Working Out During Ramadhan

I have written about working out or exercising during Ramadhan before (see here). This blogpost is a rehash of the original one; since then I have discovered HIIT and injured my knee so I can no longer run.

IMPORTANT: The content of this blogpost is my own opinion gleaned from research and personal experience. It is for information purposes only. Please consult your doctor before starting any exercise, diet or nutritional supplement program.

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FIVE MAJOR QUESTIONS ABOUT WORKING OUT OR EXERCISING DURING RAMADHAN (FASTING MONTH)

1. WHAT IS THE BEST EXERCISE DURING RAMADHAN?

• It should be anything light and moderate and one that can be maintained consistently and safely. Walking, riding a bike or using the treadmill at a moderate speed (4-5km/h if you are at novice level) 30mins each time x 3 times a week is sufficient to maintain fitness level. If your goal is to lose weight, you should combine exercise with portion control – meaning, you need to watch your calories. I do not cover calorie counting in this article but you can find good resources on the internet, let google do the walking.
• Invest in a pedometer, a basic one from Daiso costs a mere RM5 (battery included). A half hour walk up and down a shopping mall while window shopping will easily net you 5,000 steps (it is recommended to take 10,000 steps/day). A pedometer helps take the guessing out of the equation.
• If HIIT is your poison (it is mine), the best option is to dial down the intensity, or decrease the duration. HIIT is high intensity and tires you right out, but the good thing about HIIT is that it can be as little as 4min or as long as 40mins each time.
• You can follow the TABATA protocol (Tabata is basically a HIIT protocol condensed neatly into a 4min burst): 4min TABATA = (20secs intense + 10secs rest) x 8 rounds.

Here are some TABATA ideas (Source: The 4-minute Miracle Workout):

• ON THE BIKE: Sprint with high resistance for 20 seconds, then recover with leg speed as slow as possible for 10 seconds. Repeat for a total of four minutes.
• ON THE TREADMILL: Sprint as fast as possible for 20 seconds, then recover by walking or standing still for 20 seconds. Repeat for a total of four minutes.
• WITHOUT EQUIPMENT: “All-out” efforts of jumping jacks, jumping rope, high-knee jogging in place—any activity that gets your heart rate up will work for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of total rest. You can stick to four full minutes of one move OR alternative between a few. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing—as long as you are pushing yourself to your highest possible intensity. Repeat for a total of four minutes.
• OUTDOORS: Run or sprint (on a flat or up a hill) for 20 seconds, then recover by coming to a complete stop. Repeat for a total of four minutes.

Our body goes through recalibration and rehabilitation process as we fast; so exercise every other day – meaning, give yourself a day’s rest each time to help your body recover.

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2. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO EXERCISE?

Technically the best time to exercise is when your body temperature is at its warmest i.e. between 4-6pm. During Ramadhan, this can be a challenge especially if you do not re-hydrate yourself sufficiently the night before. But exercise can be done at any time really, what you need to do is to try a few different ones and then choose the one that works for you best.

The choices are:

(i) BEFORE SAHUR – 4-5am

• Sahur ends when the call to Subuh (dawn) prayer is made; if you are in Malaysia you can check the daily time at e-solat. To avoid confusion: Imsak is the “reminder time”, typically allotted for 10mins before Subuh which serves as a reminder that Subuh is approaching and one should finish eating as soon as possible. If you are still eating during Imsak, but stop as soon as the call to Subuh prayer is made, your fast is still valid.
• If you can wake up at 4.30am and exercise for 30mins, rest for a bit and then have your Sahur after that, then this is your best option. You can go back to sleep after Subuh prayers – though I believe this is not recommended as you’ve just had a meal so the sleep could undo all the hard work you’ve put in the hour before.
• For the last 10 years, I prefer to sleep through Sahur as I have to get up really early to go to work. If I do wake up, it is usually just to get a drink or two.  But as I am on flexi-time this year, I want to try to do my workout before Sahur and see if it is a better option for me than the evening session. I would schedule all my HIITs at this time.

(ii) WITHIN 2-HOURS BEFORE BREAKING FAST - 5pm-7pm

• There are conflicting views on this: some say that you risk dehydration and muscle damage, others say that with the lack of glycogen the body will start to burn stored fat thus you are actually hydrated during the duration of the exercise and you burn fat faster (provided you keep the exercise light and within the aerobics zone i.e. 50 to 65 percent VO2 max).
• My personal rule of thumb is: if I re-hydrate enough the night before (by drinking a min of 2L of fluids), I am not afraid of risking a little exercise between 6.30-7.15pm. My routine would be a light warm-up, followed by 20-25mins brisk walking and ended with yoga stretches. You can minimize thirst by working out indoors and wear light, loose clothing. I walk regularly in the morning and I don’t find myself panting for water afterwards so I believe I should not have any problems doing so before breaking fast either.

(iii) 2-HOURS AFTER THE BREAKING OF FAST – 9.30pm-10.30pm

• If you are a gym junkie/bunny, this is the best time to hit it. Allow yourself 30mins – 2 hours  after you have your meal to avoid cramps or indigestion or any of those unpleasant side effects. The bigger the meal, the longer you should wait.
• I would suggest you break your fast with a light meal like soup, whole-grains (hello cereal and oatmeal), fruits and nuts; and easily-digested protein like eggs, fish, soy-based food, milk (incl. soy milk) and yogurt. This way you only need to wait about half hour before you can commence exercising. Leave the heavy stuff like rice with rendang and murtabak ayam  post-exercise. I know it is easier said than done so I am going to leave it at that.
• If going to the gym is out of the question since your gym closes at 9pm and you do not have any equipment at home, perhaps you can invest in getting a jump rope or an aerobics DVD (or be a cheapie like me and just download videos from youtube). A set of dumbbells or kettle bell is also a good investment; you can check various videos on youtube on how you can achieve gym-level satisfaction at home without any of the standard equipment. Additionally, if you like HIIT, this should be the time my friend.
• Without meaning to be religious or anything, Tarawih prayers are actually a great form of exercise. Praying movements are similar to gentle yoga poses (if you didn’t know that already) and the repetitions, be it 8, 12 or 20 raka’h means you will break into a little sweat.

Anyway, the golden rule is you should choose whatever that works best and can be maintained consistently.

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3. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO BREAK THE FAST?

• Break it gradually; meaning, don’t wolf everything down at one seating. Start with drinks and fruits, followed by soup and easily-digested proteins (see above). Then, take a a 10min break (good time to perform Maghrib prayers and catch a little TV) before you go on to the main meal. This method will allow the body to “wake up” and help to curb any over-eating tendencies.
• There are conflicting views over whether you should or should not drink right after or while you are eating. If we go by the science, there is sufficient research data that suggests drinking during or right after meal does not affect or dilute your digestive enzymes (Source: Mayo Clinic). However, some people may experience better digestion by abstaining from drinking while having their meals.
• Personally I am the kind who drinks as I eat and I drink about 2 glasses each time. It helps with satiety so I don’t overeat; plus I just really really like drinking water.
• If you have doubts and still want to go with no-drinks-with-meals rule, go ahead. I believe in moderation rather than totally abstaining i.e. during the meal, take small sips and if you can, choose plain water over sugared drinks.
• No matter which way you swing, aim to drink 2L of water/fluid every day. Break that down into a glass of water every half hour – so by the time you go to bed at midnight you would have been sufficiently hydrated.

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4. HOW DO I LOSE WEIGHT DURING RAMADHAN?

• The basics of losing weight is the same for all months, for all body types,   for all ages: eat balanced meals, manage portions, manage stress and get enough sleep, and burn more calories that you consume (i.e. exercise). The biggest challenge for Ramadhan is not the fasting part but the binge eating that happens during breaking of the fast. I, too, am guilty of this.
• A safe weight loss target is -500g a week. You can achieve that by cutting out about 500 Calories from your daily diet, combined with exercise. You can use the Calorie Calculator here to see how much you need to eat and how much you need to cut out to reach your ideal weight loss target each week. For  my weight and height, I need to eat 2000 calories a day; and to lose -500g a week I need to cut out 500 Calories from my diet. Here are some articles with tips on how to do it:
  • 50 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day
  • Simple Ways to Cut 500 Calories
  • 5 Painless Ways to Cut 500 Calories From Your Diet
• Do note that eating less than 1200 calories a day may be detrimental to your optimum health; and anything with less than 1000 calories a day is dangerous without doctor’s supervision.
• I don’t cover diet and nutritional supplement extensively in this post, so I would like to recommend the following resources for you to check out:
  1. Dailyspark
  2. Women’s Health
  3. Fitday (an online diet and weight loss journal)

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5. HOW MUCH EXERCISE IS ENOUGH?

• It is enough when your body tells you it is enough. Apart from minimizing risk of injury, knowing your limits help you set new fitness goals as you get stronger and more flexible. The recommended time i.e 30mins is merely a recommendation. If at any time you are at a point of exhaustion, stop.
• The rule of the thumb is to pay attention to your body: if your breathing becomes fast and erratic, you are seeing spots or your sight becomes blurry, you are feeling dizzy or lightheaded, you are vomitting or feel like doing so – STOP IMMEDIATELY. Sit down, put your head between your knees; or lie flat on the ground with feet elevated. Then, if it is possible, re-hydrate with sugared or sports drinks. If this happens while you are fasting, then continue resting til you feel strong enough to get up. Do not attempt to resume exercise. I always find a cool shower can quickly wash away any fatigue and exhaustion – after that just chill out on the sofa and wait for the breaking of fast to arrive.

My goal this Ramadhan is to maintain form and fitness level. Admittedly I have been skipping exercise frequently in the past month and I welcome the coming of Ramadhan to start to a new exercise cycle. In the next few days leading up to Ramadhan I intend to test myself to establish a base of my limits so that I know what would be a safe place and intensity to start.

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubarak to all!

Cycle 3 Week 1: Exercising During Ramadhan

Cycle 3 will consist of a 12-week period starting today. The aim is to lose 5kg when it is over, at a rate of 400-500g a week. It is a doable goal I think. Rajin dan usaha tangga kejayaan.

I am the kind of person that can lose weight pretty easily once I stick to a consistent diet and exercise routine. By same token, all I need to do is glance at cupcakes and the weight will pile around my waist and hips instantly.

My ideal weight would be around the 53-57kg mark. Anything lesser the twins disappear; anything beyond that I’d look like a fatty crab. Not pretty. To determine my ideal weight, I use the BMI Calculator found at the Nutrition Society of Malaysia website. My problem is I seem to lose/gain the same 5kg over the years. It is stubborn and annoying. I want to get rid of it once and for all.

In the past year I have learned not to loathe exercising. I have not come to a point where I love it yet, but I miss it and I feel guilty when I relapse. Food remains my biggest challenge – desserts specifically – and I know until I find a way to conquer my binges, or at least keep it under control, I will always have these 5kgs dancing around my waist for the rest of my life.

“Many Muslims have stated that they gain weight throughout Ramadan. This mainly occurs because once the fast is broken at night, food is enjoyed and sleep overtakes the Muslim. The body systems slow and the components of food are stored during sleep. But if there is a committed effort to exercise during the day, then the food that is consumed will go toward muscle repair.”

Read more at Suite101: Staying Fit During Ramadan: Exercising in the Muslim Month of Fasting

What To Observe When Exercising In Ramadhan

I have posted before about exercising in Ramadhan. To meet my -5kg goal,  I need to continue exercising at least 3 times a week, and recalibrate my food intake – basically training my tummy to accept that it is full with smaller portion of food than it usually requires, and to get a grip on my sweet tooth (God help me). I have read many articles on exercising during the fasting month and 5 major outtakes that I get would be these:

1. Exercise routine should be light to moderate, but maintained at min duration of 30mins each time every other day to give the body a chance to recover and repair. In other words, it’s just the same as any regular month (3x a week x 30mins each time; if you can manage 45mins even better!), just adjust the intensity. So, Fartleks and circuit trainings are out, easy jogs are in; if you lift weights then consider increasing the duration and decreasing the weight.

To the question whether one should even attempt to exercise at all, the answer is yes. My routine would be 15mins of walking to warm up, about 15-20min of easy jogging and another 5min of walking to cooldown; these are followed with my free weights routine to tone the arms, a round of abs and core strength exercise and a 10min yoga stretch once I get home. Basically it is my regular routine, all I am doing is to substitute the running with more walking and easy jogging, the rest remains the same. I have tested this routine 3x in the last 2 weeks (to prepare myself for the fasting month I actually fasted a few days a week) and had my first real exercise-during-Ramadhan today. The first time I tried it I got lightheaded after it was over, but today it went pretty well. My jogging speed is not what I would like it to be but I believe this can be improved as my body adjusts to the fasting.

2. The best time to exercise would be one of the following:

a)   Before sahur (4am-5am);

b)   Within 2 hours before the breaking of fast (5pm-7pm). This is my preferred option because knowing that refreshments are just 30min away gives me great motivation. Nothing like a cold shower and fresh clothes while waiting for azan Maghrib (call to prayer at dusk) to be played on the telly. There are conflicting views on this: some say that you risk dehydration and muscle damage, others say that with the lack of glycogen the body will start to burn stored fat thus you are actually hydrated during the duration of the exercise and you burn fat faster. Anyway, I choose this because I find that exercise works best when I can fit it into my schedule organically rather than forcing it. Due to my erratic sleeping behaviour I almost always miss sahur, and after breaking of fast I prefer “rewarding” my body with chilling out and relaxing instead of pushing my body further with exercise. Anyway, the golden rule is whatever that works best and can be maintained consistently.

c)    At least 2 hours after the breaking of fast (9.30pm-10.30pm).

3. Break the fast gradually: start with drinks and fruits, followed by soup, then a 10min break (good time to perform Maghrib prayers and catch a little telly) before the main meal. It will allow the body to “wake up” and help to curb any over-eating tendencies.

I love love love creamed sweet corn drink which I make by combining creamed sweet corn, low-fat milk, evaporated milk and lots of ice – no additional sugar is added to the drink.  I do not fancy the kurma (dates) so I don’t eat it though I know it is afdal (preferred) to do so.  For me soup means cereal and milk. Last Ramadhan I was a bit obsessed with eating frozen yogurt with bananas, muesli, dried berries, skim milk and oatmeal. I would make a huge batch and freeze it – I swear it tasted just like ice cream. I stopped after a while because I got sick of bananas (I have what is termed as ‘food jags’) but maybe it is time to revisit this treat.

4. Try not to drink during or right after eating as the fluid dilutes digestive enzymes. That said, hydrate often and aim to down 7-8 glasses of water daily. I find it a bit hard to stay away from sugared drinks so I am counting my glasses to make sure that I drink 2 glasses of plain water for every glass of sugared drinks that I take.

5. Listen to your body: any time you feel faint or strained, stop.

Like I mentioned above, the first time I tried exercising while fasting I found my head spinning. It happened while I was doing my post-run yoga stretches – started with my heart racing really fast, then I was feeling dizzy and nauseous at the same time, and my breathing became labored. So I stopped, rehydrated with an isotonic drink (essentially breaking the fast, but this was during my fasting trial run so I didn’t break any rules), and when I reached my apartment, I promptly laid down on my yoga mat and took a 2-hr nap. I knew exactly what I did wrong – I was pushing myself too hard (I spent 20mins on the recumbent bike then another 30mins of hard running on the treadmill, plus free weights).

If you want to know what is your ideal heart rate per minute, use this Heart Rate Monitor from Nutrition Society of Malaysia. Mine would be a min of 109, and a maximum of 146. The day I got dizzy I was doing 165.

My Exercise Routine

Exercising every other day means I take a rest day in between. However I am not strict about this, as long as I can exercise 3 times a week, I may do it 3 days in a row and rest for the next 4 days. It’s hard to stick to specific days given my sporadic schedule so I’d rather be flexible about it than be demotivated when my schedule changes.

I don’t have a pedometer (actually I have one but the battery ran out and I haven’t gotten it replaced) and can’t track the distance that I cover when I run outside, I calculate my jogging time based on songs: 4 songs to warm up, 4 songs to jog, 1 song to cooldown. It will take more or less 30-40mins to complete.

It’s also been suggested that I add 200 bodyweight squats and 200 pushups a week (or its variations if the proper ones are too hard to do). The squats and pushup need not be done all at one go, they can be spread throughout the entire week. These are the videos to show how to do a proper bodysquat and pushups:

The squats seem doable but I am doubtful about the pushups. 20sec planks are already a huge challenge for me, having to do 30 pushups a day might just push me over the edge. I have not included these in my routine.

The following would be the arm-toning exercise using free weights that I practice, courtesy of Cosmopolitan magazine featuring Tracy Anderson. At the gym I use the 1.5kg free weights and decrease the frequency to 10 curls instead of 30; at home I use two 500ml water bottles.

Tracking Progress

I have been advised many times not to use the scale to track my progress and to use a measuring tape instead. In the past month, I have not weighed myself but once this morning. I used to weigh myself twice daily – a torturous habit that determined whether I was going to have a good or crappy day. The scale now resides under my bed.

You can use the Waist-Hip Ratio Calculator from Nutrition Society of Malaysia as your guide should you want to go the measuring tape route.

My standard of measurement would be a size 4 non-stretch straight cut skinny jeans from MNG, any time I can fit easily into this I am a happy clam. So this pair of jeans hangs permanently on my bathroom door, I try it on once or twice a week just to keep my weight in check. If you doubt this method you obviously have never tried putting on a non-stretch straight cut skinny jeans. It can be a contortionist’s nightmare even with the slightest extra poundage.

My -5kg battle starts….now.

Related articles

• This Ramadhan – Lose Fat, Transform Your Eating Habits, and Understand Your Body Better (dailymuscle.com)
• Guidelines for Ramadhan (xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)