Ramadan is upon us, if you have recently started your training journey and chose to fast during this period, you may be unsure of how to approach it. It is a real challenge to stay committed to your training goals during this period but at Evolve Coaching & Fitness, our main priority is to make training sustainable in the long-term, so it remains a part of your lifestyle. So, for those who fast, we identify methods that limit regression and, at the least, try to achieve some form of maintenance with your goal.
If you want to lose weight during this period then the goal would be to stay in a calorie deficit. If you’re looking to gain weight over this period, then the goal would be to stay in a calorie surplus during this period. The calorie deficit is the easier option out of the two as you only have a limited amount of hours to consume food. Trying to stay in a calorie surplus may be a bit more difficult.
It’s likely you will only have three meals, two in the evening and one in the morning before sunrise. Taking into consideration that digestion of your food may be disturbed due to the many hours of not eating, reducing your calories and sticking to maintenance will make things a lot easier and could make the month a lot less stressful.
Food should consist of a mixture of protein, carbohydrates and fats, as usual slow releasing carbohydrates should be the first choice (porridge, oats, rice, potatoes) including salt in your diet along with plenty of water to help retain hydration. In an ideal world, I would recommend training before sunrise and keeping the workout short so you can fit in a good breakfast before you start your fast for weight loss, weight gain and strength goals.
This is not to encourage you to aim for huge progress in any of these goals during Ramadan, more so to keep you consistent with your training and to maintain good energy throughout the day. Training itself should be kept at a low to mid intensity, resistance training would be my first choice, if any cardio is done it should only be a low intensity, steady state. Your resistance training should be around 8-10 reps, machine-based equipment would be a good option during this time so you
can focus your energy solely on fatiguing the muscle.
Another way of approaching your training during this time is to have more of a functional approach and work on areas such as mobility, stability or neuromuscular adaptations. This will be less physically demanding and are brilliant variations to do to strengthen your overall technique which will massively benefit you when you return to performing the bigger, more intense exercises.
Be sure to get in touch if you have any questions about how to stay on track with your training during Ramadan.