Somehow, I managed to forget to prepare for training in Ramadan, which began on Monday. For those who may not be familiar with it, Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, and one of the primary observances is to abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset every day during the month. Full disclosure: when the month falls in the spring and summer, I usually drink during the day when I work. I'm a mailman, and perhaps I'm not as pious or zealous as I should be, but I've tried going dry through a work day and I don't think what I experienced is what the fast is supposed to produce.
Going without food that long (14-14.5 hours per day this time of year) still presents difficult challenges. Among them, obviously, is how to train effectively within those parameters. Most years, I've gone into the month with a game plan. I just got caught slipping this year. So after training last Friday, I didn't end up training again until Tuesday. For now, my thought is to try these adjustments:
* When possible, start training sessions an hour or so before sunset.
* If I can't do that, then train at night but eat a little before training, then eat a lot afterwards.
* Keep the core lifts on my 3x6 format, but reduce the number of work sets on everything else.
* Take 2 rest days after each training session.
We'll see how it goes over the next 26 days. Here's how the most recent session went...
Tue. 5/7/19, 7:48-8:43 pm
Alternated sets of 1 & 2.
1. Squat
135/6
225/6
285/6
335/6 @6 RPE - hit the safety on the 3rd reps
335/6 @7 - heard a slight "pop" in the hole on rep 2. Not sure if was a string in my shorts, underwear, or adductor. Jury is still out.
335/6 @7.5 - more tired than usual at this point... not surprised
2. Decline Sit-up
12 reps each with BW, 10, 20 and 25 x 3 sets
Alternated sets of 3-5.
3. DB Inclines
50's/15
60's/15 @7.5
4. Chest Supported Row
100/8 overhand + 8 neutral
140/10 overhand + 7 neutral
I wanted 10 + 10 on the work set. Got caught a bit off guard. Might have been able to squeeze out an 8th rep.
5. Kettlebell Swing
35/20
45/20