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. 2021 Jun 27;18(13):6890.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18136890.

Sleep Quality and Performance in Professional Athletes Fasting during the Month of Ramadan

Anna Lipert  1 , Remigiusz Kozłowski  2 , Paweł Rasmus  3 , Michał Marczak  4 , Małgorzata Timler  4 , Dariusz Timler  5 , Ewa Kaniecka  5 , Abedelmajid Nasser  6 , Mohammad Ghaddar  6 , Ali Ghaddar  6   7
Affiliations

Sleep Quality and Performance in Professional Athletes Fasting during the Month of Ramadan

Anna Lipert et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Maintaining physical performance during Ramadan Diurnal Fasting (RDF) is a challenge for professional athletes. The literature shows that sleep disturbances experienced by athletes during RDF are associated with reduced physical performance. The effect of sleep quality on physical performance, and the effect of work status on physical performance during RDF among athletes, besides engaging in trainings, have been little investigated. This study aims to evaluate the effect of RDF on the physical performance of professional athletes taking into consideration their sleep quality and work status.

Methods: Professional medium-distance male runners (n = 32) participated in our study in the summer of 2019. Data about socio-demographics, training characteristics, sleep quality (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index: PSQI), physical performance (Cooper Test; Harvard step test) were collected before and during Ramadan. Student's-test and Welch and Wilcoxon tests were used for data analysis.

Results: Both quality of sleep and physical performance of athletes deteriorated during Ramadan. People with better quality of sleep had better physical fitness/performance both before and during RDF. Athletes who worked beside trainings achieved worse physical fitness test results and had worse quality of sleep.

Conclusions: Policies aimed to improve physical performance in RDF should consider the quality of sleep and the work status of athletes.

Keywords: Ramadan; fasting; physical performance; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

Nonfinancial competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A subanalysis of sleep quality changes among poor sleepers vs. good sleepers (before Ramadan).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Quality of sleep according to the occupational status BR.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Quality of sleep according to the occupational status DR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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