It is an exciting time of year for the Muslim community as Ramadan will be running from the 1st of March to the 30th of March. I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some information to help the sports community in the University of Galway and the wider University of Galway sporting catchment.
When I developed a greater understanding of Ramadan it was a rich learning experience for me. My first experience supporting a player over the Ramadan period was in Arsenal Academy with Ismaël Bennacer who plays for Olympique Marseille and has won the African Cup of Nations with Algeria and Seria A with AC Malin. I was lucky that I got the opportunity to study Ramadan and performance during my time at Arsenal Academy and learn from people like Ismaël.
It was a challenging preseason in 2015 with Ismaël due to my limited understanding of Ramadan. He was very helpful supporting me to increase my understanding and admiration along with Zubair Haleem who is an Academy Physiotherapist. It was very important for the Academy to develop a position statement on how we support players over the period of Ramadan. It is estimated that over fifty players of the Muslim faith play within the premier league and will be observing Ramadan. Members of the support team and players developed the position statement through literature reviews and sharing experience and advice.
I would like to share some of my learnings to provide considerations for athletes and coaches in the University of Galway catchment over this period.
Ramadan is taking place from March 1st to March 30th this year, Ramadan is a holy month in Islam. With nearly 2 billion followers worldwide, it is a time for family and social activities centred around prayer and/or faith. Ramadan is the Holy Month of the year for Muslim communities, as it is when the Qu’ran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). During this month, it is compulsory for all adult and post-pubescent adolescent Muslims to total fast during the daylight hours, including all food, drink and medication. The reason for fasting in Ramadan is to facilitate humility, discipline, selfreflection, devote to faith and come closer to god with prayer, good deeds and community help. Ramadan lasts for one lunar month and comes around approximately 11 days earlier each year according to the sighting of the moon, meaning that the start and end dates differ yearly. As a result, some players will undergo some fasting times during the season throughout their careers.
Some key terms for Ramadan:
● Tarawih: Evening Prayers
● Iftar: Breaking of the Fast
● Suhoor: Pre-Dawn Meal
● Eid al-Fitr: Festival at the end of Ramadan
● Ramadan Mubarak: Greeting – Blessed Mubarak
Performance, recovery and body composition are all linked to what you eat. During Ramadan, it is important to utilise meal times to the best of your ability. Although it is tempting to eat lots of high fat, high sugar and low nutritional foods, these are digested slower so they can make you feel more sluggish and lethargic.
Aim to prioritise high quality carbohydrates, proteins and fats to complement your training or rehab programme and limit desserts/sweets to 1-2 times per week. Energy storage will be key during your meal times, so choose good quality and highly nutritious options.
Suhoor is your final chance to fuel before the day ahead. Choosing slow release carbs will help to provide energy throughout the day. Protein is essential for recovery after training and also to maintain muscle mass. Ensure you include plenty of protein in each meal.
Depending on the weather and training schedule, there is a chance that athletes could experience mild dehydration symptoms that can lead to headaches, tiredness and lack of concentration. Similar to food, maximise the times you can rehydrate as fully as possible. Sugars and salts help our bodies retain water, so include valuable alternatives to plain water such as (Water, Pinch of Salt, Fruit Juice), (Cononut Water, Strawberries, Ice), or (Milk, Banana, Ice).
Supplements
Although not essential, having some key supplements during the non-fasting hours could help boost your nutritional profile. Key supplements to consider include multivitamins, whey protein, omega-3 and creatine. If you do choose to take supplements, ensure that you consult with a nutritionist first.
● Drink lots of fluids
● Choose good quality carbohydrates at all mealtimes.
● Plenty of protein in each meal.
● Suhoor should contain slow-release carbs.
How Coaches Can Support Athletes During Ramadan:
Rating of Perceived Exertion’s and perceived feelings of fatigue may be elevated during Ramadan, even though training stays the same. It is important to remember that there is no single coping strategy and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is unlikely to be the solution. Training at any time during daylight hours presents challenges. Communication around the needs and outcomes of sessions is important to help determine the best time for Muslim players to undertake them.
During Ramadan, night sleep patterns may become interrupted due to prayers and meal times, therefore catching up on missed hours during the day is highly recommended. Sleep has an impact on cognitive function, metabolism, hormone production and tissue repair. Therefore, ensuring athletes have a minimum of 7 hours per day is important.
This is where it is important to keep an open dialogue with athletes around their nutrition and hydration practices. We want to encourage ‘eating for performance’ at all times. The hope here is that we see a full picture of what choices are made and, where appropriate, encouraging different ones.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, it is important to be respectful and speak with athletes about their traditions. Engaging with them and providing support on how they can continue to perform throughout Ramadan will be greatly appreciated by athletes.
It could be a good option to ask a player to an insight of Ramadan to his or her team mates.
The best advice given to me by Ismaël was not to say things like “That must be very hard” and to say more positive things like “Well done you are completing a wonderful Ramadan”