Effects of high-intensity functional training on physical fitness and sport-specific performance among the athletes: a systematic review with meta-analysis

• Main Authors: Wang, Xinzhi, Soh, Kim Geok, Samsudin, Shamsulariffin, Deng, Nuannuan, Liu, Xutao, Zhao, Yue, Akbar, Saddam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2023
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/107589/1/journal.pone.0295531.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/107589/; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295531
• Institution: Universiti Putra Malaysia

Objective This study aims to meta-analyze the impact of high-intensity functional training on athletes’ physical fitness and sport-specific performance. Methods A systematic search was conducted in five well-known academic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, and the Cochrane Library) up to July 1, 2023. The literature screening criteria included: (1) studies involving healthy athletes, (2) a HIFT program, (3) an assessment of outcomes related to athletes’ physical fitness or sport-specific performance, and (4) the inclusion of randomized controlled trials. The Physical Therapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to evaluate the quality of studies included in the meta-analysis. Results 13 medium- and high-quality studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review, involving 478 athletes aged between 10 and 24.5 years. The training showed a small to large effect size (ES = 0.414–3.351; all p < 0.05) in improving upper and lower body muscle strength, power, flexibility, and sport-specific performance. Conclusion High-intensity functional training effectively improves athletes’ muscle strength, power, flexibility, and sport-specific performance but has no significant impact on endurance and agility. Future research is needed to explore the impact of high-intensity functional training on athletes’ speed, balance, and technical and tactical performance parameters.