Riyadh: Dr. Abeer Mubarak
If you start fasting with an interest in your health, you will continue to practice healthy behaviors in daily life. And then you may ask: Can I exercise while fasting?
Variation in health advice
This question makes sense, because, on the one hand, exercise is an essential component of daily healthy behaviours. On the other hand, exercise consumes fuel sugars and fluids needed to produce energy and cool the body, which may affect the ability to endurance fasting. On the other hand, during the day in Ramadan, the fasting person cannot compensate for the lack of fuel and fluids through eating and drinking.
It is also logical for each person to have different types of health advice regarding the extent and how to exercise physical during the day or night of Ramadan days. Among the reasons for that are:
The difference in the level of health of the fasting person, according to his age and the diseases that he may have.
The quality of his nutrition, the components of his meals before and during the holy month, the health or unhealthy priorities that he is keen on in the Iftar and Suhoor meals, and the extent and times he drinks liquids.
The extent to which he originally exercised before the holy month, and the degree and intensity of those exercises.
Different conditions of physical exercise, in terms of duration, timing and temperature of the surrounding atmosphere.
– And most importantly, the different goals, between the low maintenance of the continuation of daily sports, as a means of maintaining health and psychological relaxation, and their professional practice.
Recent studies
The medical understanding of fasting continues to deepen, as recent studies expand our knowledge of its effects on physical activity. Especially with the emergence of “intermittent fasting” as a means of reducing body weight, and its spread in large areas of the world. By following the 8-16 method, that is, to stop eating food, not water as well, for a period of 16 hours, then during the remaining 8 hour window, eat whatever one wants without any reservation in quantity.
In a study titled “intermittent fasting: Hourly eating for health and exercise” published in the March issue of the British Medical Journal of Sports and Exercise Medicine (BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine), researchers reported that “the benefits of fasting on body mass can be improved.” and cardiovascular risk factors, when aerobic exercise is added. And they added: “Short-term studies on football players participating in the 30 days of Ramadan fasting showed that fasting periods of exercise are well tolerated and do not increase the incidence of injury.”
Taken together, these recent studies indicate that physical activity during fasting can have profound positive physiological effects. By helping to burn more fat, improving the way the body responds to insulin, increasing the body’s production of Human Growth Hormone, increasing the amount of testosterone produced by the body, and causing positive effects on the muscle structure itself and the efficiency of its work.
Fats and insulin
> Burn fat. Several medical studies have shown that exercising with fasting speeds up the transition to ketosis to burn stored body fat. In a study by researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah, USA, published in the September 2021 issue of the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the researchers noted that exercising with fasting accelerates the transition to a ketogenic state to burn stored fat in the body. The researchers also noted that aerobic exercise at the beginning of the fasting period (such as jogging and swimming) had no negative effect on mood, hunger or thirst.
A 2013 study conducted at Northumbria University in Newcastle and published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that exercising following fasting for hours and before breakfast, i.e. on an empty stomach, burns 20% more body fat, compared to exercising following breakfast, i.e. Without fasting long hours before it.
> Response to insulin. In terms of the way the body responds to insulin with exercise during fasting, we note that insulin is the hormone that controls the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. But when looking more closely at the role of this hormone, we also find that it stimulates the muscles to absorb glucose from the blood and store it in the form of glycogen.
And when the muscles cannot absorb more sugar, the body stores it in the form of fat, that is, when the body’s sensitivity to insulin is low, or insulin resistance is high, which is a problem because the body will suffer from excess glucose, and the muscles are not able to withdraw much glucose at that time. Thus, the majority of the glucose will be converted to stored fat. Research shows that when you exercise while fasting, your body’s sensitivity to insulin increases. This is a huge advantage if a person’s insulin sensitivity is in the normal range.
Growth and muscle
> Human growth hormone. The human growth hormone is essential for the body in repairing and regenerating tissues. It also helps build lean muscle and also aids in post-exercise muscle recovery. There are several studies that examined the relationship between exercise and fasting on this hormone. Including a study published in the May 13, 2020 issue of the journal “Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism”. The most recent of these is a study by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA, published in the February 2022 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism entitled “The Role of Growth Hormone Secretion in Regulating Lipolysis.” when fasting. These studies show that exercising in a fasting state can lead to increased levels of growth hormone, and an increase in the activity of the effect of this hormone in the body.
> Build muscle. There are several studies that examined the effect of exercising during fasting on the muscle structure itself. Some have shown that the breakdown of intramyocellular fat mass is increased by exercise in a fasting state. That’s because muscles “learn” how to use fat as energy, by increasing the amount of proteins that metabolize those fats. Increased lean muscle mass is also a key benefit of physical activity while fasting.
Lean muscle gives better muscle performance and burns more calories 24 hours a day. That is, not only during the exercise period, but in times of rest following the exercise.
And when one study looked at muscle fiber cells microscopically before and following exercise in a fasting state, it found that there were more bundles of healthy muscle fibers in their structure, and more fat available for use for energy rather than storage.
– Consultant in internal medicine
