By NAVEENA JAMES
alltherage@thestar.com.my
CHEER season is in full swing in Malaysia right now. Across the country, young cheerleading athletes are training as hard as they can to take their game to the next level and bag some trophies – even during fasting month.
Most teams train rigorously every day in the weeks leading up to CHEER 2015, Malaysia’s biggest cheerleading tournament, happening this year on Aug 15.
So, how have the cheerleaders observing Ramadan kept their performance levels up?
“I eat a lot of slow-release carbohydrates during sahur to ensure I have enough energy to last till I break fast,” said Amira Deanna, 15, a cheerleader with the Starlites from SMK Seri Bintang Utara. She has been fasting since she was seven.
Slow-release carbohydrates are found in foods such as wheat, oats, sweet potatoes and beans. Avoiding anything with too much sugar is important as these foods contain quick-release carbohydrates that will cause hunger after a short period of time.
“As an athlete, I have to choose my food wisely. I make sure I take balanced meals to keep me going,” said Nuraihan Maizurah, 19, from CA Awesome Legends, a local all-star team.
A lack of fluids, however, has a bigger impact on an athlete’s performance compared to food.
Cheerleading training is incredibly tough as it involves energetic routines and difficult stunts, so naturally, you lose a lot of water through sweat.
“I make sure I drink a lot of water when I break fast to replace the water lost. Although the chances of becoming dehydrated are quite high, I persevere through the practice and get some sleep after to rest my body,” said Putri Nellisa, 17, from Team Xavier Senior.
On the other hand, Muhammad Danial Syafiq, 19, from IACT College’s cheer team, Alpha Prime, limits extreme stunts that require a lot of energy during practice, which he believes has helped reduce water loss.
“I do not push myself to the point where I am so tired I need to drink water,” he said.
Another tip from the cheerleaders on maintaining athletic performance while fasting is to work on your endurance. You are less likely to be dehydrated if your body is accustomed to the level of energy needed to perform a particular exercise.
“I remind myself to always inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth as proper breathing technique helps increase my endurance during practice. I tend to get out of breath very quickly if I forget to breathe properly,” said Amira.
For most cheerleaders, practice generally goes on as usual throughout Ramadan, though they do make minor alterations to ensure nobody is pushed to unsafe levels.
“We don’t cut ourselves any slack in terms of the amount of work, though our coach does give us longer breaks between routines,” said Putri.
Amira’s team, on the other hand, reduces the stamina training they do at the end of each session.
In general, fasting isn’t an issue for athletes who have been doing it for years because they understand how far their bodies can go, said Ron Maughan, professor of sports and nutrition at Loughborough University, during an interview with The Guardian.
In fact, fasting could help improve your overall performance! A 2014 article in Scientific American said the emotional and physical mechanisms employed by athletes to cope with fasting can give them an edge during competitions.
“During Ramadhan, I become more focused and disciplined, which actually makes me a better cheerleader,” said Putri.
Amira also believes fasting trains her to persevere and eliminate negative thoughts which helps her focus better during practice.
Having supportive teammates helps as well, and in the ultra-positive Malaysian cheerleading scene, that’s rarely a problem.
“My teammates who aren’t fasting give us a lot of encouragement, which certainly helps us practice better,” said Amira.
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