Stay Fit During Fasting, This Is A Physical Exercise For UI Doctors During Ramadan

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - Sports Medicine Specialist, Dr. Risky Dwi Rahayu, Sp.KO., emphasized the importance of maintaining body fitness during fasting. dr. Risky, who is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine (FK), University of Indonesia (UI) recommends several physical activities that can be done at home.

"Although maintaining body fitness during fasting can be a challenge, fasting does not have to be an obstacle to staying physically active," said Risky Dwi Rahayu in Depok, Saturday, quoted by Antara, Saturday, March 16.

However, he continued, there are several things that must be considered, such as time, duration and proper intensity in exercise.

According to Risky, there are three best times you can choose to do physical exercise while fasting.

First, after dawn. By exercising after dawn, energy reserves are still optimal, but there is a risk of dehydration, because you have to fast until the time of breaking the fast arrives.

Second, before breaking the fast. The advantage of exercising before breaking the fast is that after finishing exercise, you can immediately eat and drink for recovery and hydration, but there is less energy reserves before physical exercise.

Third, after breaking the fast. At that time, there was already energy before starting exercise and getting rehydration easily.

"By looking at the recommended training schedule, it is better to do physical exercise with light intensity or moderate intensity at the time after dawn and before breaking the fast," he said.

Meanwhile, high-intensity exercises can be done after breaking the fast. Physical exercise can be done both indoors and outdoors.

Some types of sports that are good done when fasting areist walks or fast walks, jogging, cycling, tai chi gymnastics, aerobics or zumba, yoga and others. The duration of exercising fasting is no different from when you don't fast.

For cardiorespiration or aerobic exercises, Risky recommends doing so with a moderate intensity of 150 minutes per week which can be divided into three to five times a week.

Meanwhile, strength training can be carried out two to three times a week for upper extremity muscles, body trunks, and lower extremities with sets of two to three, and repetition per set of eight to 12.

In the condition of fasting, the concentration of individuals who exercise decreases, due to the decrease in energy reserves. This can increase the risk of injury, which can arise due to individual factors, environment, and trigger factors.

Thus, he continued, it is necessary to assess the risk of injury individually, pay attention to environmental security, and choose the right exercise time to reduce the risk of injury while exercising in a fasting condition.