucose allowing your body to move. Ensure the carbs you’re consuming are good – rice, pasta, potatoes, quinoa, fruits and vegetables and not sweets or fast food!
- Drink as much water as you can between Iftar and Suhoor – this can help reduce your risk of dehydration during the day. This is especially important if you’re planning a work out during the day.
