Investigation of impact of ramadan fasting on selected physical performance variables and body composition in soccer players

Ramadan is a period of abstention from food and fluid intake during the hours of daylight for one month. These changes related with Ramadan intermittent fasting may impact on different aspects of physical performance. As training and competition continue to be programmed during Ramadan, an evaluation of the influence of Ramadan fasting on athletic performance is important issue. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the Ramadan fast on short term, high intensity anaerobic performance and body composition in competitive soccer players continued with their normal training program.The participants of this study were 59 male soccer players who were either fasting (n=32) or not fasting (n=27) voluntarily during the month of Ramadan. The subjects, aged between 15 and 22 years, had been training regularly for at least four years. Anaerobic power, anaerobic capacity, fatigue index, speed, agility, dribbling skills, active and squat vertical jump performances of the players were assessed at four different time points which were two weeks before Ramadan, the second and the fourth weeks of Ramadan and two weeks after the month of Ramadan. Body mass, BMI, body composition, daily sleeping time, food intake and fluid balance were also assessed at each of these time points.Two way repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated that there were no significant time by group interaction effects in any variable assessed (p>0,05). Therefore, these results suggested that no variables were negatively affected by Ramadan fasting. When compared to pre-Ramadan and beginning of Ramadan values, nearly all performance variables for the fasting and non fasting players improved at the end, and after the month of Ramadan. These changes in the performance parameters were most likely due to the effects of training programme or familiarity of the testing protocols.