High Performance Ramadan

Session 1: Energy Management

🖥 Presented by Mohammed Faris,

Founder & CEO, The Productive Muslim Company
Author, “The Productive Muslim: Where Faith Meets Productivity” & “The Barakah Journal”
 1. Setting High-Himma Intentions
2. Principles of Energy Management.
3. How to Manage Nutrition for Barakah & Peak
Today’s Performance (not just health).
Session: 4. How to build Movement into your Routine this
Ramadan
5. How to Leverage Sleep Science for Optimal
Performance during Ramadan
Energy
Management starts
with setting High-
Himma
(Aspirational)
Intentions
1. Connect
Your High ّ ِ ‫ﻋﻠَْﯿُﻜُﻢ ٱﻟ‬
َ ِ‫ﺼﯿَﺎُم َﻛَﻤﺎ ُﻛﺘ‬
‫ﺐ‬ َ ‫ﺐ‬ َ ِ‫ﯾَٰـٓﺄ َﯾﱡَﮭﺎ ٱﻟﱠِﺬﯾَﻦ َءاَﻣﻨُﻮ۟ا ُﻛﺘ‬
Himma ‫ﻋﻠَﻰ ٱﻟﱠِﺬﯾَﻦ ِﻣﻦ ﻗَْﺒِﻠُﻜْﻢ ﻟَﻌَﻠﱠُﻜْﻢ ﺗ َﺘ ﱠﻘُﻮَن‬َ
Intentions
2:183 -

“You who believe, fasting is prescribed for

to the you, as it was prescribed for those before
Purpose of you, so that you may be mindful of God.”

Ramadan
2. Make your ُ ‫ب " ﻗَﺎَل َر‬
‫ﺳﻮُل ﱠ‬
‫ِ ـ ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﮫ وﺳﻠﻢ ـ‬N ‫ُر ﱠ‬
High
Himma ‫ب ﻗَﺎﺋٍِﻢ‬ ُ ‫ﺻﯿَﺎِﻣِﮫ ِإﻻﱠ اْﻟُﺠﻮ‬
‫ َوُر ﱠ‬.‫ع‬ ِ ‫ﺲ ﻟَﮫُ ِﻣْﻦ‬
َ ‫ﺻﺎﺋٍِﻢ ﻟَْﯿ‬
َ
intentions ‫ﺲ ﻟَﮫُ ِﻣْﻦ ﻗِﯿَﺎِﻣِﮫ ِإﻻﱠ اﻟ ﱠ‬
‫ﺴَﮭُﺮ‬ َ ‫" ﻟَْﯿ‬
about being It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the
more in Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬said: “There are
people who fast and get nothing from their
Ramadan fast except hunger, and there are those
(not just who pray and get nothing from their prayer
doing but a sleepless night.”
more). [Sunan Ibn Majah]
3. Approach
Ramadan
with a
Barakah /
Abundant
Mindset vs.
a Scarcity
Mindset
 1. Write down your high-himma intention
for Ramadan in a journal or somewhere
Set Your visible (stickynote/whiteboard)
High-Himma 2. Write down a dua that you’ll say in every

Intention for prayer that connects you with your high-

himma intention.
Ramadan 3. Keep your high-himma intention between
you and Allah (🤐+🤲)
Principles of Energy
Management
Principle #1: Without Energy, you can’t be Productive!

Productivity =
Energy X Focus X Time

Towards a beneficial intention

Principle #2: There are different types of Energy!

Spiritual Energy

Social Physical
Energy Energy
Principle #3: Your Physical Energy in Ramadan is dependent on
how you manage these 3 factors

🛌
Sleep

🧆 🏃
Nutrition Movement
 Principle #4: Don’t forget the Barakah (β) Factor!

βEnergy x βFocus x βTime = β∞Outcome

Let’s jump into the 3 pillars of Physical Energy!

🛌
Sleep

🧆 🏃
Nutrition Movement
Nutrition
What you eat at
Iftaar and Suhoor
impacts how you
perform.
 ‫ت‬ ُ ‫ط ِﯿّﺒًﺎ َوَﻻ ﺗ َﺘ ﱠِﺒﻌُﻮا ُﺧ‬
ِ ‫ﻄَﻮا‬ َ ‫ض َﺣَﻼًﻻ‬ ُ ‫ﯾَﺎ أ َﯾﱡَﮭﺎ اﻟﻨﱠﺎ‬
ِ ‫س ُﻛﻠُﻮا ِﻣﱠﻤﺎ ﻓِﻲ اْﻷ َْر‬
ٌ ‫ﻋﺪُﱞو ﱡﻣِﺒﯿ‬
2:168 - ‫ﻦ‬ َ ‫ﺸْﯿ‬
َ ‫ﻄﺎِن ۚ◌ ِإﻧﱠﮫُ ﻟَُﻜْﻢ‬ ‫اﻟ ﱠ‬
“O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow
the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.”
A Spiritual
Practice
Approach Eating with Following
Eating Little and
Taqwa
to Taming Sharing our Food Manners the Sunnah

with your
Your “The human does not fill any
container that is worse than his
stomach. It is sufficient for the son
“When any one of you
eats food he should lick
his fingers, for he does
“Take Sahur, for in
Sahur there is
Barakah.” (Sahih

Food
Physical of Adam to eat what will support not know in what part of Bukhari)
his back. If this is not possible, the food sticking to his
then a third for food, a third for fingers the Barakah "When you break fast,
Self drink, and third for his breath.”
(Tirmidhi)
lies”. (Sahih Muslim) you should do it with a
date-fruit for there is
“Eat together and do Barakah in it, and if
“The food of one person is not eat separately, for you do not find a
enough for two, and the food of the Barakah is in being date- fruit, break it
two people is enough for four, together.’” (Ibn Majah) with water for it is
and the food of four people is pure.” (Tirmidhi)
enough for eight.” (Sahih Muslim)
Foods to avoid
during Iftaar/Suhoor
(80% of the time)

➔Fried Foods
➔Processed Foods
➔Refined Carbohydrates Foods/Drinks
with added Sugar
➔“Comfort foods”
Foods to embrace
for high
performance

★ Fruits & vegetables

★ Protein to Carbohydrates ratio
(1:1 or less)
★ Low glycemic index (GI) food
(especially at suhoor)
★ Water, Water, Water!
★ Coffee* (Bulletproof Coffee at Suhoor)
 1. Plan your iftar/suhoor in advance.
2. Buy groceries aligned with your meal plans
(and keeping Barakah/Taqwa in mind).
Practical 3. Keep a Food/Performance Diary.
Tips 4. Let’s talk supplements :)
a. Hydration/Electrolyte sports drinks
b. Time-release caffeine tablets
c. Black seed oil pills
Movement
Linking physical activity to
energy management in
Ramadan.
Why Should you
Exercise in
Ramadan?
Don’t exercise for your Body;
exercise for your Brain, Heart
& Soul!
 Intention: Physical maintenance + Energy Generation
Focus on maintaining physical mobility / overall fitness vs. peak performance /
endurance / hard workouts.

Exercise Commit to at least a 30-minute walk (ideally in the morning).

in Best time to
Ramadan Heavy sports? exercise in
Ramadan?
Use hydration drinks/pills if you’re planning to
play sports/exercise heavily during the day. Afternoon, just before
iftar. “Saved by the
athan!”
When you don’t
feel like it…
Follow the Better-Than-
Nothing Rule.
★ Standing vs. sitting
★ Park your car further and walk
★ Stairs vs. elevator
★ Quick squats/Push-ups
Time for a
Remembrance
Break
Sleep
If you can manage your
sleep during Ramadan,
you’ll truly have a high-
performance Ramadan.
 Add Barakah to your Sleep

Before Sleep
★ Sleep right after Isha/taraweeh (avoid late night ‘Ramadan nights’).
★ Wudhu before sleeping
★ Witr prayer before bed (if you won’t make it in the morning with suhoor)
★ Duas before sleep.
 Sleep Hygiene: Physical Preps before Bed

Get some sunlight in the morning Dim the lights & make the room as
to reset your circadian rhythm. cool as possible.

Experiment with Grounding: let Hot bath (or wudhu) & do light
your feet touch the ground. reading before bed.

Avoid coffee / chocolates/ soda at Wear blue-light blocking glasses 30

Iftaar. minutes to 1 hour before bed, and an
eye mask when sleeping.

Stretch before going to bed. Develop sleep consistency.

How to
manage your
sleep in
Ramadan?
Sleep cycles: your key
to quality sleep!
 How Sleep Cycles Work

Stage 1:
Falling Asleep

Stage 5: Stage 2:
REM, Dreaming Light Sleep
Stage
90
minutes

Stage 4: Stage 3:
Deep, Slow-wave Deep, Slow-wave
Sleep Sleep
 What this means for Ramadan?

11:00pm 12:30am 2.00am 3.30am 4.30am

Fajr starts
1 sleep 2 sleep 3 sleep
cycle cycles cycles

(Supplement additional need for sleep with naps)

 When does it start?
Key Start calculating your sleep cycle from the
moment your head hits the pillow.
Points Break it up

Regarding
You can break your
sleep cycles into
multiple phases in a

Sleep What can impact sleep cycles?

★ Sleep hygiene
24-hour period (ie.
between naps and
sleeps).

Cycles ★
★
Medication
Underlying health conditions
★ Sleep environment
★ Meditation*
 “In long term meditators, multiple hours spent in
Taraweeh/ meditation are associated with a significant
decrease in total sleep time when compared with
Tahajjud age and sex matched controls who did not
impacting meditate. Whether meditation can actually
replace a portion of sleep or pay-off sleep debt is
Sleep under further investigation.”

need? Kaul, P., Passafiume, J., Sargent, R.C. et al. Meditation acutely improves
psychomotor vigilance, and may decrease sleep need. Behav Brain Funct 6, 47
(2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-6-47
Energy
Management
Experiments
this Ramadan
🛌 Sleep 🧆 Nutrition 🏃 Movement
1. Adopt 1-3 Sleep 1. Keep a food diary, 1. Build in a 30-minute
Hygiene Factors linking what you eat walk into your
(Spiritual/Physical). to how much energy Ramadan schedule
you feel in the day. (ideally when you
2. Align your alarm to
start to lose energy
your sleep cycle 2. Experiment with
during the day).
over the next 3 days. some of the
supplements 2. Build in strength
3. Nap for 20-90
(consult your doctor training or mobility
minutes at mid-day.
if unsure). exercise closer to
Maghreb.
 JazakumAllah Khair
👋 you tomorrow inshaAllah!
See

/ProductiveMuslim /MohammedAFaris /MohammedFaris

Email
mohammed@productivemuslim.com

Website
Thank you! www.productivemuslim.com