24-hour Fasting Effects on Athletes and Athletic Performance

Download or read book 24-hour Fasting Effects on Athletes and Athletic Performance written by Zachary C. Korten and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Ramadan Intermittent fasting has shown to have many beneficial effects on the general population like increases in weight loss results, promotion of healthspan, and decreases in blood pressure (Meo & Hassan, 2015; Maideen, Jumale, Alatrash, & Sukkur, 2017). However, no such effects have been noted in the athletic population. The current investigation was designed to examine the effects of the 24-hour intermittent fast on sports performance in athletes. Sports performance was measured by investigating performance changes in muscular power, muscular strength, and sprint performance. The hypothesis was that the implementation of the 24-hour fast will have either a lack of negative change or a positive benefit on sports performance with increases in all areas of testing. Muscular power was assessed through a vertical jump performed on a Just Jump mat, muscular strength was assessed through a 1-rep max front squat following the NSCA protocol (Bachele & Earle, 2008), and sprint performance was measured by performing a 20-yard sprint through Zybek timing gates (Zybek Sports, Boulder, Colorado, USA). Ten male division III athletes participated in the study. Five were in the control group, and five were in the experimental group that fasted once for 24-hours on their rest day. No positive or negative significant change was found in either group for the three measures. With many limitations, including sample size and length of intervention, future research is warranted to investigate the long-term effects of a 24-hour intermittent fast on sport performance.