III.4. Effect of fasting Ramadan on the durations RR
(ms)
R R (ms)
1400
1200
1000
400
800
600
200
0
BR R1 R2
Supine Standing Effort
*
b
*
a
b
Figure 10: Mean (#177; SD) of the RRs (ms)
recorded during the second, fourth week and before Ramadan (n
= 9).
* (p <0.05) Significant difference compared to before
Ramadan (supine position);
a (p <0.05) Significant difference compared to before
Ramadan (standing position);
BR R1 R2
b (p <0.05) Significant difference compared to before Ramadan
(During effort).
47
Table VII: Heart rate averages
(bpm) recorded before, in the middle and at the end of the month of Ramadan (n
= 9).
|
B.R
|
R 1
|
R 2
|
F C (bpm) Supine
|
59,94
|
56,92
|
55,50
|
F C (bpm) Standing
|
72,99
|
68,80
|
67,95
|
F C (bpm) Effort
|
122,19
|
115,16
|
112,57
|
|
· Supine position: the analysis of variance shows
a significant effect F (2) = 13.2 (p <0.05) of Ramadan fasting on RR
durations (Figure 10).
Post hoc analysis shows that RR durations recorded before
Ramadan are significantly lower than those measured in the middle and at the
end of Ramadan (p <0.05).
· Standing position: Variance analysis shows a
significant effect F (2) = 8.22 (p <0.05) of Ramadan fasting on RR durations
(Figure 10).
The post hoc analysis shows that the RR durations recorded in
the standing position before Ramadan are significantly lower than those
measured in the middle and at the end of the month of Ramadan (p <0.05).
· During effort: the analysis of the variance
shows a significant effect F (2) = 17.6 (p <0.05) of Ramadan fasting on the
average RR durations (Figure 10).
The post hoc analysis shows that RR durations recorded during
the effort before Ramadan are significantly lower than those measured in the
middle and at the end of the month of Ramadan (p <0.05).
Part IV : Discussion
49
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of Ramadan
fasting on:
1. Performances during a Wingate test,
2. The modulation of sympathetic and parasympathetic system
activity on cardiovascular function in adolescents who have been playing
football for at least 5 years.
Our results showed that Ramadan fasting had no effect on
anthropometric parameters and performances during a Wingate test. Moreover, our
results revealed a modulation of the autonomic system by the increase of the
parasympathetic participation and by the decrease of the sympathetic effect.
I. The effects of fasting Ramadan on body
weight
The results of the present study found that the effect of
fasting on body weight does not show a significant difference during the month
of Ramadan compared to the control period (before Ramadan), this is confirmed
by other previous studies (El Ati et al., 1995, Finch et al., 1998,
Ramadan 2002, Souissi et al., 2007, Zerguini et al., 2007, Meckel et al., 2008,
Chennaoui et al., 2009, Sweileh et al. al., 1992). Moreover,
Sweileh et al., (1992) reported that dehydration exists only
during the first week of Ramadan as it returns to its pre-Ramadan values during
the fourth week of the month of fasting.
Ramadan et al., (1999) also noted a
significant increase in osmolarity among sedentarians, which is not the case
for athletes who continue to train during Ramadan.
Karli et al., (2007), confirmed the results
of Ramadan et al., (1999) in their study of international
athletes, where they conclude that the fluid balance has not changed
significantly. We can deduce the same conclusions since our subjects are
athletes who did not interrupt their sports activities during the holy
month.
II. The effects of Ramadan fasting on Wingate test
performances
Our results showed that the peak powers and the average powers
recorded during the Wingate test do not reveal a significant difference during
the second, fourth week of Ramadan compared to the pre-Ramadan control
session.
50
This confirms the results of some previous studies that looked
for the fasting effect of Ramadan on anaerobic performance especially for the
Wingate test. Indeed, Souissi et al., (2007a) showed that the
muscle powers recorded during the morning Wingate test are not affected during
the month of Ramadan. On the other hand, the muscular powers are diminished
during the fourth week compared to before Ramadan for the sessions realized in
the afternoon.
In the same vein, Karli et al., (2007) showed
that the average powers did not decrease significantly during Ramadan and that
the peak powers showed an increase in nine athletes who continued to train
normally during Ramadan.
On the other hand, other studies have led to other results.
Indeed, Chaouachi et al., (2009) showed that the power
recorded during the 30-sec repeated jump test decreased at the end of Ramadan
compared to before Ramadan. The study of Abedelmalek (2008)
showed that the average powers decreased significantly during the
second and fourth week of Ramadan compared to after Ramadan. The same study
showed that the Peak powers also declined significantly at the end of Ramadan
compared to after Ramadan. In this study, the author explained these decreases
in mean powers and peak powers by two essential factors: calorie restriction
and sleep deprivation; this is not the case of our study which showed that the
peak powers and the average powers were not affected by the fast of the month
of Ramadan.
Several factors can explain this stability of performances
during Wingate test found in our study. Indeed, the short duration of this test
(30s) and its anaerobic nature do not seem to be influenced by the availability
or not of the Energetic substrates. Thus, the test is slightly affected by the
reduced caloric intake relating to fasting Ramadan (Zerguini et al.,
2007).
In addition, our subjects did not stop their training during
Ramadan (2 to 4 training sessions per week). This confirms previous studies
(Rösch et al., 2000, McGregor et al., 2002, Ali et al., 2007,
Kirkendall et al., 2008) which explained the stability or even
sometimes the improvement in performance observed during the month of fasting
by the effect of maintaining the same intensity and duration of training
sessions.
With regard to partial sleep deprivation during Ramadan, data
available in the literature have shown that anaerobic performance seems to be
little affected by this factor (Mougin et al., 1996, Bambaeichi et al.,
2005, Reilly and Waterhouse, 2009). On the other hand,
51
Souissi et al., (2007b) have shown that the
effects of total and partial sleep deprivation are mainly related to the time
of testing. Indeed, these authors have shown that sleep deprivation has
negative effects only during the afternoon and evening, while the average
powers were only diminished at the end of Ramadan for sessions performed
between 10am and 11am. These results are discordant with ours, despite the fact
that we recorded a slight decrease that was not significant during the periods
of the test (between 15h and 17h).
In partial conclusion we say that, the performance stability
of the peak powers and the average powers during Wingate test during and out of
Ramadan can be explained by several factors:
1. the continuity of physical activity practice during
Ramadan,
2. the nature of the test itself and its short duration that
appears to be little affected by calorie deficit during the month of fasting or
sleep / wake rhythm disruption that results in decreased performance when
exercises require sensorimotor coordination or cognitive processes
(Mougin et al., 1996) which is not the case in our study
(purely physical test).
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