Programming for Novice in Ramadan

[Humzah]

Hi,

I'm a novice in the 6th week of the program (Phase 2).

All lifts are progress and all is well, but Ramadan is coming up soon.

This where, for a whole month, I only eat and drink in the small window after sunset and before sunrise.

This is of course not optimal for strength training.

So what should my approach be?

Is is smarter to just leave training alone for the whole month and return to it after Ramadan commitments are over? Or alter the program to lower the volume?

If I should leave training alone, how should I go about reintroducing training properly?

Any tips on keeping the strength I have would be nice too

Thanks

[Brent Carter]

Can you train at night?

[Humzah]

Can you train at night?

I can train at night but the window of eating is only 6 hours (9pm - 3am in the UK)

So fitting in all that food, plus training is a big challenge

[Amaan Chohan]

Brent if it's okay with you I'd like to share my experience with Ramadan and strength training. The issue with training in the window between sunrise and sunset is the bloatedness, you'll need to literally stuff yourself for the full time to try rehydrate yourself and get a decent amount of calories. Experiment with either gymming before sunset or after starting your fast. Not working out at all would be the biggest mistake you'll make. Brent can advise on programming I haven't got a clue, but I will say that any attempt on anything heavy will cramp you.

[Brent Carter]

I actually train fasted every lifting session. I train first thing in the morning BUT because I don't do this for religious reasons and only practical reasons I can drink water and my BCAA's prior to training. If it is a hydration thing I can understand the bloating. Otherwise I would make the first meal after breaking fast some kind of fast digesting carb as soon as that starts hitting the blood stream then lift and as soon as that's over have a huge meal. I would also go ahead and post this in Santana's forum as it is more of a nutrition related question.

[George Christiansen]

The issue with training in the window between sunrise and sunset is the bloatedness, you'll need to literally stuff yourself for the full time to try rehydrate yourself and get a decent amount of calories.

This was par for the course when I lived in Abu Dhabi. Many of the locals seemed to eat MORE than a normal days food at the evening meals, which is totally contrary to the point of the fast, but that's another story.

I'd train before sunsets, so that you could eat asap. Then I'd just eat two huge meals: the first one at sunset and then the other after a two hour nap before sunrise. Then I'd sleep for six hours....all assuming that you can get away with the sleep schedule too.

[Humzah]

Brent if it's okay with you I'd like to share my experience with Ramadan and strength training. The issue with training in the window between sunrise and sunset is the bloatedness, you'll need to literally stuff yourself for the full time to try rehydrate yourself and get a decent amount of calories. Experiment with either gymming before sunset or after starting your fast. Not working out at all would be the biggest mistake you'll make. Brent can advise on programming I haven't got a clue, but I will say that any attempt on anything heavy will cramp you.

Thanks for the insight! Why would you say not training at all is a big mistake?

[Humzah]

I actually train fasted every lifting session. I train first thing in the morning BUT because I don't do this for religious reasons and only practical reasons I can drink water and my BCAA's prior to training. If it is a hydration thing I can understand the bloating. Otherwise I would make the first meal after breaking fast some kind of fast digesting carb as soon as that starts hitting the blood stream then lift and as soon as that's over have a huge meal. I would also go ahead and post this in Santana's forum as it is more of a nutrition related question.

Got it, can you give me help on programming because I don't really know what to do. I feel like toning it down a little would be a good idea though, right?

I posted in the Nutrition forum too, just waiting on moderation

[Humzah]

This was par for the course when I lived in Abu Dhabi. Many of the locals seemed to eat MORE than a normal days food at the evening meals, which is totally contrary to the point of the fast, but that's another story.

I'd train before sunsets, so that you could eat asap. Then I'd just eat two huge meals: the first one at sunset and then the other after a two hour nap before sunrise. Then I'd sleep for six hours....all assuming that you can get away with the sleep schedule too.

I'll do a bit of experimenting - training before sunset and also training after having a quick digesting meal after sunset

Interesting that you said 6 hours of sleep, I know it's different for everyone, and I'm more of a 7/8 hours guy. Fortunately I have freedom of sleeping in for the majority of the month

Thanks for the input!

[MarinePMI]

I have a friend that is a practicing Bahai (which has a similar month of fasting) and he does as George recommends, works out before sunset, and then eats ASAP. Get's up before sunrise and eats a large meal again.

For programming, he moves to a maintenance routine/weight to try and maintain what strength gains he has made thus far. Once the month of fasting is over, he resumes his normal progression program.

Not sure if that helps, but it is what he I and I have discussed over the years when his religion dictates a month of fasting.