The Optimal Time of Day for Training During Ramadan: a Review Study Hamdi Chtourou1,2*, Omar Hammouda1,2, Asma Aloui1,3, Nizar Souissi1,4, Anis Chaouachi1
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The Optimal Time of Day for Training during Ramadan: A Review Study Hamdi Chtourou1,2*, Omar Hammouda1,2, Asma Aloui1,3, Nizar Souissi1,4, Anis Chaouachi1 1 Research Laboratory ''Sports performance optimization'' National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia 2 High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Sfax, Sfax University, Tunisia 3 High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Gafsa, Gafsa University, Tunisia 4 High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Ksar-Saïd, Manouba University, Tunisia A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article type: Literature concerning the effects of Ramadan fasting on sports performance presents Review article conflicting results. In this context, some studies reported a significant impairment of sports performance during the month of Ramadan. However, other studies suggested that Article History: Ramadan fasting has no significant effect on physical performance. Received: 07 March 2014 The discrepancies between the studies could be explained by time-of-day variations in Revised: 02 Apr 2014 testing. In this regard, recent studies reported that Ramadan negatively affects the Accepted: 09 Apr 2014 afternoon sports performance; however, the morning and the evening (after breaking the Published: 17 Apr 2014 fast) performances were not affected by fasting. This suggests that the optimal time of day for training during Ramadan is the morning or the evening. Therefore, coaches should Keywords: schedule the training sessions in the morning or evening during the month of Ramadan. Fast However, further studies should investigate the effect of training at a specific time of day Islam on sports performance during Ramadan. Sports Time-of-day Training Please cite this paper as: Chtourou H, Hammouda O, Aloui A, Souissi N, Chaouachi A. The Optimal Time of Day for Training during Ramadan: A Review Study. J Fasting Health. 2014; 2(1): 46-52. Introduction Recent studies concerning the effect of variations in testing (2, 3). In this context, it is Ramadan fasting on sports performance shows well established that many physiological and conflicting results (1-3). Previous studies psychological parameters vary in an individual demonstrated a significant reduction in the during the daytime, with higher values generally sports performance of soccer players (muscle observed in the afternoon than the morning (8, power during the repeated-sprint exercise and 9). Previous studies showed that short- and 30s Wingate test, maximal aerobic velocity, long-duration performances are time-of-day maximal oxygen uptake, and the total distance dependent, with higher values observed in the covered during the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery afternoon than the morning (10, 11). test) during the month of Ramadan, compared These diurnal variations of sports to the pre-Ramadan period (4-6). However, it performance could be adjusted by time-of-day was reported that intermittent Ramadan fasting modifications in training (12-14). According to did not affect sports performance when the some studies, the amplitude (morning-evening athletes maintained the same training load differences) of the diurnal variation of maximal during this month (7). short-term performances reduced after a The discrepancies between the results of regular training in the morning hours (12-14). these studies could be due to the time-of-day However, the morning-evening difference of * Corresponding author: Hamdi Chtourou, Bp 263, Ave Med Ali Akid, 1004 El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia. Tel: + 216 22 87 20 95; Email: [email protected] © 2014 mums.ac.ir All rights reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Ramadan and Optimal Time-of-Day of Training Chtourou H et al maximal short-term performance was more geographical location. With respect to the significant than a regular training in the Gregorian calendar, this month (the ninth afternoon hours (12-14). month in the Islamic calendar) shifts every year Recent studies showed that sports by approximately 11 days. Therefore, the effects performance (i.e., muscle power during the of fasting during summer at high altitudes are repeated-sprint exercise and the 30s Wingate different from fasting in winter. Moreover, in the test, maximal aerobic velocity, maximal oxygen summer of regions with temperate climates, uptake, and the total distance covered during fasting duration could be as long as 18 hrs per the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test) was day. affected by Ramadan fasting in the afternoon During Ramadan, food and fluid intake is hours, unlike the morning hours (4, 15, 16). This allowed from a pre-fasting meal called Sahar suggests that athletes could train in the morning until the fast-breaking meal, known as Iftar. It during Ramadan to support the training load. should be noted that food intake during To the best of our knowledge, regarding the nighttime hours leads to several behavioral temporal specificity in training during Ramadan, changes (19). only Aziz et al (17) have investigated the effect Several studies have investigated the effect of a high-intensity exercise session at different of Ramadan fasting on sports performance and times of day during the fasting period on sports have presented inconclusive findings. performance. They concluded that the optimal time of day to perform an acute high-intensity The effect of Ramadan fasting on sports exercise session during Ramadan is the evening, performance after breaking the daily fast. The current literature concerning the effect Souissi et al (18) investigated the optimal of Ramadan fasting on sports performance time of day for performing a short-term high presents somewhat conflicting results (2, 20). intensity exercise (30s Wingate test) during While some studies showed that Ramadan did Ramadan. They showed that short-term high not affect sports performance (7, 21, 22), others intensity performance was affected by fasting in showed a significant decrease in sports the afternoon and the evening during Ramadan; performance (5, 23). however, the morning performance did not In this regard, Chaouachi et al (7) reduce during the fasting month. investigated the effect of Ramadan fasting on In view of the above considerations, we short- and long-duration exercise performances. aimed to review: They reported that the performance during (i) the effect of Ramadan fasting on sports squat jump test, countermovement test, 5, 10, performance, and 30m sprints, and maximal oxygen uptake (ii) the effect of Ramadan fasting on the diurnal during the Multi-stage Fitness Test was not variations of sports performance, and adversely affected by Ramadan fasting. (iii) time-of-day effect of training during Likewise, Zerguini et al (22) showed that Ramadan on sports performance. vertical jump test and 5, 10, and 20m sprint performances were not affected by fasting. Ramadan and sports performance Recently, Bouhlel et al (23) showed that muscle Ramadan strength (hand grip strength) and power One of the five main religious practices of (countermovement jump) were maintained Islam is Ramadan fasting. Healthy devout during Ramadan (compared to the pre-Ramadan Muslims after going through puberty are obliged period). to fast during Ramadan for 28-30 days, based on On the other hand, Chtourou et al (5) the visual sighting of the crescent moon. During investigated the effect of Ramadan fasting on the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from muscle power during the 30s Wingate test, eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations repeated-sprint test, maximal aerobic velocity, during daylight hours (from dawn until sunset). and the total distance covered during the Yo-Yo The impact of fasting during this month is intermittent recovery test in twenty soccer largely dependent on climatic conditions and players. They showed that Ramadan fasting J Fasting Health. 2014; 2(1):46-52. 47 Chtourou H et al Ramadan and Optimal Time-of-Day of Training significantly reduced the physical performance during the first 2-3 sprints (4, 39, 40). However, of soccer players. In fact, during the 30s Wingate after the first 2-3 repetitions, the diurnal test, repeated-sprint test, the maximal aerobic variation of performance disappeared (4, 39, velocity, and the total distance covered during 40). Lack of time-of-day effect on muscle power the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, muscle during the repeated-sprint exercises could be power was significantly lower during Ramadan explained by a higher muscle fatigue in the in comparison with the pre-Ramadan period. afternoons compared to mornings (41). In this Similarly, in ten physical education regard, Racinais et al (42) showed that the students, Bouhlel et al (23) showed a significant higher reduction of muscle power in the impairment of performance, indicated by the afternoon compared to the morning could be force-velocity test (the maximal power of arms due to the higher initial power during the first 2- and legs), during Ramadan in comparison with 3 repetitions. the pre-Ramadan period. The diurnal variations of short-term The discrepancies between the results of maximal performances could be partially these studies could be due to several factors: the explained by the higher core temperature test protocols, environmental conditions, observed in the afternoon compared to the training status, fasting duration, and the time of morning (33, 43). Therefore, the first 2-3 day of testing (20). In this context, recent repetitions during the repeated-sprint exercises studies showed that maintaining the training could act as a warm-up, which improves the load during the month of Ramadan might lead to morning core temperature to the same level as performance decrement during the fasting the afternoon (8, 9). period (7, 21). Recently, Rebaï et al (24) showed Considering long-duration exercises, the that a 2-week tapering period during Ramadan literature presents somewhat conflicting results might enhance the muscle strength during (8).