full

Remember

hydration,

hydration, says

Balakrishnan.

“During the time that you are

allowed to drink, this is extremely

important,” he says. “I have seen

a lot of Muslims pass out as they

push themselves without drinking

water. Your goal for a 200lbs man

should be to try to drink 3 liters of

water between dawn and sunrise.”

Do not panic.

Balakrishnan

points out that

many people think

that they are going

to lose their hard earned muscles

at the time of Ramadan. “This isn’t

so, and with a bit of organization

and thought there is no reason to

take a step backward,” he says and

in fact, 4 to 5 meals over a 24-hour

period are very possible. “For

example, an individual could eat

a large pre-Ramadan fats meal at

Suhour, then break the Ramadan

fats at Iftar, eat again at 10:00pm,

and finally have a supper at

11:30pm,” he says.

Taking these

supplements will

help: Acetyl L

Carnitine (3grams

upon awakening),

Amino acids, Casein Protein

Powder (for supper), Whey protein

powder, a multi vitamin/minerals/

magnesium (at night to aid sleep.

Common Mistakes During Ramadan

Lack of planning is the biggest mistake you can do during Ramadan, tell Balakrishnan. “Failing to plan is planning

to fail,” he says; make a plan for your diet, training, job and sleep. More errors to avoid are below:

•Not training.

You won’t lose much muscle and strength if you stop lifting weight during Ramadan. But you will

tend to stick to your diet less. And this can cause more muscle/strength loss and fat gains than not lifting.

•Not eating healthy.

Lots of people gain fat during Ramadan. The main reason for that is that a lot of the Ramadan

foods are high in sugar and fats.

•Not eating enough.

Food is energy. If you don’t eat enough you will lack energy at the gym and won’t recover well.

You must focus on calorie dense foods to get the most out of your feeding window.

•Not sleeping enough.

Short nights can cause sleep deprivation. This can kill your motivation to go to gym.

May/June 2015