Rami Ali, Vienna, 21th of June

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail-

Fitness during Ramadan; Rami Ali

Ramadan is surely not the time to think about gains since you will be running
on a caloric deficit on a daily basis. Of course you can eat like a moron to avoid
that deficit, but you would then, however, miss the point of Ramadan which is
spirituality, inner and outer peace and basically dedicate your time to god,
good deeds such as helping others etc.
So how to train during Ramadan satisfying the inner beast in you and more
importantly, how to eat?
Basically Ramadan comes pretty close to diet protocols such as Intermittent
Fasting: Lean Gains and the Warrior Diet, with the main difference that you are
not allowed to drink (and guess what: BCAAs will break your fast too) from
sunrise to sunset which is in most European countries something between 17-
19 hours.

[Note: This might also be a great opportunity for non-muslim lifters who would
want to try intermittent fasting, detox their bodies or simply improve their
aesthetics. However if you decide to try it, stay hydrated during the day of
course.]

Given these facts, however I still believe that there is room for physical
improvement in terms of aesthetics if you follow two simple rules:
Eat right & Train smart!
Hands down, you will not be moving huge weights or increase your weights nor
will you be able to continue the workout regimen you followed before the holy
month. Youre energy levels will be pretty low and your muscle glycogen will be
partly depleted. Not really good conditions for monster gains and thats why
you will have to turn down on volume and a little bit on intensity since we want
to avoid injuries. Dont spend more than 60 Mins at the gym keeping in mind
that first of all its Ramadan not Off-Season, and secondly you wont be able to
stay focussed for longer than that.
Rami Ali, Vienna, 21th of June
Enough introduction here, lets jump straight to the guidelines:
I would certainly not train fasted. I know a lot of people preach doing so but
for me this is simply wrong. An even bigger problem than the missing nutrients
is the dehydration! You dont want to harm your body at that point so I would
say:
Pre-Workout
Right after sunset (Iftar) throw in a fast acting protein (Whey) + 5g BCAA + 2-3g
creatine and a carb blend consisting of high and low glycemic Index carbs. So
a good option would be oats with some Maltodextrin/Dextrose or a piece of
fruit or even dates would be an excellent choice too! If you need it, you can
throw in 200-300mg Caffeine. This will help you get through your workout!
Now head to the gym sipping on your first litre of water. Stay hydrated during
your workout!! A sample workout appears below! Of course you can go with
other splits too if you dont like this one. Just make sure to focus on the
following:
Compound exercises are key
Go heavy on back, chest and legs once a week doing Deads/Rows,
Benchpress, and Squats. 5x5 on each is an excellent option.
Dont stuff your workout days with too many exercises! On light
assistance exercises focus on proper form, slow negative and increase
the time under tension (TUT).
Training the muscle only once a week will be too less since you cant go
too hard on it so have it two times (heavy and light/moderate)

Sample Workout:
Day1: Chest heavy/ Arms mod./ Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Back heavy/ Shoulders light/
Day4:Legs heavy/ Chest light/ Abs
Day5: Rest
Rami Ali, Vienna, 21th of June
Day6: Shoulders mod. Supersetted with Back light/ Legs light
Day7: Rest
Note: We dont need Cardio during Ramadan!!



After the workout
Right after your workout throw in your PWO (fast acting whey and
carbs+ 5-10g BCAA +2g creatine)

Roughly an hour after that you want to have your biggest meal consisting
of min. 60% of your calorie intake and the biggest part of your carb
intake + some quality protein and veggies (avoid fatty acids here).

Stop here for a moment. Remember where we said Eat right? Thats the
point here. Quality over quantitiy. You can go perfectly fine with 2 quality
meals and a snack. Dont forget that there is still Taraweeh-Prayers and that
you have to spend time with family and friends so aim at two quality meals and
a snack for Sohoor maybe.
So that basically means:

Avoid fatty and sugary food (I know it might be hard during Ramadanj), aim for
complex carbs (rice, potatoes/sweet potatoes etc.) and get your protein in!
You might want to get some additional liquid protein such as multicomponent
or casein to increase your intake. However non-processed food and basically
quality protein from meat, eggs and dairy products should make the biggest
part of your intake.
And for gods sake.. DRINK! Stay hydrated during the eating window. Aim at 3-
4 litres and your body will love you for this.

Rami Ali, Vienna, 21th of June
After Taraweeh-Prayers which would be around 12 -1 A.M, have your
second meal which should be very rich in protein. Have some complex
carbs here too if you want. Then get your drinking game running again
until Sohoor (Sunrise).

This is snack time! I usually go with some eggs here and a slow acting
protein (Cottage or curd cheese or a Casein shake). This is the time to get
your healthy fats in since this will slow down the resorption of the
already slow acting protein additionally (No protein in the world will last
the 18 hours fast; just dont worry about losing mass, you wont!)

Basically thats it! Hope I helped you stay on track with your fitness goals while
enjoying Ramadan to the fullest.
A list of helpful supplements appears below. I will list them according to their
priority (in my opinion) so you can adjust them to your financial situation.
Supplements:
1. Whey
2. BCAA
3. Vitamins
4. Creatine (Start the creatine load 1 week prior to Ramadan. 20g daily split
on 4 times. Then during Ramadan go with 2g pre and 2 g post- Workout.
On non-lifting days split the dose to Iftar and Sohoor)
5. Green supps (Any kind of green extracts/and or superfood)
6. Coffein capsules (mainly as pre- workout booster)



Blessed Ramadan everybody, enjoy it