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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1434918
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights and Reviews In Movement Science View all 15 articles

The Effect of Instability Resistance Training on Balance Ability Among Athletes: A Systematic Review

Provisionally accepted
Jianxin Gao Jianxin Gao 1*Xinxin Fu Xinxin Fu 1Hang Xu Hang Xu 1Qi Guo Qi Guo 2Xiaopeng Wang Xiaopeng Wang 2
  • 1 College of Physical Culture, Jiangxi Teachers College, Yingtan, China
  • 2 Department of Sport Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Instability resistance training (IRT) has been the focus of extensive research because of its proven benefits to balance ability, core stability, and sports performance for athletes. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews explicitly evaluating IRT's impact on athletes' balance ability. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the effects of IRT on balance ability among athletes.Method: This study used guidelines for the systematic review and meta-analysis of PRISMA, Web of Science, EBSCOhost (SPORTDiscus), PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to collect original references in electronic databases. The PICOS method was selected for the inclusion criteria. The physiotherapy evidence database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the scoring for articles' risk range of bias. The scoring of 20 studies ranges from 4-8, and study quality is moderate to high.Results: Out of 285 identified studies, only 20 articles fulfilled all the eligibility criteria after screening. IRT could significantly improve reciprocal, static, and dynamic balance ability among judo athletes, basketball players, weightlifters, archery athletes, soccer players, rhythmic gymnasts, badminton players, track and field athletes, handball players, volleyball players, and gymnasts using unstable surfaces or environments (i.e., BOSU, Swiss, Wobble boards, Suspension trainer, Sissel pillows, Inflated disc and foam surface, Airex balance pad, Togu power ball, Thera-Band, Elastic band strap, Sand surface and so on).The finding suggests that different types of IRT benefit athletes as this training method can effectively enhance reciprocal, static, and dynamic balance ability in athletes. Therefore, this review suggests that IRT should be considered in athletes' daily training routines for the physical fitness of reciprocal, static, and dynamic balance ability.

    Keywords: Athletes1, Balance ability2, BOSU and Swiss ball3, Instability resistance training4, Unstable environment5

    Received: 19 May 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gao, Fu, Xu, Guo and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jianxin Gao, College of Physical Culture, Jiangxi Teachers College, Yingtan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.