Training During Ramadhan

And so we are now well underway in the holy month of Ramadhan and for most of us, it does generate mixed reaction to those that are currently in training or is in a middle of  a strict regime of diet because of training. Most of the time the reaction that I have gathered so far is always the same.

"I'm worried I might lose size during the fasting period..."

"its hard to commit to gym with the time frame that I have because of Terawikh and Sahur"

"there goes my diet..."

So to maintain my workouts this year and observe fasting the best way possible, I actually came up with a few things in mind and would love to share it with you guys to see what you think. So here we go!

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Diet and Food

If there is anything that we Malaysian are really blessed with is that we have a GREAT deal of food especially showcased during Ramadhan period. Ah yes, the good ol' Bazaar Ramadhans (or Barams as I would like to call it) is always an extremely tempting place to go and binge yourself to kingdom glory, and the food showed there is not helping either!

 

[Sights and sounds of our daily Barams!]

Truth be told that the quantity of food should not change during this month which means I would still maintain my caution with what I eat especially the greasy, yummy looking dishes. So in the end of day, my routines would maintain to this:

Sahur

Focus a lot more on carbs like rice and potatoes because you would need to burn them during the day.

High protein is essential here because this is where you need to make sure the body doesn't burn away muscle mass during fasting.

No cold drinks during this period. Specifically, I maintain 3 glasses of hot tea (no sugar) at least which would actually keep me hydrated for the entire day. Dunno how that works but it does for me!

Breaking Fast 

What ever you do DO NOT BINGE!

Don't worry too much on the type of  food that you eat but rather keeping tabs on the quantity of the food that you need during this period.

Be mindful that the body can only breakdown a certain amount of food per serving, regardless if you haven't eaten the entire day.

And most importantly, I honestly believe that this is the most essential thing that you would need to train during fasting.

 Dates. Lots and lots of dates.

For some reason, having a lot of them DOES NOT ruin your fat intake but rather improves it so make sure you have a lot of this when breaking your fast, before training. I know I do!

Training

The biggest problem when it comes to training is not the fact that you are too tired to go train but to LAZY to move after a meal, particularly a large one!

So plan out your training schedule and location properly. For me, I make it a habit to do my Terawikh nearby my gym in PJ so I will be in the gym from 9.30pm onwards, which gives me about an hour and a half to train.

The intensity of your training should not change during this month.

A lot of people feel that they need to change their training routine just for this month which I really disagree. Keep at it but what you need to make sure is hydration in between sets is essential. I keep myself a bottle of protein shake during training because I know that my body would be craving for fuel during training. Hence my suggestion of eating a high protein intake during your sahur and if possible, even during breaking fast.

Keep your gym partner with you at all times.

As I said before, the biggest challenge during this month is your own thoughts, telling you should rest during this month and get back at it after. Quite honestly, the only thing that can make sure that this doesn't happen is another person nagging on your ear to get your butt off and go to the gym. 

Also you tend to lower down the weights that you intend to carry when you are alone and especially when you are fasting, this may be notoriously a norm among gym goers. Do not compromise anything in this month.

Post Work Out

Bear in mind that a person in training who sacrifices his resting period is the one that loses the most of out of his training.

Because we have sahur to think about, ensure that your sleeping time is sufficient for recovery, ie getting at least 7 hours of sleep in a day. Also, I include another portion of dates and protein shake before bedtime just to make sure that any muscle repairs will becoming from proper sources rather than from binge eating.

Honestly I welcome training during Ramadhan because this would be the best time for you to force your body to burn as much as possible and replace them with proper food intake and not having to worry too much on storing fats in the body.

Please do share your own ideas as well during this fasting period

Enjoy Ramadhan and happy training guys!

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