Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1466050
This article is part of the Research Topic Circadian Rhythm and Performance in Sports View all 3 articles

Influence of time-of-day on neuromuscular performance in team sport athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Julio Martín López Julio Martín López 1Alberto Pérez-López Alberto Pérez-López 2*David Varillas-Delgado David Varillas-Delgado 1Alvaro López-Samanes Alvaro López-Samanes 3
  • 1 Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
  • 2 University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
  • 3 Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, Spain

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

    Introduction: Although circadian rhythms have been shown to influence some neuromuscular performance tasks, the time-of-day effect on team sports performance athletes remains equivocal. This study aimed to examine the existing evidence concerning diurnal variations in neuromuscular performance in professional and semi-professional team sports athletes using a meta-analytic approach. Methods: A literature search was conducted through three different databases: PubMed, SportDiscus and Web of Science. Article selection was made based on the following inclusion criteria: team sports athletes, professional or semi-professional athletes, neuromuscular performance, testing protocols and time-of-day testing times. Neuromuscular performance parameters such vertical jump capacity (i.e., squat and countermovement jump), agility and isometric strength were included in the analysis. Testing protocols that specifically assessed these parameters across morning (AM) and late afternoon/evening (PM) periods were considered were extracted from the selected studies. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis and five for quantitative synthesis. Meta-analysis indicated lower countermovement jump in the AM compared to with PM (mean difference, -1.44; 95% CI -2.80 to -0.08; p=0.04) and higher agility performance (mean difference 0.42; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.74; p=0.01) in PM comparing with AM. No differences were reported in isometric strength and squat jump performance (p>0.05). Conclusion: Neuromuscular performance is higher in the late afternoon or early evening compared to morning schedules in team sport athletes. Hence, time-of-day variations need to be considered when evaluating neuromuscular performance in professional and semi-professional team sports athletes.

    Keywords: Time-of-day1, neuromuscular performance2, team-sports3, power4, agility5

    Received: 17 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Martín López, Pérez-López, Varillas-Delgado and López-Samanes. 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: Alberto Pérez-López, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28801, Madrid, Spain

    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.