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Mr Pakistan shows you how to get fit after Ramazan

Mr Pakistan shows you how to get fit after Ramazan

Who better than the bodybuilder himself to walk you through a few at-home workouts?
Updated 25 May, 2020

All those sugar-y treats and fried foods during Ramazan pack a pound (or ten) and who better than Mr. Pakistan to help us shed that unwanted weight.

Abdul Majeed, who was crowned Mr. Pakistan in the 100kg event at the South Asian Championship, has a body most men would be envious of. Working as a personal trainer at CORE in Karachi, Majeed does not go easy on his clients. In fact, he himself goes hard on the weights and can do a bench press like he was born to lift.

Majeed, who lost 10kg during Ramazan, is now hoping to gain all that weight and more for his forthcoming bodybuilding competition. Photo: Abdul Majeed
Majeed, who lost 10kg during Ramazan, is now hoping to gain all that weight and more for his forthcoming bodybuilding competition. Photo: Abdul Majeed

For all the men out there looking to lose the pooch, Mr. Pakistan is at your service with fat-torching exercises and diet tips that are sure to spring you back into shape.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1) Minimum carb intake

Majeed advises an increase in protein and decrease in carb intake (complex carbs, strictly speaking, simple carbs are off the table) for the body to get rid of the excess weight.

2) Hydrate, eat vegetables and fruits

Since water was compromised for most part of the day during Ramazan and vegetables and fruits automatically took a back seat, particular attention needs to be paid to these three in order for the body to gain the nutrition it lost in the previous month. Thus, replenishing the body with the needed nutrients.

3) Sleep cycle

Sleep is crucial to losing weight and exercising. Now that Ramazan is over, getting the sleep cycle back on track is very important. Try to clock-in a good eight hours of sleep. Remember: a good night's sleep = a good workout.


Exercises


Workouts and diet go hand in hand, you cannot cheat on the other and still expect to lose weight.

These are short, easy-to-do workouts that only require a mat and motivation (and a set of dumbbells, if available), you can do them at home, in your office (during lunch break), even in your hotel room when travelling.

Now, the following exercises will not buff you up like Mr. Pakistan, but they will trim down your waist considerably and tone you up. Stay consistent and work hard for results. Go easy the first few days and progressively keep pushing yourself.

1) Upperbody: Standard push-ups

Make sure the neck and spine are aligned, stomach is pulled in and taut in a plank position. Arm distance should be slightly wider than the shoulders. When lowering the upper body with the arms, everything should come down in a straight line. Bend the elbows out to the side as you come down.

If you cannot do push-ups in a plank position bend knees on the mat, lift the feet up and cross them at the ankles.

Upperbody: Dumbbell press on mat

Lie straight with legs stretched out and spine firmly pressed on the mat. Stretch arms right above the shoulders. When pulling down towards the chest, bend the arms outwards. Make sure you don't rest the weights on the chest, go as low as possible without touching the upper body. Keep the neck and spine in-line. No curves on the lower back.

2) Abs: Basic crunches

Lie straight, bend the knees and suck the stomach in. Place arms behind the head for support, but don't put all the weight on hands. Pull up from the stomach as you raise the upper body to make sure to keep the elbows facing out on either sides throughout the exercise.

Look up at the ceiling, don't strain the neck, focus on the ab muscles so they do the work, otherwise you'll injure yourself. The upper body should move in unison, everything lifting together.

Abs: Crossbody crunches

As with basic crunches, the same protocol applies here; focus should be on the abs, except legs should be raised moving in a bicycle motion. Bring your elbow in to touch the opposite knee and repeat. Notice, arms are still wide open.

3) Lowerbody: Dumbbell deadlift

Shoulders back, spine and neck in-line, stomach taut. Bend straight down and as you go down bend the knees as such that they don't go over the toes. It should be a mechanical movement, the back lifting the weights and arms up, while the feet hold a steady grip on the ground.

Lowerbody: Narrow squat with a dumbbell raise

Back straight, stomach in, lower the body and keep knees behind the toes. Lift back up from the glutes (butt) and raise dumbbells overhead. Repeat. Palms should be facing each other. Do not curve your back during this exercise, it'll injure the lower back.

4) Cardio: Jump switch lunges

Again, keep your back straight, stomach taut and hands either on the hips or in front of you. Bend one knee in front and place the other leg behind you, knee and leg in-line in an L-shape. Jump and switch. Movement should only be in the lower body and maintain balance so you don't tip over on the side.

Cardio: Burpees

One of the most effective and hated exercises. Do a plank, jump in and bring your feet near your chest and then jump up high with arms raised above. Burpees can be modified by removing the jump at the end, you can just stand up and then jump back into a plank. If it's still too hard, do high knees instead.

These exercises range from beginner level to intermediate. Do 3 reps of 10 sets -- which means 3 repetitions of each exercise, rest, and then the same exercise again 10 times -- this workout is a total of 24 minutes based on the 3:10 ratio. You can do it twice through to get a full one-hour workout.

For beginners (or people who are largely inactive) Majeed recommends doing these workouts without weights. For a more challenging workout add dumbbells and increase reps and sets, beginners can also do this gradually, once their body gets used to the workout.

Stretching before and after is extremely important. But before stretching, do a little cardio, a run or jog to warm up the muscles.


This article was originally published on 21 July, 2017.

Comments

Sudhir Jul 21, 2016 01:50pm
Thanks for the information
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Imran Khan Jul 21, 2016 02:15pm
Thanks to Mr. Pakistan for this nice Article. As for a number of years to come, Ramazan would be falling in long hot summer months, during which dehydration, sunstroke and associated weakness is common. I would request the gentleman to go proactive and advise us on during Ramazan, How to: 1. Keep fit. 2. Maintain Nutrition for optimum health. 3. Avoid dehydration. 4. Avoid exertion. etc
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Abdulla Hussain Jul 21, 2016 02:16pm
Excellent post. Very to the point & informative, surely will yield result.
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Hamza Shahzad Jul 21, 2016 02:37pm
Nice
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M. Anwar Qureshi Jul 21, 2016 03:13pm
Excellent article and good demonstration..........Its very well comprehensive.
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white noise Jul 21, 2016 05:19pm
those steroid shakes sure works wonder don't they !!!
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Atshan Azam Jul 21, 2016 07:29pm
Its truely high pitch motivational encouraging 'Dawn' featuring sportive video news to follow on for every Pakistani citizen for self-healthcare thinking.
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Ahsan Gul Jul 21, 2016 08:01pm
Congratulations, Mr. Pakistan. You can inspire young people away from drugs, vices and other harmful habits such smoking.
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Myth Buster Jul 21, 2016 10:14pm
@white noise , so easy to blame it on steroids isn't it? Mr. Pakistan competition, and international bodybuilding competitions bar an athlete for life if they use steroids. Please have the guts to acknowledge someone's hard work instead of having the tall poppy syndrome
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Khalid Toronto Jul 21, 2016 11:11pm
@white noise Oh I don't know. Ask John Abraham.
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Jessica Wright Jul 22, 2016 12:44am
This is amazing and very difficult for most people to do. It's true that it takes real effort and dedication to really become physically fit. Personally, I use a workout/nutrition plan to stay fit, but I doubt it will work for men as this video shows: http://tinyurl.com/gwo9cf7
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sachin Jul 22, 2016 12:57am
the videos and msg of fitness is good. But our South Asian body types just does not get bulky without steroids. Same for the Asian (Chinese, Japanese) body type too. Bodybuilding for physical bulk appearance is native to the Whites and Africans. We Asians need to take care of our health and not just body bulking. Fasting purifies the health and gives rest to intestines
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Faisal Jul 22, 2016 01:17am
Mr Pakistan please don't use drugs to become like this because this is bad for your health
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Zak Jul 22, 2016 01:54am
This is Pakistan. Strong, confident and progressive.
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Parsad Jul 22, 2016 04:58am
Your six pack is way more visible then Salman Khan, your body shows more muscles then Salman Khan, Why Salman Khan has so much proud about his body, he is nothing in front of you.
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Awan Jul 22, 2016 09:31am
@sachin I live in Potohar Punjab region of Pakistan. You stated that body bulk does not come naturally to South Asians. in my region it is normal to have a good height and body bulk is a normal feature as well. I am above 6 feet, fit and the rest of my family members as well. Kindly stop becoming an expert on the whole of South Asia. In my personal observation the people with the shortest height and weak physical features mostly belong from Karachi followed by Lahore and middle Punjab ( GT road regions). The rest are pretty good in physical fitness and features.
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Farhan Jul 22, 2016 02:38pm
It would be good if he upload some exercise video on Youtube.
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sultan pervez Jul 23, 2016 02:45pm
Eating fruit and veg. drinking clean fresh water, a normal acceptable exercise in fresh air without smoking or drinking alcohol and sleeping in some one else's bed is guaranteed to improve your health.
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Massod Jul 23, 2016 11:22pm
Excellent article Most important is to inculcate these healthy habits in general population Coronary artery disease hypertension and diabetes are rampant in Pakistan . Just right diet and regular exercise can prevent these deadly disease and not only reduce health cost but increase survival and improve quality of life!
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M Tabraiz sahi Jul 24, 2016 09:38am
I am very thank ful to you about your golden tips for health.
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fawwad Jul 27, 2016 01:51am
i am not agreed with the suggestion of eating more protein instead carbs. our body needs balance food so you should eat balance amount of fat, carbs and protein. exceeded amount of protein could harm your body and you it may effect you liver directly, carbs are most fasted way to burn in calories. In my view do more cardio and dont get inspired by body-builders.
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Imran Jun 20, 2018 10:55pm
So we should eat more proteins, fruits and vegetables? But who can afford these?
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Imran Khan Jun 21, 2018 05:56am
thanks for sharing
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Ali Bhanger Jun 21, 2018 06:18am
This is nice. Another very powerful alternate of a routine exercise pattern which takes 11 minutes a day is called 5bx for men. For women it's called 10bx. This fitness pattern was developed by the Canadian Royal airforce for its pilots. It doesn't require any equipment and is much simpler to do without a pro trainer.
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Farouq Omaro Jun 21, 2018 08:24am
Also don't forget to mention anabolic steroids like stanozolol, anavar, masteron, clenbuterol and testosterone & trenbolone
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Rev. Eldrick Lal Jun 22, 2018 03:21am
@white noise Steroids aren't good for human consumption the consequences aren't great too.
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Farrukh Arshad May 26, 2020 03:22am
I have learned the hard way that a good night's sleep = a good workout
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INDEPENDENT May 26, 2020 07:14am
Thanks for this post and useful advice. Hats off to this man. Pakistan is proud of you, Mr Pakistan.
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S. Nasheed Ahmed May 27, 2020 02:34am
@Awan : Please don't stereotype. I have lived in Potohar & I have noticed that most people are quite lanky. South Asia's greatest sportsman, Gamma Pehelwan, hailed from Amritsar in East Punjab. His family members in Lahore have followed in his footsteps. Some of the country's best footballers, boxers, athletes, cyclists & cricketers live in Karachi. While I have great respect for the honest, hard-working & industrious people of Potohar, how many of them have won any national or international sports competitions or any noteworthy military medals ? I will be very happy when they will.
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