The Effect of Neuromuscular Exercise Interventions on Athletic Performance Across Different Levels: A Multilevel...

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Athletic Performance

Background:

• Neuromuscular exercise interventions offer diverse modalities but show inconsistent performance effects across athlete levels.
• Understanding these variations is crucial for optimizing training strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the impact of neuromuscular exercise interventions on athletic performance in trained, highly trained, and elite athletes.
• To identify moderating variables, including intervention protocols and study design, influencing performance outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Conducted systematic searches up to September 21, 2025, identifying 42 studies involving 1690 athletes.
• Utilized a 3-level meta-analysis with standardized mean difference (Hedges g) to pool effects.
• Performed subgroup and regression analyses to explore moderating factors.

Main Results:

• Neuromuscular interventions significantly improved performance in trained (g = 0.51) and highly trained athletes (g = 0.62).
• A positive, large effect size (g = 1.26) was observed for elite athletes, though not statistically significant.
• Intervention format, performance outcome, and study design significantly moderated effects; session duration showed a linear relationship with improvements.

Conclusions:

• The effectiveness of neuromuscular exercise interventions is contingent upon the performance outcome and athlete's level.
• Intervention format and study design are key influencers, underscoring the need for individualized neuromuscular training programs.