Adam Haniver [00:00:00]:
Hi, everyone. Episode one zero eight is about Ramadan and boxing. And what we thought we'd do is we thought we'd speak to four different people from different backgrounds, around, some advice they give and some experience that they have with Ramadan and in boxing. So, one of the other reasons why I thought we'd put this together is we wanted to create a useful resource for people to listen to and take the information from some of the people that, have experience in this area. 

I've got a 17 year old lad who went through Ramadan and had a bout, and I realised that on the the preparation for it, I didn't know that much about it and needed definitely to find out much more information. So I spoke to several people just to sort of help me out and just find out a little bit more about the fast, about the energy deficits, about fluid intake. And, And, yeah, like I said, I just found out that I didn't really know that much about it. So sort of took up myself to make it a bit of a mission to find out more, to speak to people who, have good knowledge and experience in this area. So, we've put this together. 

So we have got Sher Khan, who's a former guest on the podcast, professional boxer and amateur coach. We've also got Abdul Tahid, who is an amateur coach at Guildford ABC in Surrey. We have a chap called Adam, who is a competing kickboxer, graduate from Cambridge University, and also doctor Ali Shaladi, that a lot of you will know down here in the South, who is an England Boxing Doctor and former former competing amateur boxer as well. So like I say, we just asked several questions to the guys and see what their thoughts are just to build a little bit of a library of support for those who maybe aren't sure like I certainly wasn't and certainly still am not, but it just helped me with my preparation and support of my boxers. So here we are.

Adam Haniver [00:02:20]:
So question one was, how can I adjust my training schedule to accommodate fasting?

Dr Ali Shaladi [00:02:31]:
So in terms of just generally, the first thing I'd like to mention about boxers who are training during fasted windows. The first thing is really establishing what the definition of that fasting is, so fasting for any religious purpose, be that Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, the thing really to define it is what do they mean by fasting. So for instance, many people, generally, even non religious people, will will routinely intermittent fast, for the purported health benefits of that, and that can vary from a eating window from ten hours to as little as four hours. But interestingly, many of those people intermittent fasting will be drinking, whereas many people who are fasting for perhaps religious reasons are not permitted from drinking fluids during that window. The first thing is really defining what the fasting means. So in the instance of Ramadan, the periods at which boxes or people will be fasting will normally be from sunrise to sunset, and as you can imagine, that can vary from year to year. So for instance, in terms of this year, the sun sunset would have been about, you know, five thirty at the start of Ramadan and ending about half six by the end of Ramadan. So in terms of the window at which people will be allowed to eat and drink, it'll it's often much more forgivable. Whereas if you can imagine in the summer months, that's a very different, you you know, question where people will only be able to eat and drink after, you know, nine o'clock when the sun sets, which is a very, very different prospect, from a training perspective. And important to mention that from the perspective of the fasting, that does include liquid, so fluids are not permitted. So it is important that people are aware of that and the fact that it can vary year to year. Interestingly enough, for the next few years, it will be getting it'll be easier year on year. So, for instance, next year will be slightly easier than this year. So hopefully, it'll be less of a problem for coaches who are training boxers who are engaging in fasting for any religious or non-religious purpose.

Adam Choudhury [00:04:39]:
So how to adapt? Without hydration, certain types of workout like HIIT style workouts, which by way of their very purpose cause you to sweat a lot, become pretty impractical during fasting hours. What a lot of Muslim athletes that I know of do is work out after Iftar time when we have that luxury of hydration. The barrier for many though is that this is when families often get together. It can mean you miss out on those most important moments that make Ramadan so special. So a lot of Muslim athletes then decide to lose that training.

Sher Khan [00:05:17]:
How can I adjust my training schedule to accommodate faster? I'd say I normally train really early. If I wanna get a really good session in, I train really early. If it's during the dayor any later than that, it's usually just low intensity. Nine and two, you know, nine and two crazy, nine and two, like, that's gonna tire me out for the day. But, also, the longer the day goes, obviously, you know, the more you feel it. But I would say just more low intensity stuff. And to be honest, I run mostly at night anyway, so it kinda makes no difference to me.

Abdul Tahid [00:05:54]:
Adjusting the training schedule to accommodate fasting. Yeah. It's very, very important that we don't overdo it when we're fasting because when we are training, we can't have any water or any food or anything like that. So we can't have foods before we start training. Usually when people start training, they have some little bit of food before pre-workout or something or maybe even a banana. You can't have anything like that if you're fasting. And also during the training and after training, lots of water if you're training hard. So, we have to bear that in mind. So the intensity itself of the training has to be light. That's the most important thing I would say.

Dr Ali Shaladi [00:06:27]:
In terms of the training schedule and how you fit this around fasting hours, generally speaking, there is no correct answer, and there is no one size fits all for people or sports people who wanna train through these months. Generally speaking, the approach that I've seen most professional sports people take and people who have had a fairly good success of training through these months is actually eating before the evening meal known as Iftar. So people do find it beneficial to train just before, allowing them to refuel and rehydrate almost, you know, immediately afterwards. So, you know, training one to two hours before the sunset, which at this time of the year would have been training at the equivalent of three, four o'clock, which can be difficult if people have work commitments or, or at school or college. But, often, you do your training session for an hour and a half, and you then got an hour to rest before having your evening meal and fluid. So that's the that's the approach that I've seen most, people take. 

However, it's not the only one. For instance, during the instance of Ramadan, many Muslims will have an early morning very early morning meal called Suhoor. Again, and this will be about three, four am. You know, for those who were really, really dedicated, I have seen instances of people training just before that, but that's far less common in my experience. And then, also, I have also seen instances of people train after their evening meal. But, obviously, the only caveat with this is they need to have adequate digestion of the food afterwards. So you're really looking at least two, three hours after your evening meal so that you're not getting the symptoms of indigestion and reflux that will come with training immediately after eating. So there's no correct answer. There's no one size fits all. The most common approach, as I said, is having boxers or sport people train one to two hours before the sun sets. So it gives them the opportunity to refuel and rehydrate almost immediately after their session, which can be very beneficial.

Adam Haniver [00:08:37]:
Question two was what type of workouts should I prioritise during Ramadan, e g strength, endurance technique, etcetera?

Abdul Tahid [00:08:45]:
Yeah. So the main focus really should be about, like, say, it should be skills, learning up skills, technique, and things like that. Light intense so light, light low intensity training is the best, during, the month of Ramadan, I would say.

Adam Choudhury [00:08:58]:
So what can you do? If you can get workouts in at that time, then that's brilliant. If not, you're not entirely out of options. You can lower the intensity of your workouts, but increase them in frequency. Cycling is a pretty low impact training source for Muslims in my family and it and it doesn't stop during Ramadan, I can tell you that. You could focus on technique and skills based training if you do end up training during fasting hours, but I like to add a focus on building flexibility and building strength through some light calisthenics. But not going so far that it causes me to sweat. Things like regular push ups after the five daily prayers for example. It's something that my granddad would always get me to do to keep up your fitness and keep up that capacity.

Sher Khan [00:09:45]:
Well, that's the thing that I promote. I always say to people, when you're fasting, what you don't wanna do is go flat concentrate on going flat out. Like, if you're a boxer, just focus more on technique stuff and just work focus more on just working your techniques because I think that's where, you can get somewhere in it a hundred percent.

Adam Haniver [00:10:04]:
Question three is what is the best time to train before Iftar, after Iftar, or before Suhor?

Abdul Tahid [00:10:11]:
The best time to train, I would definitely say as close to Iftar time as possible. Iftar, now is around about six thirty, I would say, six thirty pm. So if you wanted to do, obviously, like, an hour workout also, start around about five thirty or so. So as close to Iftar as possible. So as soon as, obviously, you finish your training, you can go straight into your water, and straight into food to, obviously, to recover yourself. But it's very important, obviously, like, I would reiterate it that it's, you have to keep the intensity low. If you're doing, like, really, really high intensity and you need water and you can't, so it can be quite dangerous even potentially. So it's very important the intensity is low. Work on skills, focus on skills, and things like that. But, definitely, I would say, keep a low intensity and as close to Iftar time as possible.

Sher Khan [00:11:00]:
I would say, like, I've always said to people, if you wanna get your best workouts, I would say either late at night, as in, like, you know, a good a good few hours after Iftar or just after Sahoor. Again, you've got plenty of energy. You've got food in that down there. You've got loads of water and stuff, so you can get decent workout in around then as well. So it just sort of depends what people's schedules are like as well.

Adam Haniver [00:11:28]:
Question four. How should I modify my intensity and volume of training while fasting?

Sher Khan [00:11:35]:
It's  just on based on how you're feeling on that day. Like, I remember training during Ramadan one time, and I've really struggled. And I thought, how am I gonna do this for the next thirty days? But then, so I had a couple of days off. I did have a couple of days off just so my body got used to fasting. And then I went straight into ramp you know, training again, and it kinda my body just adjusted. But, again, it's just all about knowing when to push it and when not to push it.

Adam Haniver [00:12:06]:
Question five is, what should I eat around Suhor and Iftar to maintain energy levels?

Adam Choudhury [00:12:12]:
When I've had to break my fast track training, I've opted to have some dates and some water. They're often a great option for that. They are discreet, the dates themselves, and they really do give you the energy which our body needs. They don't cause your blood sugar or your insulin to spike, and they release energy at just the right pace to keep you going until you can have something a little more substantial when getting back from the end of your workout. So I'd really recommend them. And to keep me energised after Suhoor, I'll have three to four eggs scrambled with some cheese and a small amount of fresh bread and dates. Where I can, I try to avoid the processed carbs and balance my meals with more whole sources of protein, where those animal fats give me that energy to get me through the day without causing my energy to crash. I found that staying away from carbs in the morning has worked for me, but I know that's not for everyone.

Adam Haniver [00:13:05]:
So next question was, how can I stay hydrated throughout the day while fasting?

Abdul Tahid [00:13:11]:
The best way to stay hydrated, it's a difficult one, because, obviously, we can't hydrate at all during the time, during daylight hours. So, what I do, or what I would recommend, I'm not sure how good it is, but it's the best I think you can do really, is just to try have as much water as possible, when, obviously we're not fasting. So from six thirty pm all the way to four am, just get as much water as you can, in your body. What I do sometimes is I wake up around about, say, three, three thirty am. And then, obviously, I have some food and things like that, and I will get as much water in me as possible. Not huge gulps. Obviously, we still sip, sip and have a bit of food, sip, lots of sipping. So you don't wanna keep put it loads in at one go because it just comes straight out. But, yeah, the best time of to drink water will be, just before you start your fast, which is around about four o'clock in the morning.

Adam Haniver [00:14:11]:
So the penultimate question that we asked was, what are the best ways to recover after training while fasting?

Dr Ali Shaladi [00:14:20]:
What are the best ways to recover after training while fasting? I think we've touched on the importance of healthy, nutritious food in the evenings, you know, fatty foods, high salt foods, processed foods that won't help with the recovery. Outside of the nutritional aspect, I think one of the most important things, for anybody really, but particularly for athletes who wanna train while they're fasting or fasting Ramadan is the importance of a good night's rest. Sleep is really important for boxers. There are proven studies that show those of us who get less than six hours sleep on a consistent basis, have reduced, appetite. It reduces our brain function. It changes our mood. It impairs your immune system. And, actually, over a really prolonged period of time, there are actually studies proving that impaired sleep over many years can actually impact on your life expectancy. So within the month of Ramadan, it's really critical that boxers are getting adequate nutrition, but also adequate sleep. This can be really, really tricky because I did mention this earlier, many many of us, in Ramadan will be waking up before sunrise for a pre sunrise meal called Suhoor, which would be the equivalent of, you know, a very, very early breakfast, and that's often, you know, in the really early hours of the morning. This year, for instance, it would have been about three or four am. So, you know, it's a very, very tricky time, but prioritising our sleep is really important, making sure that boxers are getting adequate rest. If they have days off, you know, getting an opportunity to have a quick afternoon nap is really important. Reducing caffeine intake and generally having good sleep hygiene, which I'm no expert on, but general principles around that are avoiding electronic devices an hour or so before bedtime, making sure that you're winding down towards the evening period of time, reducing your caffeine intake, and those kind of basic things that will help with, the recovery.

Adam Choudhury [00:16:21]:
Recovery during fasting hours is really tough. Energy levels are low enough as they are. So I take a slightly different approach to most Muslims in general because I know it makes me personally more productive either when I'm in front of a laptop getting work done or in the gym by sleeping earlier and staying awake after Suhoor, after that breakfast meal that we have before dawn. This means I don't lose out on my morning coffee and I can really use the energy that that breakfast has provided me. When it gets to a couple hours before Iftar to make up perhaps for those lost hours of sleep, I'll take an afternoon nap of about ninety minutes, and it will make what remains of that fast easier. And it will allow me to best prepare for training session in the evening if I don't get the chance to eat beforehand.

Sher Khan [00:17:10]:
Again, it just all depends on how active you are on a day. I would say, if you've gone gym, I'd say just try and just try and rest up a little bit after that. Like, you know, just kinda not so much sitting down, but just don't do too much after kind of thing. I know people got work and stuff, but, again, the agreement I had with my employer was like, you know, look, I can't give flat I can't go flat out today. I can't be one hundred percent. Like, just don't expect one hundred percent, you know, performances from me because I'm, you know, I'm feeling it. But also again, it also just depends on what you eat and stuff as well. I think that plays a big factor in your recovery.

Adam Haniver [00:17:50]:
And the final question that we asked the four guys was, how should I handle competitions or sparring sessions if they fall during Ramadan?

Dr Ali Shaladi [00:18:00]:
There is no correct answer. I've seen a variety of different ways that this is managed from the professional game all the way to the amateur game. As an example, I do note that many of the professional boxers who famously do partake in Ramadan, like Amir Khan and Gamal Yafai, and many others, will purposely avoid scheduling professional bouts, around the time of Ramadan so as to, you know, focus on on the idea of the month, which is, you know, to get closer to God for their spirituality, but but also, you know, avoid the added, I don't know whether to call it stress, but added pressure, so to speak, of having to train quite intensively through this month. 

From a general medical perspective of the possible effects of dehydration, you really want to be aware of that and the possible effects. You know, these can include, for instance, reduced strength and power in terms of their muscle function, slower reaction time, possibly slower coordination, fatigue, which will probably come on far earlier than it would have normally, and also an element of a more delayed recovery because they don't have the the fluids on board, that they would have had otherwise. So those are the things that, from a performance perspective, you want you'd wanna be considering. 

Interestingly enough, from an evidence perspective, there was a a study, performed, by the Journal of Sports Nutrition, and it was published in 2016. And interestingly enough, this was a study with a fairly small sample size of eight karate players who were tested on various things, including reaction times and neuromuscular performances. Within this relatively small study, it did actually show that there was no difference on those times from players who were fasted versus non-fasted. Again, this was a relatively small sample size, but it just goes to show that there is a lot of evidence here that hasn't been looked into. 

But generally speaking, you know, common sense would say that, you know, you would suspect a boxer who was possibly dehydrated to have, you know, be at a significant advantage. The most important thing from a medical perspective actually is the risk of injury, and particularly within boxing, the head is the most important. So there there are studies that suggest, and, you know, this is something really to stress that reduced fluid intake can increase the risk of concussion and possible brain injuries. And we often see this, not in the month of Ramadan, but actually particularly in the professional boxing world where boxers will really, really dehydrate themselves down, go through saunas, strip themselves of all the fluids in their body to make weight, and then you see the effects after the fight where boxers lose their punch resistance, they feel the effects of of of repetitive and concussive punches to the head far earlier, and have a far higher risk of brain injury and intracranial complications from that, which is a big, big thing that you would worry about. So from that perspective, we have to all be very careful and envision of the effects of dehydration and not being able to replace your fluids, particularly in the daytime hours within Ramadan. 

My advice would be to try and limit that as much as possible because of those effects. But again, there is no one size fits all. And I think another thing is boxers and coaches really should just the boxers should be listening to their bodies. You know, if they feel really fatigued, they feel really dehydrated, pushing them to do four, five, three minute, or two minute rounds Sparring is not gonna do them any good. And I think there are far better ways of them improving their boxing skill, be that shadow boxing or technical work to make use of this of this time to focus on other skill sets within the sport with far less possible injuries from that. But that's just from a medical perspective, and that's not something that everyone should follow. It's just something to be aware of.

Adam Choudhury [00:21:57]:
If you're working towards or competing in a competition, I would say, especially if it falls during fasting hours, know that you'll be at a disadvantage. If you're happy to lose and to learn, then don't let that put you off from putting yourself out there. There's also nothing stopping you from winning. You will just have to work that little bit harder. Otherwise, it's no issue in my view training for a competition during Ramadan. Tech, flexibility, and strength, and indeed diet are all really very important attributes that can be honed effectively during Ramadan. And diet especially can be a little easier to be a little bit more conscious and a little bit stricter. So these are all things that we can really work on. So I'd say, in summary, treat Ramadan as an opportunity to build some of those skills which boxers may often neglect in favour of that all important cardio. Keep up with the tech work and don't sweat out all of your hydration where possible during the day. Be conscious with what you put into your bodies and build good habits, and it can become a really productive period for athletes.

Dr Ali Shaladi [00:23:04]:
I think another important thing to mention, Adam, even though this isn't a question that you've asked, is the importance of good nutrition for boxers who are fasting, either for Ramadan or for any other purpose. Now doctors, I'm first to admit this, we're not nutritionists, so I'm by no means an expert on this, but the basic principles of of good healthy nutrition are even more critical in this month, particularly for boxers who wanna train through the month. So general things of in the evenings, avoiding salty, fried, processed food because they're dehydrating, and realistically, they do make the day after fasting much more difficult. So if you have a meal really high in salt one evening, often you you'll find that the next day, it is far more difficult to actually get through it, and you feel the effects of the fast far more. So general principles are ensuring you're rehydrating in the evening periods, not overeating, not feasting so that you're completely zonked out for the for the evening, so to speak. The idea isn't just to overeat and compensate for the lost calories, but actually take your time and not eat more than what you would in a normal day outside of Ramadan. Caffeine is often something that's mentioned, but it is actually a diuretic, and it will stimulate water loss. So it's probably not the best thing for boxers to be having in the evenings afterwards. And general principles of, you know, eating the rainbow, having colourful foods that tend to be far more nutritious than the simple beige processed stuff that isn't gonna be hydrating and fuelling the boxes for their training periods. And then also, obviously, the importance of slow releasing carbohydrates, so whole grain rice, quinoa, beans, lentils, sweet potatoes. Those are the kind of foods that really are gonna give the boxers the energy to be training. But I would add, as a caveat to all of this, I'm not a nutritionist. Doctors aren't generally the best at giving this advice, but those are the some of the basic general principles that they'd wanna follow, and the coaches will should be encouraging these boxers to be doing. And to be honest, they should be doing that anyway even outside of fasting months.

Adam Haniver [00:25:15]:
So thanks very much to Sher Khan, to Abdul, to Adam, and to Dr Ali Shaladi for giving us that information about how they would handle Ramadan for boxers. If there's anything that, you would like to ask about that, we can definitely put them to the guys there as well. We wanna continue to build up a nice resource here to help and support boxers and coaches through Ramadan. So when it comes next year as well, that we have a little bit more of a robust thing that we can go back to, refer to, add to, to help and support everyone. So, get in contact, guys, and we'll be more than happy to add to this and create something just a little bit more hefty to help and support. Thanks, guys. All the best.