To the unknowing onlooker, the last few weeks have been like any other for rebounding defender Adam Saad.

His dash of half back has been as thrilling as always with his form continuing to build, perhaps to his career-best.

However, since Round 10 the 22-year-old has been observing the month of Ramadan, where participants fast during daylight hours.

Saad, a practising Muslim, has partaken in the holy tradition since he was a teenager and says it’s a time of the year he looks forward to.

“I’ve been through it for 5-6 years, back in my VFL days as well,” he told media on Tuesday.

“I guess for me, Ramadan is a month for Muslims that we really look forward to and the club’s put in a program where I don’t get too fatigued.”

Despite his status as an elite sportsman, Saad honours all facets of the fasting of Ramadan, going without food and water from sunrise to sun down.

To ensure his wellbeing SUNS medical staff have tailored Saad’s training program for the month, building on the lessons of previous years.

“Each year we learn new things. The nutrition, John [Bartlett] at the club and JC [Justin Cordy], we’ve all put in a program to really get me through the month,” he explained.

“On a main training day I get up at 4.30am, I’ll eat some toast, cereal, a smoothie, fruit.

“That gets me though the main session, we finish around 11.30am, I’ll do recovery, get a message, I’ll go home, play the PlayStation for 30 minutes and go to sleep for a couple of hours.

“After I break fast I come back [to the club] and do weights.”

“I’ve done it every single year since I was a young kid, it’s pretty normal to me now.”

In a show of support, Assistant Coaches Dean Solomon and Mathew Primus, as well as a handful of players and other staff, have fasting alongside Saad over the past weeks.

“It may sound challenging but it’s more of a mental game, once you overcome the first week it sort of becomes easy,” he said.

“Dean Solomon and Matthew Primus [have fasted], and there’s been some staff as well as some players that have tried it, a day or two.

“It’s good for the club to support me and to see what it’s like to fast a day.

“Another reason we fast as Muslims is to see what the less fortunate go through.”

While Saad didn’t have a particular meal he missed during Ramadan, he did admit to having quite the sweet tooth.

“If it was up to me I’d probably just eat sweets,” he said.

“I find I wouldn’t mind a glass of water.

“When I can eat, there are days where I usually go all out and eat as much as I can and then there are days when I’m not really hungry.

“The water’s probably the tough part.”