Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Ramadan fasting on body composition, aerobic exercise performance and blood lactate, heart rate and perceived exertion in regularly trained young soccer players. Sixteen male soccer players participated in this study. Mean age, stature, body mass and training age of the players were 17.4±1.2 years, 175.4±3.6 cm, 69.6±4.3 kg and 5.1±1.3 years, respectively. During the Ramadan period, all subjects voluntarily chose to follow the fasting guidelines and abstained from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Body composition, hydration status, dietary intake and sleep duration were assessed on four occasions: before Ramadan, at the beginning of Ramadan, at the end of Ramadan and 2 weeks after the end of Ramadan. On each occasion, aerobic exercise performance and blood lactate, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion responses of players were also determined during an incremental running test. Repeated measures of ANOVA revealed that body mass, percentage of body fat, fat-free mass, hydration status, daily sleeping time and daily energy and macronutrient intake of players did not vary significantly throughout the study period (p>0.05). However, players experienced a small but significant decrease in skinfold thicknesses over the course of the study (p<0.05). Although ratings of perceived exertion at submaximal workloads increased during Ramadan (p<0.05), blood lactate and heart rate responses had decreased by the end of Ramadan (p<0.05). In line with these changes, peak running performance and running velocity at anaerobic threshold also improved by the end of Ramadan (p<0.05). Improvements in aerobic exercise performance with time were probably due to the effects of pre-season training program that was performed after the break of the fast (Iftar) during the month of Ramadan. The results of the present study suggest that if regular training regimen, body fluid balance, daily energy intake and sleep duration are maintained as before Ramadan, Ramadan fasting does not have detrimental effects on aerobic exercise performance or body composition in young soccer players.
Highlights
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar and healthy adolescent and adult Muslims fast during this month
ΣSKF reduced slightly with time, and values of ΣSKF recorded at Beg-Ramadan fasting (RF), End-RF and After-RF were significantly lower than that recorded at Pre-RF (p
Regarding peak LA, Heart Rate (HR) and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) responses to m shuttle run test (MSRT), no significant differences were found between PreRF, beginning of RF. The second (Beg-RF), End-RF and After-RF (p>0.05)
Summary
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar and healthy adolescent and adult Muslims fast during this month. Ramadan fasting (RF) is one of the five pillars of Islam observed by over one billion Muslims worldwide. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activities daily between sunrise (Sahur) and sunset (Iftar). There is no restriction on the amount or type of food consumed at night, food and fluid intake are exclusively nocturnal during this month. The results of previous studies in untrained subjects have indicated that food and fluid intake frequency and quantity (Leiper, 2003; Husain, 1987), nocturnal sleep duration (Roky, 2004; Margolis, 2004) and daily physical activity (Waterhouse, 2008; Afifi, 1997) are reduced during the month of Ramadan. Dehydration (Roky, 2004; Leiper, 2003), variation in hormone levels (Bogdan, 2001), impairment in muscular
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