Sun Wei, Li Hui, Qu Luping, Zhou Yuehui, Cao Xiaoyang, Wang Ke, Li Ke
School of Sports Training, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, China.
School of Sports Science, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, Shandong, China.
Front Physiol. 2025 Apr 9;16:1551523. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1551523. eCollection 2025.
Lower limb asymmetry in athletes is associated with impaired performance and elevated injury risk. Plyometric training (PT) and complex training (CT) are commonly used interventions for this problem, but existing evidence on their effectiveness remains inconsistent.
This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate PT and CT's effects on athletes' lower limb asymmetry. The findings could help optimize training protocols and reduce the risk of sports injuries.
A systematic search of Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, EBSCO, CNKI, and Wanfang databases was conducted up to March 2024. Two researchers independently performed the literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment processes. A meta-analysis was conducted via Review Manager 5.3 software, including heterogeneity tests, effect size pooling, subgroup analysis, and funnel plot construction.
A total of eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 157 participants were included. PT effectively reduced lower limb asymmetry, particularly improving single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ) (SMD = 0.51, P = 0.05), single-leg broad jump (SLBJ) (SMD = 0.56, P = 0.01), and single-leg lateral jump (SLLJ) (SMD = 1.24, P = 0.01), but did not affect single-leg horizontal triple jumps (SLH3J) (SMD = 0.24, P = 0.60). In contrast, CT showed no meaningful reduction in asymmetry. Subgroup analysis indicated that unilateral PT alone significantly decreased asymmetry (SMD = 0.71, P < 0.01), whereas bilateral PT (SMD = 0.23, P = 0.45), unilateral CT (SMD = -0.15, P = 0.15) and bilateral CT (SMD = -0.09, P = 0.78) interventions all failed to demonstrate efficacy.
Unilateral PT effectively reduces lower limb asymmetry in athletes. Coaches should integrate this method into training programs to address asymmetry-related performance deficits and injury risks. Further high-quality trials are required to validate clinical applicability.
运动员下肢不对称与运动表现受损和受伤风险增加有关。增强式训练（PT）和综合训练（CT）是针对这一问题常用的干预措施，但关于其有效性的现有证据仍然不一致。
本荟萃分析旨在评估PT和CT对运动员下肢不对称的影响。研究结果有助于优化训练方案并降低运动损伤风险。
截至2024年3月，对Web of Science、PubMed、ProQuest、Scopus、EBSCO、中国知网和万方数据库进行了系统检索。两名研究人员独立进行文献筛选、数据提取和质量评估过程。通过Review Manager 5.3软件进行荟萃分析，包括异质性检验、效应量合并、亚组分析和漏斗图构建。
共纳入8项随机对照试验（RCT），涉及157名参与者。PT有效降低了下肢不对称性，尤其改善了单腿反向跳（SLCMJ）（标准化均数差[SMD]=0.51，P=0.05）、单腿跳远（SLBJ）（SMD=0.56，P=0.01）和单腿侧向跳（SLLJ）（SMD=1.24，P=0.01），但对单腿水平三级跳（SLH3J）没有影响（SMD=0.24，P=0.60）。相比之下，CT在降低不对称性方面没有显著效果。亚组分析表明，单独的单侧PT显著降低了不对称性（SMD=0.71，P<0.01），而双侧PT（SMD=0.23，P=0.45）、单侧CT（SMD=-0.15，P=0.15）和双侧CT（SMD=-0.09，P=0.78）干预均未显示出有效性。
单侧PT可有效降低运动员的下肢不对称性。教练应将此方法纳入训练计划，以解决与不对称相关的运动表现缺陷和受伤风险。需要进一步的高质量试验来验证其临床适用性。
