ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1629055
Comparative Study of Functional Training and Traditional Resistance Training on Lower-Limb Strength Performance in Male Adolescent Volleyball Players: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Provisionally accepted
- 1China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
- 2Shandong swimming Management Center, Jinan, China
- 3Sichuan Winshare Vocational College, Chengdu, China
- 4Beijing Zhongguancun High School Zhichun Branch Camps, Beijing, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: This study aimed to compare the effects of a functional strengthtraining program designed around volleyball-specific movements with those of traditional resistance training on lower-limb performance in male adolescent volleyball players. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 52 male volleyball athletes (age 13 ± 2 years; ≥ 2 years of formal volleyball training) from a sports school in Huangshi, Hubei Province, China, were allocated 1:1 to a functional training group (n = 26) or a traditional resistance training group (n = 26). The intervention lasted 12 weeks, with three 90-minute sessions per week. Pre-and post-training assessments of lower-limb strength and overall fitness included six measures: standing reach height, approach reach height, half-meter square agility test, standing long jump, 30 m sprint, and 1500 m run. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 26.0 using paired-samples and independent-samples t-tests, with α = 0.05. Results: In the functional training group, standing reach height increased from 2.81 ± 0.10 m to 2.88 ± 0.09 m (P = 0.025), and approach reach height from 2.87 ± 0.12 m to 2.95 ± 0.11 m (P = 0.034). The half-meter square agility time decreased from 18.09 ± 0.98 s to 17.50 ± 1.06 s but did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.075). In the traditional resistance training group, only the half-meter square agility test showed a significant improvement (P = 0.028), with no significant changes in the other five measures (all P > 0.05). Between-group comparisons revealed no significant differences across any outcome (all P > 0.05).Functional training appears superior to traditional resistance training for enhancing lower-limb explosive power in adolescent volleyball players, whereas traditional resistance training retains an advantage in agility. We recommend integrating both functional and traditional strength modalities in youth volleyball conditioning to foster comprehensive development of lower-limb strength and sportspecific performance.
Keywords: Functional training, Traditional resistance training, Adolescent athletes, lower-limb strength, randomized controlled trial, volleyball * Statistically significant difference at P < 0.05. 2.3 Training Program
Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 13 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Yang, Xian 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: Yuan Gao, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 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.