Weightlifting and Islam

There are quite a few men down the gym I go to who follow the religion of Islam, this made me interested in posting about weightlifting and Islam for the purpose of nutrition.

Those who know about Islam will understand that there are some restrictions on eating meat which is the main staple of any weightlifters diet whether it be chicken, turkey or beef.

Islam requires all land animals (fish and most sea life are exempt) to have a swift incision to the neck cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. This will let the animals body of blood. When killed Gods name must be pronounced over the meat. Islam also does not allow eating pork.

The problem with the fact that Islam does not allow pork to be eaten is that many food stuffs actually carry pork derivatives such a Gelatin even if they are not meat products. Did you know that even Whey protein powders cannot be taken unless certified as Halal if a person follows Islam?

So for a Muslim carrying out weightlifting it is harder for them to ensure they get the correct daily intake of proteins. To ensure the correct level of protein is taken a Muslim weightlifter requires to maintain a strict diet using Halal foods where ever possible and when not available fish and pulses need to be taken as an alternative.

I have a lot of respect for my Muslim brothers who train because they not only have a difficult time because of nutrition, there is also the issue of Ramadan where in the ninth month they fast from dawn until sunset every day, this includes not even drinking water.

If you follow Islam and you are weightlifting in any way I would be very interested in your diet so please do make a comment below.

Power to Weight Ratio

To better understand how well your strength is increasing there is a simple, yet effective math formula to find out. This formula is the power to weight ratio.

As you train you will build muscle and lose fat, this will see your strength increase while your weight will lower or stay the same dependant on your physique and diet. By using the power to weight ratio fomula you will be able to tell whether yuor strength is increasing in two ways.

One that your weight has dropped due to fat lose but you can still lift the same weight increasing your power to weight ratio.

Two your weight stays the same or increases slightly through muscle but you are lifting heavier so your power to weight ratio increases.

So what is this mythical power to weight ratio formula?

Simple, the formula is to divide the weight you lift in an exercise by your body weight. If your lifting in kilograms divide this by your weight in kilograms, if your lifting in pounds then divide this by your weight in pounds.

Example:

A 90kg man lifts 160kg in the deadlift, this gives him a power to weight ratio of 1.77 in this exercise (160 divided by 90). If you do the same formula using pounds it comes out with the same ratio.

For those who are new to powerlifting and wish to compete I would say use a power ratio of 2 for each of the three lifts as your target. By using 2 as your benchmark you will put yourself in a good position to compete well in amateur tournaments.

Ignore the Body Mass Index BMI

The Body Mass Index is a basic measurement that works out if someone is underweight, within normal weight ranges, overweight or obese by using just height and weight.

The measurement is very simple, take your height in metres and times by two then divide your weight in kilograms by this number as shown.

The thing is that if you ask any body builder or powerlifter they ignore the BMI index and so should you even if fat loss is your target.

The problem with the body mass index (known as the BMI) is that there are too many shortfalls in the equation. The BMI does not take into account someone who has a very muscular frame so someone like me is borderline overweight because of the extra weight I carry in muscle (My current BMI is 24.8).

In a short time period when I have added more muscle mass through training I will be overweight even though I have an average waist size and have a good diet.

If you are serious about finding out how well you are achieving whether it be in weight loss or increasing muscle mass then I suggest speaking to your gym and asking if they could measure you body fat percentage.

To do this calipers are used to measure the fat on different areas of your body and this then translates to a body fat percentage, this can then be used to see whether you are in the normal range dependant on your age. Please see the body fat guidelines below for both males and females.

Its important to note that women always carry more fat than men, this is natural and this is why women have a normal fat percentage level that is higher for the normal range.