Personalized Warm-Up Strategies for Adult Athletes: A Meta-Analysis Based on Athletic Level, Gender, and Region

Ye Xu^*Jianmin DaiXingyue LiangYurou Zhang

• Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sports Science Research Institute, Nanning, China

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of high-intensity parallel squats (HIPS) on lower-limb explosive power in adult athletes, with a specific focus on how athletic calibre, sex and geographic origin modulate the ensuing potentiation response (PAP/PAPE)—the transient increase in muscular power or performance that follows heavy resistance exercise., and provide evidence for designing precision Warm-up protocols. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, 58 Randomized controlled trial (973 participants) published in six databases( Web of Science,PubMed , Cochrane , Embase, Scopus, and Ebsco) from 2004 to 2025 were systematically reviewed. Included studies utilized HIPS (≥85% 1RM) as a pre-activation stimulus, with countermovement jump (CMJ), standing long jump (SLJ), and short-distance sprints (10,20,30m et al) as outcome measures. Effect sizes were pooled using a random-effects model. Subgroup analyses based on athletic proficiency (high-level: squat 1RM/body weight ≥2), gender (male/female), and region (Asian/non-Asian) were conducted, with heterogeneity (I² statistic) and publication bias (Egger's test) assessed. Results: High-level athletes exhibited significant CMJ improvement after short and moderate intervals ( p ≤0.05), whereas low-level athletes showed no gains and even transient inhibition post short intervals (p = 0.08). Non-Asian athletes demonstrated superior CMJ gains after long intervals (>8 min: WMD = 0.86, p = 0.01), while Asian athletes showed no improvement (p = 0.86). Males achieved moderate-interval CMJ enhancement (WMD = 0.95, p = 0.01), whereas females exhibited no significant changes (p = 0.64). In SLJ, low-level (WMD = 5.79, p = 0.01) and non-Asian athletes (WMD = 4.23, p = 0.02) showed gains, but sprint performance remained unaffected across subgroups (p > 0.05). Heterogeneity ranged from low to moderate (I² = 0–70.6%). Conclusion: Athletes with high proficiency (squat 1RM/weight ≥ 2) can combine short/medium recovery intervals of HIPS warm-up to optimize vertical jump performance; athletes with low proficiency need to prioritize enhancing their basic strength before considering using HIPS for activation to improve acute exercise performance. Males are recommended to rest for 5-8 minutes after intervention activation and then proceed with training.Non-Asian athletes can attempt a long interval (>8 minutes) strategy.