A Fitness Junky Tells Us How She Motivates Herself to Workout in Ramadan

Ramadan is a perfect excuse for us to ditch the daily routines that we tend to stick to during the rest of the year; it’s so tempting to spend the whole month literally binge-eating and binge-watching TV. Yet, I’ve vowed that I won't let Ramadan affect the active life that I lead during the rest of the year.

During non-ramadan days, I train six times a week for almost two straight hours daily. However, I find that hard to do during Ramadan for two reasons. First, the time is always tight since I’m always trying to work around Iftar and Sohour. Second, I simply cannot exercise for two straight hours without energy and water; it’s physically exhausting.

So during Ramadan, I adjust my routine to try to incorporate my daily workout as best as possible. Basically, I split my workout routine into two separate hours: 45 minutes of jogging directly before Iftar, and the second hour, which is usually after Iftar by 2-3 hours, I go to Befit for a mix of strength and cardio.

I try my best to target a total of 45 exercise hours in Ramadan. To be completely honest, it sometimes gets very busy, time-consuming, and exhausting. But, over the years, I found some ways to motivate/ force myself to show up to my planned workout and get it over with. 

Here are some of the ways you could use to push yourself to exercise during Ramadan (and the rest of the year): 

1. Wear your workout clothes to work or during Iftar, if that is possible, believe me, you WILL feel guilty if you take it off without having it all dirty and sweaty because you haven’t worked out in it. 

2. Have your gym bag in your car to change after any gathering. That way you can’t use the “I forgot my gym clothes” excuse. 

3. Have a workout buddy to motivate each other to stay on track.

4. Mix up your routine by trying new activities; don’t just stick to one type of workout during the month. 

5. Target a minimum number of workouts for the month, either pre or post Iftar (pro tip: consider before Iftar and after Iftar two different days and you will be able to target 15-20 times easily during the whole month). 

6. Think of all that Konafa and Basbousa you will devour later; I personally exercise to eat with a little less guilt.

Image Credits: Instagram @farahselim