Your exercising routines shouldn't stop during Ramadan. In fact, if you don't exercise, Ramadan might be just the time when you start picking up some good habits.
While high-intensity exercising might not be the ideal form of physical activity for a person holding fast, low to medium-intensity exercising is actually good for you.
So, what are the health benefits of exercising during Ramadan, and why you shouldn't stop training your body during the holy month?
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While not all of us are capable of exercising before Iftar, some people actually have no trouble doing so. You can exercise for an hour or less right before the Adhan of the Maghreb, which is manageable by almost everyone. When extreme thirst and hunger hit you, the Iftar will be ready for you to eat.
However, if you're more into high-intensity training and extended hours, it might be better for you to wait after Iftar to hit the gym. Almost all of the gyms in the Muslim world change their schedules during Ramadan to suit the population's needs during this holy month which turns our days upside down.
After you eat your hearty Iftar, you can wait for an hour or so before you go to the gym. You'll have to wait for a little while until the food eaten gets digested from the stomach. Make sure to drink enough water, but not too much. Instead of drinking a lot of water all at once, take a few sips every 5 minutes or so, to avoid bloating.
Managing weight during Ramadan can be challenging, especially if you're the kind of person who loses weight or gains too much weight.
When you exercise regularly, you get more control over your weight. You just know how much exercise you need to do to keep your weight.
Keeping a calendar also helps you keep track of your weight.
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When it's Ramadan, you really don't have to go for high-intensity training. You can do low to medium-intensity training, which would be more than enough, especially if you're only starting to exercise.
Ramadan is the month when we pick up good habits. Part of the Ramadan ethos is to drop bad habits and pick up good ones to replace them. And when we're talking about adopting good habits, the best approach is to start slowly and be consistent.
Low-intensity training is the best approach to picking up the good habit of exercising. You can start very low-intensity training before you gradually raise your resistance level one by one. Good habits are built slowly. As long as you're consistent, it doesn't matter that you're not training hard.
You can just go for a very long walk. Or you can replace moving with your car with a bicycle just to exercise a little bit. You don't necessarily need a gym membership in the beginning. Although, having a gym membership might motivate you to keep up the good work.
The point is simple; you should consider Ramadan, not just a holy month of cleansing the soul. You should approach Ramadan more holistically on the spiritual, emotional, and bodily levels. Just like the soul is nourished by the religious practices of Ramadan, the body also can follow suit.
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As I mentioned before, you can avoid any complications from exercising while holding fast by training after eating Iftar. You can take a couple of hours from your schedule and dedicate it to exercising.
You can also go for low-intensity training an hour or so before Iftar to avoid fainting due to fatigue and hunger.
Exercising is good whenever you do it. Coupling exercising with fasting during Ramadan takes the pursuit of self-development to the next level. Sometimes, we're too indulgent in pleasurable activities that serve us nothing and we forget to take care of our bodies, which are the vessels that God has granted to us not to waste away.
Check out this article on the best ways to hydrate yourself during Ramadan.
