Ramadan is characterized by daily abstinence from food and fluid intake from dawn to sunset. The understanding of the Ramadan effects on the diurnal variations of athletic performance is crucial for practitioners, coach and researchers to prepare sport events and optimize performance. The aim of the present study was to reveal the effect of Ramadan on the performance aspect, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion during a karate match. In a randomized counterbalanced, 2 × 2 cross-over order, 22 male and female amateur karate athletes (age = 16.8 years, body mass = 59.1 kg, height = 168.3 cm) participated in simulated karate match at 8–10 a.m. and 5–7 p.m. on three different occasions: 1 week before Ramadan, the second week of Ramadan (during Ramadan), and 2 weeks after Ramadan. Performance aspects were analyzed, and heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were assessed before and immediately after the match at each visit. Our results demonstrated that Ramadan adversely affected time-motion variables (fighting time and preparatory time) and heart rate during simulated karate match (p < 0.05, all). However, heart rate pic response to karate match was higher during Ramadan when compared with before Ramadan and after Ramadan. However, rating of perceived exertion results did not show any variation during Ramadan phases. Concerning the interaction of Ramadan and time of day, fighting time and stoppage time were higher in the evening and in the morning before Ramadan and the inverse during Ramadan, respectively (p < 0.05). In conclusion, Ramadan altered the diurnal variation of performance aspect, in terms of fighting time and stoppage time, during simulated karate match.

Background: Aerobics exercise training and kettlebell training is recommended to prevent and control overweight/obesity.   Purpose: The aim of the this research is to assess the improvement in various variables related to health fitness among obese adults on administrating a twelve weeks aerobics exercise training and kettlebell training. Materials and Methods: Total sixty male adults with obese (Mean ± SD; age: 18.92 ± 1.54 yrs.; height: 172.4 ± 5.4 cm.; weight: 84.4 ± 6.3 kg) were randomly allocated into three equal (n = 20) groups: Aerobic Exercise Training (AET), Kettlebell Training (KBT) and a control group. The AET & KBT training protocol was performed three days per week for 12 weeks. All the selected variables of physical fitness has been examined at baseline and 12 weeks.   Control group does not perform any exercise. Analysis and findings: There were significant difference in terms of Flexibility (F), Muscular Endurance (ME), Muscular Strength (MS) and Cardiovascular Endurance (CE), between the AETG & KBTG have been compared with control group (p < 0.05).  Body Composition (BF) significant reductions in AET & KBT groups have been compared with control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that AET & KBT protocols have greater effects than control group on health related physical fitness variables in obese male adult individuals. It is recommended that schools and colleges should administrate the aerobic exercise session and kettlebell training among adults for better health perspectives.

The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminative validity of a new taekwondo-specific change-of-direction (COD) speed test with striking techniques (TST) in elite taekwondo athletes. Twenty (10 males and 10 females) elite (athletes who compete at national level) and top-elite (athletes who compete at national and international level) taekwondo athletes with an average training background of 8.9 ± 1.3 years of systematic taekwondo training participated in this study. During the two-week test-retest period, various generic performance tests measuring COD speed, balance, speed, and jump performance were carried out during the first week and as a retest during the second week. Three TST trials were conducted with each athlete and the best trial was used for further analyses. The relevant performance measure derived from the TST was the time with striking penalty (TST-TSP). TST-TSP performances amounted to 10.57 ± 1.08 s for males and 11.74 ± 1.34 s for females. The reliability analysis of the TST performance was conducted after logarithmic transformation, in order to address the problem of heteroscedasticity. In both groups, the TST demonstrated a high relative test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients and 90% compatibility limits were 0.80 and 0.47 to 0.93, respectively). For absolute reliability, the TST’s typical error of measurement (TEM), 90% compatibility limits, and magnitudes were 4.6%, 3.4 to 7.7, for males, and 5.4%, 3.9 to 9.0, for females. The homogeneous sample of taekwondo athletes meant that the TST’s TEM exceeded the usual smallest important change (SIC) with 0.2 effect size in the two groups. The new test showed mostly very large correlations with linear sprint speed (r = 0.71 to 0.85) and dynamic balance (r = −0.71 and −0.74), large correlations with COD speed (r = 0.57 to 0.60) and vertical jump performance (r = −0.50 to −0.65), and moderate correlations with horizontal jump performance (r = −0.34 to −0.45) and static balance (r = −0.39 to −0.44). Top-elite athletes showed better TST performances than elite counterparts. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that the TST effectively discriminated between top-elite and elite taekwondo athletes. In conclusion, the TST is a valid, and sensitive test to evaluate the COD speed with taekwondo specific skills, and reliable when considering ICC and TEM. Although the usefulness of the TST is questioned to detect small performance changes in the present population, the TST can detect moderate changes in taekwondo-specific COD speed.