The Effects of Trunk Muscle Training on Physical Fitness and Sport-Specific Performance in Young and Adult Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The role of trunk muscle training (tmt) for physical fitness (e.g., muscle power) and sport-specific performance measures (e.g., swimming time) in athletic populations has been extensively examined over the last decades.However, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of tmt on measures of physical fitness and sport-specific performance in young and adult athletes is lacking.Objective to aggregate the effects of tmt on measures of physical fitness and sport-specific performance in young and adult athletes and identify potential subject-related moderator variables (e.g., age, sex, expertise level) and training-related programming parameters (e.g., frequency, study length, session duration, and number of training sessions) for tmt effects.Data sources a systematic literature search was conducted with pub med, web of science, and sportdiscus, with no date restrictions, up to june 2021.Study eligibility criteria only controlled trials with baseline and follow-up measures were included if they examined the effects of tmt on at least one measure of physical fitness (e.g., maximal muscle strength, change-of-direction speed (cods)/agility, linear sprint speed) and sport-specific performance (e.g., throwing velocity, swimming time) in young or adult competitive athletes at a regional, national, or international level.The expertise level was classified as either elite (competing at national and/or international level) or regional (i.e., recreational and sub-elite).Study appraisal and synthesis methods the methodological quality of tmt studies was assessed using the physiotherapy evidence database (pedro) scale.A random-effects model was used to calculate weighted standardized mean differences (smds) between intervention and active control groups.Additionally, univariate sub-group analyses were independently computed for subject-related moderator variables and training-related programming parameters.Results overall, 31 studies with 693 participants aged 11-37 years were eligible for inclusion.The methodological quality of the included studies was 5 on the pedro scale.In terms of physical fitness, there were significant, small-to-large effects of tmt on maximal muscle strength (smd = 0.39), local muscular endurance (smd = 1.29), lower limb muscle power (smd = 0.30), linear sprint speed (smd = 0.66), and cods/agility (smd = 0.70).Furthermore, a significant and moderate tmt effect was found for sport-specific performance (smd = 0.64).Univariate sub-group analyses for subject-related moderator variables revealed significant effects of age on cods/agility (p = 0.04), with significantly large effects for children (smd = 1.53, p = 0.002).Further, there was a significant effect of number of training sessions on muscle power and linear sprint speed (p ≤ 0.03), with significant, small-to-large effects of tmt for > 18 sessions compared to ≤ 18 sessions (0.45 ≤ smd ≤ 0.84, p ≤ 0.003).Additionally, session duration significantly modulated tmt effects on linear sprint speed, cods/agility, and sport-specific performance (p ≤ 0.05).Tmt with session durations ≤ 30 min resulted in significant, large effects on linear sprint speed and cods/agility (1.66 ≤ smd ≤ 2.42, p ≤ 0.002), whereas session durations > 30 min resulted in significant, large effects on sport-specific performance (smd = 1.22, p = 0.008).Conclusions our findings indicate that tmt is an effective means to improve selected measures of physical fitness and sport-specific performance in young and adult athletes.Independent sub-group analyses suggest that tmt has the potential to improve cods/agility, but only in children.Additionally, more (> 18) and/or shorter duration (≤ 30 min) tmt sessions appear to be more effective for improving lower limb muscle power, linear sprint speed, and cods/agility in young or adult competitive athletes.

Journal: Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) (2022)
Publication types: Meta-Analysis;Systematic Review;Journal Article