How do religious lifters deal with fast days? Being Jewish, there are days of the year when I traditionally need to fast; since I didn’t have my nutrition dialed in very well on Tisha B’Av, it wasn’t much of an issue and I just handled it as usual… but with the fast of Gedaliah approaching in a few weeks, I’m wondering what I should do to keep my nutrition reasonably balanced.
As an Orthodox Christian, I am required to fast at certain times - this is definitely an issue with me. Basically, for me it all boils down to priorities. 99% of the time, weightlifting and diet are among my top priorities. During times of fasting, I just accept that my priorities have changed and I just deal with it. I could agonize over my “shrinking muscles” and “withering strength” but it’s all mental.
Typically I do not train 1 or 2 days before beginning a fast - but still
eat BIG. During fasts I make sure to consume plenty of water and green tea.
Nick
This is a good question (and quite timely since Ramadan - the islamic month of fasting is fast approaching).
During the holy month, muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Note that fasting in the Islamic tradition means complete absention from any food or drink during the period of the fast.
This is obviously challenging to from a training / nutritional perspective.
There are, in my estimation, a number of things to bear in mind re: fasting nutrition and training parameters(and I’m no expert so I’m pleased to defer to the opinions of those who are).
- fatigue - fasting, irrespective of whether or not one can take food during the period of the fast, will make you weaker. This doesn’t mean that one can’t train hard, it simply has implications for training frequency rep ranges and volume. If you typically train with a fewer sets of higher repetitions, consider switching to multiple sets (5-6 per day) of lower reps (doubles) with a heavier poundage multiple times per week (4-5 as your recovery ability will allow). This sounds counterintuitive but bear in mind that the energy requirements of low rep, low volume daily training are lower than higher rep training done 3 or so times per week.
My personal experience has been that fasting really compromises the contractile ability of the target muscles over extended periods of time (ie multiple rep sets really bag me a lot faster).
Training with doubles 4 -5 days a week with heavy weight should work better within fasting energy levels and will allow you to spend quality time developing your strength.
Consider dropping all accessory / isolation movements and keep your training to exclusively compound movements (squat/dl/any variet of press/pull up/chin up etc.) as these movements will give you the most bang for your energy buck.
- Nutrition (this perhaps should have been point 1). Fasting for an extended period of time post-training can be highly catabolic so, to the extent that you train prior to being able to eat normally again, you should not leave too big a window between the end of your training and a normal meal.
Training post-eating. If you’re anything like me, eating after fasting results in a shrunk stomach but a need to cram it in anyways - all of which is less than conducive to a good workout. If I train after I break the fast for the day, I usually go with an apple (for the sugar) and a coffee with plenty of whole milk (for a bit of energy - notice I said a bit). This mix usually gives me just enough energy to complete a reasonable workout (using doubles as I’ve described above).
Your protein requirements will probably be harder to meet while your fasting(I don’t know how much protein a body can absorb at a sitting or whether training on empty enhances protein absorbtion, so I will refrain from further comment on this issue).
You may want to remain aware of the glycemic impact that foods will have - consider eating fruits or vegetables first to ensure that your blood sugar levels are raised slowly (to avoid insulin / glucagon surges)and then eating rice or bread in combination with meats and good fats (i.e. olive oil) to ensure that the blood sugar impact of these higher glycemic carbohydrates is moderated.
Don’t gorge post-fast.
I hope this is helpful. My apologies for a response that is scattered and incomplete. I wanted to respond more thoroughly but didn’t have time.
I’m not sure how Jewish fasts are done, but with a Muslim client we had great success.
He would get up before sunrise and eat a larger than usual breakfast.
In the early evening he would consume his next meal, and then another before training. He would train at 9PM and have his PWO shake afterward. Assuming he’d completed his workout just after 10 he’d have a shake in him before 10:30. He’d then eat again at 12 and go to bed.
All in all, he managed to maintain (if not improve) his body composition at this time. Of course, this could be in part due to the fact that he was so worried about losing muscle that he at perfectly clean during this time period.
Weight training is my religion.
I don’t let religion get in the way of my training and eating habits. Then again, I don’t really practice religion these days.
Adjust your workouts to include low levels of eccentrics to keep muscle breakdown low if your fast keeps you from consuming high levels of protein. You can work on different priorities like speed, flexibility, endurance and get the time to master technique on difficult lifts.
i would also recommend with your given spiritual teacher to see if he allows you to use protein powders while you fast. I know for example in Orthodox Christianity, nothing is writting in stone about fasting and it is a individualistic thing that has to be established by the spiritual father and the person. laters pk
[quote]Kinetix wrote:
I’m not sure how Jewish fasts are done, but with a Muslim client we had great success.[/quote]
There are two types of Jewish fasting.
The minor fasts (Gedaliah, Tevet, Esther, Tammuz, and the Fast of the Firstborn) are as you describe: no food between sunrise and sunset, but you may eat breakfast before sunrise if you awaken for that purpose. Water is permitted.
The two other fasts, Yom Kippur and Tisha B’av, are slightly more strict. They go from sundown to sundown, and even water is forbidden; furthermore, no work may be done on that day, just as if it were the Sabbath.
It seems like the two major fasts are still going to be an issue, but at least they’re required to be non-workout days anyway. What should the macronutrient composition be for the breakfast?