ONE DAY LAST SPRING, a Virginia-based trainer named Faris Khan, C.S.C.S., posted a unique kind of workout video to Instagram: He wore an elaborately embroidered Muslim prayer hat and vest while completing a set of complicated plyometric Superman pushups with claps and spins in his living room.
It was April 12, 2021, the first day of the sacred month of Ramadan. For Khan, who is better known as @BrotherFaris to more than 200,000 followers on social media, this 30-day period of devotion meant fasting from sunrise to sunset without coffee or even water. But every few days, he posted another video or story of himself doing impressive calisthenics and acrobatics to inspire his fellow Muslims to stick with their exercise programs.
“To me, the connection between faith and religion and overall health is huge,” says Khan, who sees Ramadan as a time to test himself mentally, physically, and spiritually. “It makes you learn about your body and what you are capable of. If you want to cheat and go in the closet and eat food, no one will know, but God can see, and building that discipline makes you strong.”
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Khan, 29, is poised to do the same thing again this month, with Ramadan—a time of spiritual discipline meant to purify the body and bring one closer to God—starting April 2. (It also includes five set times for prayer each day as well as special night prayers.) As Khan sees it, your workout can be its own kind of devotion, a challenge that not only pushes your limits and builds strength but leaves you with a sense of accomplishment that keeps other stresses and values in perspective.
Already lean and ripped, Khan dropped six pounds during Ramadan last year while seeing improvements in his body-fat percentage and overall musculature. He’s one of many pious people spreading the gospel of fitness on social media, including @Kazmanaught (iconic strongman William Kazmaier) and @FatherCapo (the jacked Catholic priest). All generally advocate for something medical experts have only recently begun to explore more deeply: One of the best ways to stay healthy or improve your fitness may be to view any physiological challenge from a religious—or at least spiritual—point of view.
Last year, several hundred people signed up for Khan’s training-while-fasted program, which included detailed workout and nutrition guides. The testimonials began rolling in on day one, with someone raving about the “unique and challenging exercises” and a breakfast plan that “helps me keep energy throughout the day,” and continued through day 30, when one user felt “definitely stronger all around.”
Given the popularity of fasting as a life hack, Khan suspects some clients weren’t Muslim. Either way, the idea of joining a fitness community as a way to seek personal growth or enlightenment sits perfectly within our modern obsession with the cult of wellness. As researchers at Harvard Divinity School have reported, we live in an age when millennials especially are walking away from the often politicized climate of traditional churches. At the same time, many people are embracing CrossFit and SoulCycle as places not only to find community but to reshape their lives. Khan certainly agrees that treating your body as a vessel is important. “In the Koran, a strong believer is better than a weak one,” he says. “That can mean strong spiritually in connection with God but also physically.”
Many religions have some hurdles for staying active. Orthodox Jewish men follow modesty rules and avoid extensive exercise on the Sabbath. The Amish see bodybuilding as vain, and going to a gym isn’t permitted. Practitioners of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Jainism, and Hinduism all undertake fasts as a means of self-sacrifice or cleansing.
Yet many athletes seem to appreciate these challenges as a way to add even more value to their lives. Take current NBA prospect Ryan Turell, who is Orthodox Jewish and skipped playing D-I basketball to build D-III Yeshiva University into a powerhouse. Or former Boston Celtics center Enes Freedom, who has said that competing during Ramadan gives him next-level focus. In the MLB, Jacob Steinmetz became the first Orthodox Jew to be drafted last July. And plenty of competitive Amish marathoners race in their long pants and suspenders.
Some forms of fasting can deprive your body of necessary nutrients and energy, so it’s often an obstacle for people who are serious about their faith and fitness. But Khan is deliberate in how he begins and ends his fast and how he exercises in order to maximize his energy and gains. To avoid dehydration, he drinks three liters—about 100 ounces—of water overnight, and he concentrates on hitting his daily protein goals by eating large but balanced predawn and post-sundown meals. He takes catnaps throughout the day to catch up on sleep and focuses on shorter bodyweight workouts instead of longer sessions of weightlifting.
Each day, he’ll spend 30 to 45 minutes with a specific focus: lower body, upper body, core, speed, agility, or mobility. These workouts are all done without equipment and include calisthenic skills like planches, handstands, and pushup variations, which he practices outside at his local parks. “They are mostly lower rep, but you put out max effort,” he says, “or as much effort as you can give at the moment without going to complete failure, because that will exhaust you if you are training fasted.” He usually works out one hour before dinner so he can be ready to feed his muscles.
Richard Bloomer, Ph.D., the dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Memphis, says that if people are mentally prepared and develop an appropriate plan of action, they should be able to complete a successful fast while still maintaining their usual activity levels, including strenuous resistance and cardiovascular exercise.
The idea that faith may boost resilience has gained traction in some academic circles, too. About a decade ago, researchers at Duke University compared more than 3,000 studies from around the world and concluded that people who consider themselves religious or spiritual typically have better mental health and have shown the ability to overcome physical health issues more quickly than those who don’t. Other studies show that a spiritual mindset may help you cope with work stress and burnout or slow the progression of some diseases.
Khan’s workout plans unite people who—religious or not—are willing to go through something hard together. One obvious payoff? “I feel fresher and stronger, with an increase in strength-to-weight ratio that translates directly to weightlifting,” he says. But that’s not the biggest benefit. “So many people in this world are praying for a small fraction of the blessings we have. We have to remember to be thankful.”
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