Fitness Training during Ramadhan
August 19, 2009 by thetrainer
Filed under Fitness, Health & Fitness, Motivation, Training
Well guys, I’ve received so many inputs and remarks on exercising during fasting month. In fact, I have also designed some programs for clients to do in their fasting month as well. While the results varied across individuals, one must put forward great care and knowledge when designing these programs. For easier comparison, I’ve broken down the training into three (3) different scenarios. They are:
Training while fasting
Few points need to be considered here. It will definitely not be a muscle-building session as your body is in a nutrient-deficit state. However, you can still manage to tone up the muscles and gain some benefits from it, if the session is carried out close enough to Iftar i.e. 6:00pm to 7:00pm. There will very little benefits, if any, when the physical training is done in the morning or mid-day. In fact, it can be rather damaging to the muscles, as lacking in water and nutrition will tend to break down the muscle tissues. Just imagine having to put these cells into starvation mode for another six hours before being fed with food and water.
Training right after Iftar (breaking fast)
Well, it can be done but you have to go simple when breaking fast. Prophet’s sunnah is the best – dates and milk. This combination will give you the rush of energy sufficient enough to feed your workout session, as well as your brain and nerve cells. Another food that can give you the energy ‘rush’ is banana. You need to avoid complex carbo or high fibrous food prior to your workout. You can have your full dinner right after your workout. Again, in terms of the quality of training that you will have, is far less than the one below; training after terawih.
Training after terawih
This is where you eat a full meal at Iftar and upon completing your terawih / isyak prayers (about 2 hrs after Iftar), you can proceed with your training routine at full blast. By then, your body has already converted plenty of energy to fuel your full workout routine. By far, this is the best option for those who still wants to do hard-core training or bodybuilding.
In general, I do believe that you still need to exercise even when you are fasting. We just have to listen to our body, be extra conscious on the reaction that our body has to all the training stressors at various time of the day. That way, you are not putting your body into unnecessary stress.
Stay Fit. Stay Fasting.
Good info here Mr. Ian..
Thanks for sharing.
tqvm En. Bio.N.I.K.- Happy Fasting.
Nice fitness regimen during RAMADAN. REal cool. Still found ways to exercise and be fit even at occasions like this.
hi rick, thanks for dropping by.
I TRAIN 1 HOUR AFTER IFTAR AND JUST TONE UP AND AT THIS MOMENT I HAVNT LOST MUCH MUSLE AT ALL BUT EVERY1 WILL LOSE A BIT DUE TO LACK OF FOOD
T KAN – Cool! Good for you. How many times did you train in a week? I’ve tried experimenting myself in last year’s ramadhan (by taking measurements and percentages on fat loss & skeletal muscle before and after ramadhan). I’ve gained 2% of muscle mass during the ramadhan from my strength training workouts. So, the popular belief of losing mucsles during fasting is just a myth.
As we don’t move that vigorous during the fasting hours, the energy is rarely taken from the glycogen in the muscle. Instead, the body is making full use of the body fat storage, thus utilising the fat better. Unless if you are training hard where chances of doing anaerobic is higher, one may lose the muscle mass.