Asalamu alaykum,

I just finished working out with Rehan. Truly a wonderful person and a great trainer! I’m trying to talk him into making a workout plan for Imams and students of knowledge. One great idea he had for those who travel a lot: curls with water bottles! Thanks Rehan for all your help and advice. I encourage all students of knowledge to workout and get in shape. We need our teachers and scholars to be healthy and strong. I know the title says Ramdan, but this program, with a few modifications, will work anytime, inshallah.

Suhaib

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is how can I workout and eat properly while I am fasting? Most people see the blessed month ofRamadhan as a time when they will surely lose strength and or muscle massand some people think they can only “maintain” during this month. Thiscannot be further from the truth. In fact, if you use some of the strategies I am about to share with you, you can make some of your best gains during this month! It’s all about maximizing nutrient uptake, maintaining properhydration, and modifying key fat burning/muscle building hormones in yourfavor during this month.

First of all, let’s look at what happens to your body during Ramadhan. While you are fasting, obviously you become more dehydrated at rest–butactually less than if you had exercised aerobically for over an hour (soexercise causes greater dehydration for that time period versus fasting).Your main metabolic fuel source for bodily function during fasting is mainlyfat, which is a good thing. There is a great advantage fasting when thedays are shorter as more meals can be eaten during the night. So the goals during Ramadhan are to maximize metabolism (even though your metabolism will slow down due to less frequent meals), preserve and enhance as much leanmuscle mass as possible (which will inherently increase metabolic rate andallow you to burn more calories at rest), and maximize your workout (both cardio and weight training). During Ramadhan, depending on your goals, I really recommend that you limit cardio to 2 days a week at the most. This is again to preserve as much lean muscle tissue as possible. There is actually research showing the health benefits of fasting. It is truly aphysical purification.

Training Times
Ok, enough of the background, let’s get to the meat of it! I am going toset the record straight here. The best time to do a weight training workout is NOT while fasting. This can create way too much muscle breakdown and cause a significant rise in the catabolic hormone cortisol.Training while in a state of dehydration can decrease strength significantly. In fact, research indicates that dehydrating a muscle by aslittle as 3% can cause a 12% loss in strength. Training while you are fasting can actually be more detrimental than beneficial! The best time toweight train during Ramadhan is after Taraweh prayers at night. This will insure that you will have several meals and plenty of water in your system before going to the gym. This will also allow you to consume your all-important post workout meal or shake which is essential to muscle growth and even fat loss. If this is too late then the next best time to weight train is about 1 hour after Iftar before taraweh prayer. The best time todo cardio work for maximum fat loss is before suhur—yep that’s the truth. Of course, most people I know will not want to get up at around 3: 30 AM and do cardio! If you CAN pull this off then the best thing to do is get up and drink plenty of water with a cup of coffee or green tea, wait 30 minutes andperform 30-45 minutes of moderate intensity cardio work like a brisk walk ona treadmill. If this is out of the question for you, then the next besttime to do cardio is approximately 30-45 minutes after a “light” iftar (Iwill define this shortly).So now you know when to train, it’s time to learn what to eat and drink(think water, water, and more water!).

Suhur meal (morning/pre- dawn)
For suhur, it is imperitive to drink plenty of water, eat a good blend of protein, carbohydrates, and essential fat—that’s right “good fats” have manyfat burning and muscle building properties and their importance is evengreater during Ramadhan. Some good “suhur” foods include:
Egg whites (1 yolk)
Chicken breast
Oatmeal
Cream of wheat
Protein shake
Bananas
Dark HoneyRaisins or dates
Fibrous vegetables [this will help increase the feeling of fullness as well]
All natural peanut butter, flax seed oil, plive oil – preferably extra virgin (which means it’s cold processed and the essential fatty acids are preserved)
Plenty of water

It is important to take a solid Multi-Vitamin/ multi-mineral supplement with suhur as well to make sure daily minimum requirements of key nutrients are met. One good one is Opti-Pack by Super Nutrition. Taking extra vitamin C and vitamin E can also be helpful. It is very important to watch your sodium intake at this time as high sodium can cause greater dehydration plus increase thirst during the day—not good for fasters. Avoid high sodiumfoods like soups, sauces, condiments, gravies, high sodium bread products, and canned meats.

Iftar meal
This is a key time for rehydration. The wisdom in Islam is never ending.We break our fast with dates and water but if you investigate this nutritionally, you will see that dates are very unique in their nutrientcontent. They contain very high levels of potassium, a key re-hydrationmineral and a special carbohydrate blend that enhance hydration above andbeyond water alone. So basically when you eat a date and water for iftaryour body gets hydrated again much faster than with water alone (this is acomplex topic but I don’t want to bore you with the details—You can think of dates and water as a very advanced form of Gatorade(r)) . You should also eat some quality protein at this time as well. I recommend three dates and ameal replacement protein powder like ZI Diet MRP from VPX Sports, Lean Bodyby Labrada, or Myoplex from EAS. Of course, drink plenty of water. Then 1-1.5 hours later have a food meal (or follow the schedule above for cardio).Then during taraweh, depending if you pray 8 or 20 rakahs, have a protein bar in the middle (not while you are praying of course!) or have another small protein and complex carbohydrate meal after the 8 rakahs—drink plentyof water if you have a protein bar. Then go train about 30-45 minutes aftereating the bar. After the workout, have another nutrition shake (asmentioned a few lines ago) with plenty of water. Eating small meals at night can trick your body into speeding up metabolic rate (not to mention increase nutrient absorption and stabilize insulin and blood sugar levels). Your body loves homeostasis and wants to maintain a certain balance—you literally have to shock it constantly to lose fat and gain muscle over thelong run! There is so much wisdom in “Eat and drink but not to excess” and we should try and follow that especially during Ramadhan.

SAMPLE Ramadhan MEAL PLAN for fat loss and muscle gain
(*This plan is for a 170 lb male, please adjust amounts for bodyweight)

Suhur: Eat 6-8 egg whites (one yolk), one bowl of plain oatmeal w/ cinammon, raisins and a banana1 teaspoon all-natural peanut butter or olive oil or flax seed oil
Plenty of water (16-24 oz.)
Opti-pack by Super Nutrition (one pack) –multi-vitamin/ mineral

Iftar (the evening opening of the fast):
Three Dates and a Nutrition Shake (ZI Diet MRP from VPX Sports, Lean Body byLabrada, or Myoplex from EAS)
Plenty of water

For cardio workouts –Do cardio 45 minutes after this meal for 30-45 minutes at a moderate pace or do a sprint workout if you have less time and then have the next meal before taraweh. (Have a cup of green tea with Iftar on cardio days)

For weight training days: Eat another food meal before Taraweh like chickenbreast (or baked salmon), brown rice and some veggies OR Baked Fish (Salmon, Tuna, Orange Roughy, or Mahi mahi), sweet potato, and a garden salad or some steamed vegetables. Drink plenty of water during taraweh–Go to the gym after taraweh. (If you pray 20 rakahs, then have a protein bar in the middle of taraweh). Drink plenty of water during the workout and you can even have Powerade™ or a sports drink during the workout.

After the workout, have another Nutrition Shake –lots of water of course.Then sleep 45 minutes later or stay up all night eating and working like I do!Following these simple workout and nutrition tips can really help you make great gains during this blessed month.

May God help give us patience and strength in this month and throughout the year and make us strong mentally, internally, spiritually, and physically!