{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T09:05:23Z","timestamp":1789203923588,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]],"date-time":"2020-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1603929600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>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 &lt; 0.01). The effect of the group \u00d7 time interaction (p &lt; 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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu12113306","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]],"date-time":"2020-10-29T09:44:53Z","timestamp":1603964693000},"page":"3306","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["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"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Sofien","family":"Fekih","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Gafsa, Gafsa 2100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Said, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia"},{"name":"Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sports and Health (EM2S, LR19JS01), Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6057-6197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed Sami","family":"Zguira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Gafsa, Gafsa 2100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Department of Physiology and Lung Function Testing, Faculty of Medicine Ibn-El-Jazzar, University of Sousse, Sousse 4000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdessalem","family":"Koubaa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Gafsa, Gafsa 2100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Imed","family":"Ghariani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Centre of Medicine and Science in Sport, Tunis 2000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hamdi","family":"Zguira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Gafsa, Gafsa 2100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Department of Physiology and Lung Function Testing, Faculty of Medicine Ibn-El-Jazzar, University of Sousse, Sousse 4000, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8409-868X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicola Luigi","family":"Bragazzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Postgraduate School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Genoa University, 16132 Genoa, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, Genoa University, 16132 Genoa, Italy"},{"name":"Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed","family":"Jarraya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sports and Health (EM2S, LR19JS01), Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3100, Tunisia"},{"name":"Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3100, Tunisia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"473","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsm.2010.072157","article-title":"Fasting and Sport: An introduction","volume":"44","author":"Maughan","year":"2010","journal-title":"Br. 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