The Impact of a Motor Imagery-Based Training Program on Agility, Speed, and Reaction Time in a Sample of Young Tennis Athletes during Ramadan Fasting: Insights and Implications from a Randomized, Controlled Experimental Trial.

Sofien Fekih,Mohamed Sami Zguira,Abdessalem Koubaa,Mohamed Jarraya,Imed Ghariani,Nicola Luigi Bragazzi,Hamdi Zguira

doi:10.3390/nu12113306

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore whether a training program incorporating motor imagery could have an effect on physical performance outcomes in terms of agility, speed, and reaction time in a sample of tennis athletes who fasted during the month of Ramadan. Recruited subjects were 27 young male tennis players, randomly allocated to two groups: the imaging training group (n = 13) and a control group (n = 14). The study was designed as a randomized, controlled experimental study. The control group was engaged in watching videos concerning the history of the Olympic Games, whereas the motor imagery group followed a motor imagery-based training program. Physical performance outcomes were assessed during four sessions (one before Ramadan and three during Ramadan) by means of field tests. Our results revealed a drop in all performance outcomes measured in the middle and at the end of Ramadan for both groups (p < 0.01). The effect of the group × time interaction (p < 0.01) was reported for all physical performance outcomes measured for the two groups. This drop in performance was greater for the control group compared to the motor imagery group in the middle and at the end of Ramadan. This study showed that fasting during Ramadan reduced agility, speed, and reaction time performance for tennis players. A motor imagery-based training program could be an effective approach to reduce the effect of fasting during Ramadan and stabilize physical performance outcomes in terms of agility, speed, and reaction time for male tennis players.

Highlights

The religious tradition of Islam is based on five pillars, one of which is represented by Ramadan fasting, during which Muslim individuals are asked to refrain from consuming food and beverages as well as from sexual intercourse during the day
Our results show a time increase as measured on the MAT-Agility test and speed test performance in the repeat sprint test was lower at the end of Ramadan in the afternoon compared to (ZIG-ZAG) for the control group
In our study we reported a delimitation of the negative effect of fasting on performance outcomes in terms of agility, speed, and reaction time for the imagery training group

Summary

Introduction

The religious tradition of Islam is based on five pillars, one of which is represented by Ramadan fasting, during which Muslim individuals are asked to refrain from consuming food and beverages as well as from sexual intercourse during the day. This fasting period extends over a month and can reach 17–18 h per day, depending on the geographic location, which affects daylight hours and, fasting duration. The review of the scientific literature, regarding the impact of fasting during Ramadan on sports performance, reveals several findings which confirm the decline in physical performance [3–5], due to the inability to preserve the same training load with respect to the before-Ramadan period and the proposed training method

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