Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be challenging, and it becomes even more difficult during the month of Ramadan. Fortunately, it is possible to combine fasting with exercise without harming the body. Ahmed Madkour, the fitness director at Fitness First Middle East, emphasizes that exercising moderately during the fasting period can actually help boost energy levels, improve fitness, build muscle, strengthen joints, and enhance body composition. It can also aid in weight control, ensuring health and strength.
Ahmed Madkour shares a set of tips and guidelines regarding exercises that can be performed, those that should be avoided, and the best times for workouts during Ramadan:
#### Fuel Your Body
If you plan to exercise during Ramadan, it's essential to provide your body with the right nutrition. Before or after training, always replenish your depleted energy stores (glycogen) by consuming carbohydrates. Choose healthy options like vegetables and whole grain alternatives such as pasta and rice, and add protein sources like lean meats, lentils, or protein shakes for muscle repair.
#### Schedule Your Training
It is preferable to train during Ramadan just before Iftar or one to two hours after Iftar. The choice of timing solely depends on personal preference as both options have their advantages and disadvantages.
Training before Iftar while fasting might seem difficult, but most people enjoy it after adapting for the first two days; the body becomes accustomed to exercising in a fasting state, mental focus improves, and endurance for challenging workouts increases. This is due to lower insulin levels while fasting, which leads to increased production of neurotransmitters that enhance focus and intensity of workouts, utilizing stored fats more efficiently during exercises.
Training while fasting (before Iftar) results in better nutrient partitioning upon breaking the fast. After a full day of fasting, the body will need nutrients, so consumed carbohydrates are easily stored, with muscle glycogen and proteins quickly moving to damaged muscle fibers for repair and growth.
Training after Iftar means the body is in a satiated state, making it ideal for scheduling workouts, but it requires careful planning. Many people feel more energized to train after eating compared to after fasting, and if you are one of those, have a small snack like water and dates or fruit, then do a quick workout lasting 20–30 minutes, followed by dinner with family.
**Tip:** If you combine Iftar at home with dinner, realistically, you may not have time to exercise until about 10 PM. If you feel sluggish after Iftar and find it hard to sleep after intense training sessions at night, consider doing your workouts while fasting before Iftar.
#### Resistance Training
Resistance exercises are some of the best forms of workouts during Ramadan. You can perform resistance exercises either with free weights or using your body weight. Compound movements such as squats, lunges, step-ups, deadlifts, pulls, and pushes, along with bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, and dips are optimal types of resistance training.
The body is likely in a catabolic state during Ramadan, which can lead to muscle loss and feelings of weakness. This type of training will help maintain vital muscle mass and strength, improve hormone levels (testosterone, cortisol, insulin, and growth hormone), and boost mood by producing happiness hormones known as endorphins.
Resistance training can also help manage borderline diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity and stabilizing blood sugar levels by increasing muscle cell size and insulin receptor count, making them more available for storing carbohydrates as glycogen.
**Tip:** All these exercises can be done at home. If you have free weights like dumbbells or kettlebells, incorporate them to make movements more challenging. If weights are unavailable, you can improvise by using heavy bags, water bottles, or backpacks. Be sure to keep the total workout time around 40-45 minutes.
#### Avoid Intense Effort Workouts
While fasting, avoid doing intense effort exercises or high-intensity circuit training. This type of training heavily relies on stored glycogen as an energy substrate, which is not readily available due to prolonged fasting. A lack of sufficient glycogen can lead to muscle loss, as protein is converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis to support rapid energy demands. Additionally, this type of training increases sweating, which can lead to loss of water and electrolytes – something to avoid during Ramadan.
