Exercise:

Hajj is cardio intensive so you must be in good physical shape. Continue to weight train as normal but for cardio here is what I recommend:

Take a brisk walk 4-5 days a week for 35-45 minutes wearing sandals a few times (preferably in the morning). Drink plenty of water and a cup of green tea before the walk (use 2-3 tea bags). Walk pretty fast. Once in a while, practice walking barefoot. I used to walk around barefoot in my backyard/patio just to prepare.

FOOD/SUPPLEMENTS:

Here are the supplements you need to take daily starting now:

Emergen-C - 1 packet daily in the morning or before a workout mixed with water — This is a high dose vitamin C powder to strengthen your immune system.

Opti-Pack by Super Nutrition (easy swallow packets–Iron-Free)- Potent Multi-vitamin/mineral formula–Take 1 packet daily with food. You can get it at power nutrition depot : 714-435-0100.

Selenium - Take 150 mcg daily-with lunch –Usually 2 tablets. It helps boost your immune system and is a powerful antioxidant.

Alpha Lipoic acid- Take 300 mg daily with breakfast. A good brand is from MRM–300 mg timed release alpha lipoic acid.

Paractin - Immune booster–www.hpingredients.com

FOODS you should eat daily starting today:

1) Raw, dark honey (pure, unfiltered) - Take 1 tablespoon daily with breakfast. You can actually buy a bottle of Al-shifaa honey when you get there from a store called Bin Dawud (it’s like walgreens here) and carry it with you at all times during Hajj as well. It came in real handy on those long bus rides!

2) Dates - Eat three-five dates daily as a snack.

3) Almonds (unsalted) - Eat one handful of almonds as an afternoon snack daily.

4) Sweet Potato - Eat one medium daily or every other day if possible. Just microwave it plain and you can put cinammon on it.

5) Wild Blueberries - Eat 1/2-one cup daily as a snack. Eat these with Almonds for better absorption of the antioxidants.

6) Apple - Eat one apple daily.

7) Broccoli - eat 1 serving (1 cup) daily with dinner
Spinach - One serving daily.

That should get you physically ready and help you be healthy and strong to maximize Ibadat at Hajj! A couple of other must have items are:

1) Face mask (disposable box)
2) Chaffing powder (this is absolutely necessary–trust me–it was a life saver) Like Gold Bond powder or medicated cream. For the inner thigh chaffing!
3) General medicines (you can get Z-pack and other antibiotics there for cheap).
4) Portable quran to read on the bus or on the day of Arafat when there is a lot of free time.
5) Protein Bars — very handy. The best one is MetRX Big 100 (red wrapper) or Zero Impact bar from VPX.
6) Sleeping Bag (just give it away after you use it at Muzdalafa)

You should pack light because you can buy everything there for cheap anyways. Please keep us in your duas and feel free to pass this advice on to whoever you think will benefit from it..

Rehan Jalil has advanced degrees in nutrition and health. He has trained numerous celebrities and works with proffesional athletes and teams to provide choice nutritional and training advice.

This entry was posted by Suhaib Webb on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 6:22 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.