Intensity of a training session during Ramadan in fasting and non-fasting Tunisian youth football players

Abstract

Heart rate was measured in 79 young male soccer players during training in the third week of Ramadan. Forty-eight players were practising Ramadan fasting, while the other 31 players were eating normally. All participants trained for 60-80 min at an ambient temperature of 25-28 degrees C and relative humidity of 50-53%. Heart rate, which was measured throughout the training session, was marginally higher in the fasting (mean 144 beats . min(-1), s = 25) than in the non-fasting (139 beats . min(-1), s = 23) group (P < 0.001). When assessed as the percentage of heart rate reserve utilized, however, the training load was similar for both groups (62%, s = 8). No difference was detected in training intensity for the fasting and non-fasting groups when quantified by either training impulse (253, s = 139 and 253, s = 108, respectively) or training load indicator (222, s = 123 and 179, s = 49, respectively). The overall subjective rating of perceived exertion of the training session reported 20 min after finishing training was similar for the fasting (12, range 6-17) and non-fasting (12, range 7-17) groups, which was comparable (P = 0.16) to the mean value for the entire week (13, range 8-16). A similar finding was observed in the players' subjective appraisal of the difficulty of training of the individual session and for the whole week's training. Overall exercise load measures indicated that there was no biologically significant difference between the fasting and non-fasting groups during training in the third week of Ramadan.

Effect of Ramadan fasting on some biochemical and haematological parameters in Tunisian youth soccer players undertaking their usual training and competition schedule

“…Both groups assessed the required effort of training as being ''somewhat hard'' and the same relative number of players found training to be ''normal'' (56%), ''hard'' (17%), and ''easy'' (27%) throughout the study (Leiper, Watson, Evans, & Dvorak, 2008c). Circulating transferrin concentrations generally increased during Ramadan in the present study, and returned to baseline values 3 weeks after Ramadan.…”

Effects of Ramadan on physical performance: chronobiological considerations

“…Aspects of physical performance are compromised, but the deterioration is often not marked, and other aspects are unaffected. For example, in soccer players, a deterioration in Vo 2 max but not sprinting ability or agility,4 a fall in aerobic capacity, endurance and jumping ability but no change to sprinting or agility,5 a decreased ability to perform exercise at 75% Vo 2 max,6 no clear changes in speed, power, agility, endurance and dribbling skills,7 a marginally reduced (but biologically non-significant) decrease in maximal heart rate but no change in perceived exertion,8 and a general decrease in fitness and tests of skill (speed, agility, dribbling and endurance)9 have all been reported. In addition, some studies indicated that subjective assessments of performance had been performed less well9 or that the exertion required to undertake the training sessions was increased 10 11.…”

Precompetition taper and nutritional strategies: special reference to training during Ramadan intermittent fast: Figure 1

“…For a long time, it has been suggested that the alteration of eating habits and lifestyle imposed by the Ramadan intermittent fast may require a reduction in the training load undertaken by elite Muslim athletes 24–26. It is therefore common practice for coaches and conditioning professionals to reduce training demands during Ramadan intermittent fast, in the belief that this will allow their athletes to better cope with training while following their religious demands (see figure 1).…”

“…It is therefore common practice for coaches and conditioning professionals to reduce training demands during Ramadan intermittent fast, in the belief that this will allow their athletes to better cope with training while following their religious demands (see figure 1). 19 22 25 This could potentially result in the occurrence of detraining before important competitive events, particularly with high level athletes 22 25. To better understand the potential threat of a drastic reduction in training or training cessation, the following section reviews the main physiological and performance alterations accompanying training stoppage.…”

“…On the other hand, if pre-Ramadan levels of endurance and strength-power training are maintained or progressively increased during Ramadan, a Ramadan intermittent fast does not necessarily have any detrimental effects on performance. Recently published results suggest that athletes can cope with their normal, relatively high training loads during Ramadan intermittent fast 16 19 22 25 60 61. Experienced elite Tunisian judo athletes undergoing Ramadan intermittent fast could maintain their usual training loads (ie, ∼2300 arbitrary units according to the Rating of Perceived-Exertion training load monitoring method (see Foster et al 62)) through Ramadan 13 16 19.…”