Sports Direct teamed up with creative agency The Romans to launch a campaign led by a podcast series titled ‘Fast And Slow’ aimed at encouraging Muslims to exercise safely during Ramadan.
The audio series, which was hosted by British Olympic Taekwondo medal winner and 2020 Tokyo Olympics pundit Lutalo Muhammad, set out to address concerns that some Muslims have about exercising safety and stigmas during Ramadan.
The idea evolved after research commissioned by Sports Direct found that more than 80% of Muslim men and women aged between 18 and 35-years-old were concerned about how to train safely during the Holy Month while fasting. A quarter of those asked said they train less during the month of Ramadan and 29% felt there is not enough advice about how to exercise safely.
The campaign revolved around a podcast series to help Muslims achieve their fitness and sporting goals while fasting during Ramadan which included exercise plans, wellness tips, mental approaches and finding a balance that works for each individual by advising listeners how to navigate training through Ramadan safely.
The content was built around a portfolio of training tips and each episode featured guest advice from a wide range of British Muslim athletes including ASRA Run Club athlete and Active Inclusion Network Founder Haroon Mota, football freestyler Nafisa Ahmed, Saf The Hijabi Boxer, personal trainer Shazi Fit, journalist Fadumo Olow, actress Zoha Rahman and rugby player Zainab Alema.
Running between 22 March and 20 April (the start and end of Ramadan 2023), each podcast episode was released just before sunset to coincide with breaking the fast: weekly episodes help runners slow down and reflect and allow them the time and mental space to explore the spiritual and physical elements of their run.
The episodes are set to a backing track with a steady tempo of 120bpm chosen to encourage runners to move mindfully and be at their personal best (rather than beat their personal best).
The series was supported by an April live event held at Sports Direct’s flagship shop in London’s Oxford Street where the public were invited to learn more about the holy month and were introduced to the podcast.
The initiative was further supported by social media clips running across the sports apparel retailer’s platforms and the athlete’s personal channels.
@nafisa.ahmed1 Try not to neglect working out this Ramadan 😊 health is key. Here's my tips for #fastandslow training as a @sportsdirect Ambassador #AD ♬ original sound – Nafisa
“Young Muslims are concerned about how to train while practicing Ramadan and are keen for more advice in this area. We know that training during Ramadan is about listening to the body and making decisions based on wellbeing, not records, so that’s why we loved the idea of creating something that could have tangible benefits for the Muslim community. The podcast reflects our ambition to accelerate equality and inclusivity in sport, so we hope this inspires and empowers Muslims to train safely this Ramadan. We’re thrilled at how well the content has been received, and plan to build on this approach next year as we continue to make sport accessible to all and to champion the legend in everyone.”
Sports Direct Chief Marketing Officer Beckie Stanion.
“Never in my time have I received professional or expert advice about how to train safely in Ramadan. People think Ramadan is about just prayer, worship, fasting. However, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be carrying on with the things that keep us healthy, the things that we enjoy, whether it’s exercise or hobbies. Being an underrepresented community, we’re already affected by the greatest of health inequalities. Our physical activity levels are low. There are two million Muslims in the UK and the majority are already probably not exercising enough.”
Active Inclusion Network Founder Haroon Mota
This podcast series continues 2022’s ‘Fast & Slow’ campaign which also aimed to help Muslims train safely during Ramadan and it rolled at the same time as another, unrelated yet interesting Sports Direct initiative called ‘Feet Of The Future’ which explored how are feet could change over the next century.
This initiative offers further evidence of sports retailers and rights owner moving more from exclusivity to inclusivity and follows other notable Ramdan related sports campaigns such as adidas’ ‘From Sunrise To Sunset’ and ‘Sports Prayer Mat’, as well as EA Sports FIFA21 ‘Inspiring The Next Generation’.