could you work out really late or early? like after dusk and before dawn? Otherwise I would say that would be pretty tough.

I think you can do it if you time your workouts to when you can refuel after the workout which of course would be the evening. Maybe periodize so that July is a bit less intense. I would take that you are not racing during that period? I have to believe that when Ramadan falls in the Summer it is difficult because of the heat.

Hicham El Guerrouj managed to continue to train and race through ramadan while observing the fast. Numerous athletes who completed in London did so while observing the ramadan fast (the Olympics fell during Ramadan). Here's an article from the Huff Po all about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...mpics_b_1752364.html


Here in Australia, we have a (moderately) famous muslim Aussie Rules football player named Bachar Houli, who plays in the top professional league. He continues to train and compete through his Ramadan fast.


Here, he explains how he does it: http://bacharhouli.com.au/...-and-my-ramadan-diet


So, yes, it's clearly possible.


I'm sure there are challenges associated with fasting and high level athletic training, but that doesn't mean they can't be overcome. There are challenges associated with being vegetarian or vegan, but numerous athletes overcome those as well.

I grew up in Dearborn. We routinely worked out later. It was kind of fun to do midnight track workouts. Of course I was young and recovery and sleep weren't an issue then. :)
There is a very interesting documentary about the high school football team and training during Ramadan. Fordsonthemovie.com

Not sure if this applies to training through Ramadan, but last summer I did a three day fast (only juice & water) as a part of a Christian leadership intensive. It ended with dinner on Friday and I had a sprint triathlon the next morning. Wasn't sure how it was going to go but I surprised myself. Had a great race and took second in my age category. The fast broke my coffee/caffeine addiction and since then I've only had caffeine on race day, which has proven a good strategy for me.

There's an article on the USAT website about this.

Omar Nour did it. He's a BOP pro that started with a full fast for his first year, then he gradually broke his fast earlier and earlier prior to his big race (s), but he did prove that someone could not only race, but race at a high level.

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I have been training during Ramadan for the past few years. I must say it is getting tougher with the longer days and I don't have the luxury to do midnight workouts. Have a fulltime job that I need to get up for early.

This is how I have been doing it:

- Plan your season around that month. So basically it is a low volume month and off course no racing (which kind of sucks right now because that's the best period for tri).
- I have been only doing 1 workout / day. Mostly running. I time my runs right before sunset. So as soon as I am back home I can immediately eat. If it is too hot outside, then take it really easy. Runs will be kind of hard at first so I keep it around 30 min and slowly increase. The longest I went was 1 hour. If I am doing speed work, then I start my warm up before breaking my fast. Break my fast with honey stinger or date (dates are best) and then start my speed session. You will have plenty of energy for a good speed session!

- Biking: tried biking outdoors once before the sunset and didn't like it. My head wasn't into it. might be different for you though. So right now I am keeping it indoor on the trainer after I break the fast. Usually some dates and water are good enough to get me through an hour long. I do notice lack of power though the first few times. I try to keep the workouts aroun 45min-1hr with heavy intensity.
- Swimming: that's a hard one. With the long days, by sunset the pools are closed in my area. Might get 1 or 2 swim workouts the whole month.

Basically the goal is to try to keep my pre Ramandan fitness as much as possible. After Ramadan, it will take your body few days to re-adjust. The beauty of this though is your fat % will drop like a rock after those 30 days.

Last year I had a 70.3 about 2 weeks after Ramadan and DNF. It was due to bike crash not fitness :) I was really looking forward to the run though and felt good until the crash. I banged up my hip too much and didn't want to risk adding more to the injury and not be able to race IM which was about 3 mo after.

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Can you take a few weeks off from work and switch your day around? You could do your training and other stuff during the night and sleep all day. I used to be on shift when I was in the military and you would be amaze on how quickly you get use to it.

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Formely stef32

It's that time of the year again.....Ramadan just started last week which means no food or water for me from dawn (~4:30am) until dusk (~8:45pm). I am currently signed up for Beach 2 Battleship (my first full) in October (4 months out!) and am hoping to continue training through this month of fasting. Does anyone have any suggestions on when to plan my workouts for the best possible gains/recovery, and what those workouts would look like? (specifically on the bike)

I usually get a short 4-5 mile run in right when I wake up or postpone it to right before breaking fast in the evening. I was thinking of also spending a coupe of hours on the trainer late at night after digesting "dinner." (around midnight)

Side note: I have to travel for work during the week which limits me to just running on Mon, Tue, and Wed. Im a strong runner and know for a fact I need to work most on the bike and a bit on the swim.

Thanks for any advice!

You probably just want to maintain your fitness at this point. I have Louisville in October. I built up my fitness in the first part of the year and now just trying to maintain whatever I have with short intense workouts. It's just too hard to get any long workouts in with the long summer days. I've had good results with this approach so far. The second half of the year have been always much better for me.

Reviving this thread as today is the first day of Ramadan. Anyone observing? If so, what’s your training strategy this year?

I am not muslim, but I do some I.F. fasting here and there. If you are at all worried about training and fasting, you gotta read this. This guy puts ramadan and I.F. fasters to shame ... in other words, he shows what is truly possible.

https://www.runnersworld.com/...p-ace-nolan-shaheed/

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Thanks for sharing the article! Impressive but nothing mind blowing as this is basically just IF. For Ramadan, Muslims also abstain from drinking anything during the fasted window. I’m curious as to how people are handling that part and how they schedule their workouts.

Ah, I did not know that about ramadan and drinking. No water even?

Not drinking if you are trying to exercise in a warm or hot place is not easy, and sometimes not safe either.
Definitely be careful.

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Yeah man this is the biggie. No water. I live in Dubai so am very familiar with all this stuff but I obviously don't fast and am a Christian. Our average temps this time of year are around 95-103F highs each day.

Let me say that again, no drinking water.

You aren't kidding when you say "be careful"