A healthy lifestyle requires a good amount of exercise. It’s possible to control your weight, reduce your risk of heart disease, and strengthen your muscles and bones with regular physical activity.
You may want to be careful when exercising. Fasting is a practice of abstaining from food and drink for a certain amount of time.
If you are healthy, it is okay to work out if you are on a fast.
Some populations should be cautious.
Those with a condition in which the arteries struggle to deliver blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the heart, as well as those taking medication for hypertension, are the primary groups who need to be cautious.
The co-founder of Signos, an app for continuous diabetes monitoring, says that someone with coronary arteries should be careful with exercising. When their heart rate goes up, these people are more at risk of having a cardiac event. Fasting is a behavior that can make physical activity feel more strenuous, and therefore puts people with these types of conditions at higher risk of running into problems.
People with type 2 diabetes and those with type 1 diabetes who take medication to control their blood sugar levels are at risk of having their blood sugar fall too low if they don’t eat.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) says that this is a symptom of low blood sugar. In people with diabetes, exercising in a fast state can make their blood sugar go up.
People who take blood pressure drugs may not be able to get their heart rate up if they exercise too much. They may be more prone to feel light-headed if they don’t drink enough water.
If you have one of these conditions, it is important to have a discussion with your doctor about how to exercise safely if you are on a fast.
It is important to remember that low-intensity and short-duration workouts are better options than longer or high-intensity workouts for anyone who wants to exercise.
Matthew Accetta is an exercise physiologist with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
The Cleveland Clinic says that the RPE scale is based on the amount of effort it takes to sit in a chair and the amount of effort it takes to complete an exercise stress test. Accetta says to aim for an effort level of 4 or less. Walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, andPilates are some of the activities that can be done.
It is ok to work out in both heat and cold, but precautions should be taken to ensure safety. Don’t go higher than a 4 on the RPE scale if you’re going to start the fast and limit your intensity.
You need to be sure to get plenty of sleep and stay hydrated. It’s important for safe workouts and recovery when it’s hot and cold.
Accetta says it’s important to eat a balanced diet after a fast.
He says you need enough calories and vitamins to meet your needs. If you follow a plant-based diet, you should eat meat, eggs, and milk, as well as chia seeds, soy, and fruits. Accetta says that between 40 and 60 percent of your calories should come from sugars, while 20 to 30 percent should come from fat and 10 to 15 percent from vitamins and minerals.
If you don’t know where to start, a registered dietitian can help.
Does the Type of Fasting Affect Whether It’s Safe to Exercise?
Some fasts last a few hours, others last weeks.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, during the holy month of Ramadan, eating and drinking can only be done at certain times of the day.
Intermittent Fasting is one of the eating practices that are done for health reasons.
Some of these types are not compatible with exercise. Fasts that stretch 24 or more hours, fasts in which you restrict calories and nutrition, and fasts where you don’t drink water are some of the types of fasts that are unsafe.
Accetta says the body hasn’t had time to replenish its stores. Your body is emitting fumes. Exercise can increase your risk of dizziness, nausea, and headaches, even though it will be difficult.
Accetta says that exercising while intermittent fast is safe. Some people choose to restrict their eating to a single six- to eight-hour window each day, and fast for the rest of the day. Other people prefer to limit their meals to 500 to 600 calories for the other two days.
If you clear it with the doctor you will be fine to exercise when you fast.
Tips for Working Out if You’re Fasting
If you do not take precautions, exercising while fast can be dangerous. If you have one of the health conditions mentioned, or have another health issue that may interfere with your ability to safely exercise, talk with your healthcare provider.
Follow these tips if you want to exercise during a fast.
- Watch your intensity. To conserve energy for the rest of your day, stick to lower-intensity workouts while fasting, especially if you’re exercising at the beginning or midway through your fast, Accetta says. Aim for an exertion level no higher than a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is resting and 10 is maximum intensity. That said, you can likely increase your intensity if the workout is short. “If you only have 20 minutes to exercise, you can probably do a higher-intensity workout and get similar benefits as a longer, lower-intensity workout,” Dixon says.
- Keep it short. Doing a low-intensity activity for long enough can make for a higher intensity workout. That means going for a three-hour walk while fasting may not be a good idea, even if the walk is low-intensity. If you normally work out for 30 minutes or an hour at a time, stick to the low end of that time frame if you’re exercising while fasting.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water while fasting and check your urine to gauge how hydrated you are (or aren’t): “The darker the color of your urine, the more dehydrated you are,” Accetta says. He adds that a minimum of eight glasses of water is recommended.
- Exercise at the beginning. If your schedule allows, try to work out toward the beginning of your fast. As you’ve recently eaten, your body still has plenty of stored nutrients to fuel the workout, says Mary Wirtz, RD, CSSD, a board-certified sports dietitian based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This may make exercise more manageable than if you try to work out toward the end of your fast when your body is depleted of nutrients.
- Know when your body is telling you you’re overdoing it. Pay attention to your body’s signals, and stop exercising if you feel nauseated, light-headed, or have a headache, Wirtz says. You may also want to replenish with a small snack.