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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 Oct 29;12(11):3306.
doi: 10.3390/nu12113306.

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  1   2   3 , Mohamed Sami Zguira  1   4 , Abdessalem Koubaa  1   5 , Imed Ghariani  6 , Hamdi Zguira  1   4 , Nicola Luigi Bragazzi  7   8   9 , Mohamed Jarraya  3   10
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

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 et al. Nutrients. .

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.

Keywords: Ramadan fasting; agility; motor imagery-based training program; performance; reaction time; speed; sport psychology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental protocol adopted in the present study. Note. IMG = imagery training group; CG = control group; MIQ-RS = The Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second edition version.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reaction speed test following visual perception.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Means and standard deviations of the MAT-Agility test scores, before, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Ramadan for the two groups (control group, CG, versus experimental group, imagery training group or IMG). CG = control group, IMG = imagery training group. ##, # Significantly different from the control group at p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively. ** Significantly different from before Ramadan at p < 0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Means and standard deviations of the ZIG-ZAG test scores, before, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Ramadan for the two groups (control group, CG, versus experimental group, imagery training group or IMG). CG = control group, IMG = imagery training group. ## Significantly different from the control group at p < 0.001. ** Significantly different from before Ramadan at p < 0.001.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Means and standard deviations of the reaction time, before, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Ramadan for the two groups (control group, CG, versus experimental group, imagery training group or IMG). CG = control group, IMG = imagery training group. ## Significantly different from the control group at p < 0.001. **, * Significantly different from before Ramadan at p <0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively.
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