Slow down to keep fit in Ramadhan

Slow down to keep fit in Ramadhan

By Tri Hafiningsih

JAKARTA (JP): Fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan means
no food and drink from dawn till dusk, but this does not
necessarily have to have a detrimental effect on your physical
fitness. You can still do the religious fasting services and
maintain a regular workout routine to keep yourself fit at the
same time.

If you do regular workouts or sports, you can continue your
fitness routine, but you need to slow down. Reducing the
frequency, intensity and the length of time of workouts during
the fasting month, is recommended by most sport and fitness
experts.

The principle applies to all people with average "good"
fitness levels who are involved in a range of sports. These
include the less stressful cardiovascular exercises of brisk
walking and jogging to the more demanding game-sports of tennis,
badminton or basketball.

"You have to slow down. Regular work outs and playing sport
are just to maintain the fitness level you have already
achieved," said Dr. Sadoso Sumosardjuno.

An expert in charge of several health and fitness columns in
sports reviews, has said that people could not improve their
fitness level while conducting the religious fasting.

A person who is used to an hour workout session, three times a
week, could reduce it to a 45-minute session, two times a week
routine during Ramadhan. The intensity of the work out should be
reduced by avoiding the high impact cardiovascular workouts and
replace it with low-impact exercises.

Another fitness expert said that people should not stop the
regular workouts during Ramadhan services. Their fitness level
would drop down to its lowest if they did so, said dance and
fitness expert Maya Tamara.

"It would be difficult to start again after Lebaran," she
said, adding that all the effort to keep fit that had been
achieved before the fasting month period would be lost.

Lebaran is the end of the fasting month celebration. Due to
the festive atmosphere people tend to over eat and temporarily
abstain from their activities with respect to their fitness and
health.

The artistic director of the Namarina Dance Academy said that
any person with a regular workout routine should pay attention to
the intensity and the kinds of exercises he or she does during
the Ramadhan fasting month.

She suggested that those concerned about their fitness level
should try a workout routine usually carried out in the fitness
classes in Namarina. It includes mild cardiovascular exercises or
low-impact aerobic exercises without jumping or running, combined
with weight training for large muscle areas on the stomach, back,
upper arms and thighs. This routine is the most suitable set of
exercises for those who are conducting the religious services.

The lighter weight training sessions for the large muscle
groups requires a dumbbell or weight not more than 500 grams for
each hand.

She said that after the two-week fasting, the body stamina
would eventually go down due to less nutrition. "People tend to
pay less attention to the food they eat. Not all of this food was
healthy or nutritious. The exercises should be adjusted to
account for this," she said.

Best time

Both experts agreed that the workout routine should be ideally
carried out close to the time to break the fast.

Sadoso said the best time for a Ramadhan work out would be
around 4 to 5 p.m., during which time the body is at its lowest
metabolite level.

Another important reason of doing the exercise at that
particular time is because after such an activity one should have
a drink, to replace the decreased body fluids due to the work
out, he said.

He said that the body temperature would increase during a work
out and should be cooled down immediately after that.

"We can't do that if we work out in the mornings," Sadoso
said, adding that the drink should be cool water and not a hot
drink as the body needs to cool down.

Leaving the body temperature high too long would not be good
for one's overall health, he said.

Fitness instructor Maya Tamara said one could avoid
dehydration by conducting the work out in spacious, uncrowded
rooms with appropriate ventilation, and having a routine which
includes a less stressful cardiovascular routine but with more
stretching and body conditioning exercises.

"So we won't perspire too much, or become too tired," she
said.

She said that body fluid could also be maintained by having a
good habit of drinking eight to ten glasses of plain water daily
during the break of the fast and pre-dawn sahur meals.

Sadoso said that the work out should not be done after the
break of the fast meals.

"After dinner we need to wait at least two hours before we can
do any exercises and we have to finish any exercise at least
three hours before bedtime," he said.

Before or after sahur would not be a good time for working out
either, said Sadoso. "The air in the pre-dawn hours is full of CO
gas. This is not good for anyone attempting to exercise."

The usual workout routine could be resumed after the long
"rest" right after the end of the fasting month celebration. "But
you should remember to start slow," he warned. "You should not
work out as hard as you did before Ramadhan."