How to Maintain muscles in RAMADAN

It's Time to empty your stomach and feed your soul. Happy Ramadan!

The holy month of Ramadan has arrived and our Muslim brothers and sisters will be fasting from dawn to dusk without even drinking water. For those who don’t know what Ramadan is all about. Let me tell you my friends In Muslims It is believed that these 30 days of fasting teaches discipline, patience, and a divine connection to God. However, if you are a lifter or looking for muscles gain then things can get a bit tricky for you when it comes to training and eating to build muscle. Hope this article can help you. Let’s talk about how to maintain muscles and make sure we don’t lose without evening violating the norms of Ramadan.

Effect of fasting on Metabolism:

During Ramadan, Muslims around the world fast for a full lunar month – they begin fasting at the Fajr call to prayer just before sunrise and break their fast at sundown.The fasting windows is different in every country. But most of Asian Country the windows is 14-16 hours. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and most of Asian country the fasting windows is 15 hours. When you do not eat or drink anything for continuous 15 hours, it really affect our muscles. Our muscles goes in carbolic state. Let’s see what happens for fasting:

Our metabolism slows down and our body hoard fat as survival.
It also leads to overeating once the fast is over.
Over eating leads to fat gain which is not a good idea.
We eat anything and everything once the fast is over which is again an alarm.
When to Exercise:
Though the most of the Gym in the world are open 24*7. But we don’t live in most of those countries. So being Indians, Pakistanis & Bangladeshis and most of South Asian country we have hands-full of Gym which are open 24*7.
The best time to workout is when the fast is over and we already have our food inside our stomach. We need to make sure we workout for two body parts in a day. And we need to exercise on every alternate day. One thing we need to make sure we can take two days rest but not more than 2 days. Kindly check the chart below:

How to Workout During Ramadan:

Not training during Ramadan will be a big mistake. Training prevents muscle loss. Our aim is to maintain muscles in Ramadan this is what this article is all about. Let’s understand few points to make sure we do it correctly an workout intelligently.

Duration of our workout should not more than 1 hour.
Make sure take 1sp Black coffee (without milk and sugar). Drink it 20 minutes before workout. It’s a great pre-workout
If you’re doing chest and Triceps. make sure every body part should last for 20 minutes (20 mins chest+20 mins biceps+5 mins warm-up/stretching = 1 Hour )
3/4 exercise per body workout is not at all difficult.
In 45 minutes exercise the intensity matters a lot It should be high like a sky.
Make sure sip water in ever set. You need to make sure consume 1 litre water in the entire 45 minutes workout session. Do not drink water just sip.
It’s always a good idea to add 3/4 spoons of Glucon-D (Orange flavor) in 1 litre water. It will give instant energy. Vitamin-C is better for muscles recovery and it will not allow the ,muscles to go in catabolic state.
Once you’re done with the gym, take your protein shake immediately. You need to make sure take your protein shake within 20 minutes or before.
When you come back home, take your high protein meal. And after one hour of your high protein meal go for your dinner. So make sure your high protein meal should not be heavy otherwise you will not able to enjoy your dinner as your stomach will be full. (High Protein Meal should be like “6 white eggs+3 dates palm”)
If you cannot afford whey protein, make your own protein shake at home. Check below how to make protein shake.

10. In this chart I've only mentioned the protein content. But it has more nutrients. Like flax-seeds is really good and it has Omega-3 for our blood flow specially after high intensity workout etc.

11. Always remember Suhoor (Pre dawn meal) should be heavy meal. It’s an amazing idea if we can take casein with milk, so it can provide slow digesting protein in the next 6/8 hours. So casein can can prevent muscles loss big time.

Foods to Go For:

Fruits, vegetables, Dry Fruits & Dates Palm
Multgrain/Whole Grains Breads, cereals, and potatoes
Meat, Fish, Chicken Brest & Eggs.
Dairy products such as Milk, Cheese & Curd
Foods containing healthy fat and natural sugar.

Foods to Consume During Ramadan:

Deep fried foods like fried samosas, fried chicken, fried spring rolls and fried potato chips
High sugar and high fat foods Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi sweetmeats like gulab jamun, jalebi, badam halwa and barfi etc.
High-fat cooked foods like oily curries and greasy pastries

Suhoor (Pre dawn meal):

Suhoor (the pre-dawn meal) should encompass a wholesome meal that provides long-lasting energy throughout the day. Foods that provide long-lasting energy are complex carbohydrates and high-fibre foods. Complex carbs are rich in energy but release this energy slowly throughout the day. Examples include wholewheat, oats, beans, and rice. Foods that are rich in fibre and are also digested slowly include fruits (raw and unpeeled) and vegetables.

Iftar (Post-dusk meal):

It is customary for Muslims to break their fast Iftar with dates and water. This helps restore sugar and salt levels in the body. It also re-hydrates the body. Dates is a must-eat fruits.

Benefits of Dates are:

Easy to digest.
Decrease the feeling of hunger, preventing us from overeating.
Prepare the stomach to receive food after many hours of fasting.
Rich in natural sugar and energy, and it restores nutrients in our body.
Prevent constipation as a result of altered meal times.
Check these 4 Meals which can really help you on this Holy Season.