Effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on middle-distance running performance in well-trained runners.

Objective: To assess whether Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) affects 5000-m running performance and physiological parameters classically associated with middle-distance performance.

Design: Two experimental groups (Ramadan fasting, n = 9, vs control, n = 9) participated in 2 experimental sessions, one before RIF and the other at the last week of fasting.

Setting: For each session, subjects completed 4 tests in the same order: a maximal running test, a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of knee extensor, 2 rectangular submaximal exercises on treadmill for 6 minutes at an intensity corresponding to the first ventilatory threshold (VT1), and a running performance test (5000 m).