Zhijie Yan

Stroboscopic Visual Training (SVT) is an emerging intervention that periodically occludes visual input and creates a temporally constrained visual environment during perceptual or sport-specific tasks. This structured narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the effects of SVT on perceptual-cognitive function and sport performance and discusses its potential neurophysiological mechanisms. The available evidence suggests that, under restricted visual-input conditions, SVT may facilitate more efficient use of task-relevant visual information and may support anticipatory decision-making, visual short-term memory, and perception–action coupling. These effects appear more likely to occur in tasks requiring rapid reactions, precise judgments, and the processing of high-speed dynamic information, although the magnitude and transferability of these effects remain task-specific and inconsistent across studies. Preliminary neurophysiological evidence indicates that SVT has been associated with changes in event-related potential components, including N2 latency in motion-sensitive visual areas and P100 latency in the primary visual cortex. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously because the current mechanistic evidence is limited, often based on small samples, and relies mainly on indirect neurophysiological measures. Although SVT is a controllable training approach that can be embedded within sport-specific practice, its ecological transfer to real competitive performance and its long-term effectiveness remain insufficiently established. Future research should focus on establishing dose–response models for SVT parameters, applying multimodal neurophysiological methods, improving methodological quality through active control conditions and follow-up assessments, and systematically examining task transfer and long-term retention to support more precise and evidence-informed applications of SVT in sport.

Variable resistance training (VRT) has been proposed as a practical conditioning strategy to acutely enhance subsequent performance, but the evidence for i

Background: Passive recovery during the half-time interval in team sports often compromises physiological readiness, resulting in performance decrements at the onset of the second half. While re-warm-up (RWU) strategies have been proposed to counteract this decline, conclusive quantitative evidence remains limited. The objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to: (1) quantify the magnitude of RWU effects compared with passive recovery on key explosive performance indicators (vertical jump, sprint, and change of direction) among team sports athletes; and (2) determine the moderating influence of athlete characteristics (level, sex, age) and RWU duration through subgroup analyses. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 guidance, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane Library from inception to August 28, 2025. Records were screened in duplicate, full texts were assessed for eligibility, and methodological appraisal was conducted using the PEDro scale and RoB 2. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to quantify the effects of RWU versus passive recovery on vertical jump, sprint, and change-of-direction performance, with exploratory subgroup analyses/meta-regression examining study-level covariates, including athlete characteristics and RWU duration. Results: Fifteen studies involving 213 participants were included, with the majority (13 studies) classified ashaving ‘good’ methodological quality on the PEDro scale. The meta-analysis revealed that RWU significantly enhanced vertical jump performance during the initial phase of the second half compared with passive recovery (27 effect sizes [ESs]; SMD = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.59, p < 0.001), with negligible heterogeneity (1 ² = 0%). Furthermore, RWU yielded significant improvements in short-distance sprint (27 ESs; SMD = −0.35,95%C: −0.63 to −0.07, p = 0.016) and change of direction ability (7 ESS; SMD=−0.38, 95%Cl: −0.65 to −0.12, p = 0.005). Conclusions: Active RWU strategies are effective for counteracting performance decrements in the second half, specifically improving vertical jump, sprint, and COD abilities. However, the duration of RWU appears to be a critical moderator, with prolonged protocols potentially impairing sprint performance. Consequently, coaches and practitioners should prioritize optimizing RWU duration while tailoring strategies to athletes’ age, sex, and competitive level to maximize match performance. Future studies should directly compare RWU protocols with standardized reporting of duration and intensity, recruit more balanced samples across sex and age groups, and examine these interventions in ecologically valid match settings.

Objective: School bullying is an important risk factor for mental health problems in adolescents. Depressive symptoms and internet addiction often co-occur among adolescents who have experienced bullying; however, the associations among specific symptoms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the comorbidity network characteristics of depressive symptoms and internet addiction among bullying-victimized adolescents, and to compare differences in network characteristics between left-behind and non-left-behind adolescents. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design and included 15,984 bullying-victimized adolescents selected through stratified random sampling. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and internet addiction was measured using the 9-item Internet Addiction Scale. A mixed graphical model (MGM) was used to construct the symptom network of depressive symptoms and internet addiction. Node centrality and bridge centrality indices were calculated, and network stability was assessed using bootstrap methods. The Network Comparison Test was conducted to compare differences in network structure and global strength between left-behind and non-left-behind adolescents. Results: Among bullying-victimized adolescents, the overall predictability of network nodes was 0.27. Risky persistence and Tolerance showed the highest strength centrality in the symptom network. The principal bridge symptoms were Risky persistence, Escape coping, and Depressive affect. The network model demonstrated good stability. No significant differences were observed between left-behind and non-left-behind adolescents in terms of either the overall network structure or global strength (all P > 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with interventions targeting only inter-symptom relationships, exposure to school bullying itself may be a more critical and primary intervention target. Left-behind and non-left-behind children exhibited highly similar symptom network patterns; therefore, intervention strategies should not rely solely on identity-based distinctions, but rather focus on bullying exposure and symptom severity to implement more precise interventions. These findings provide symptom-level empirical evidence for developing integrated intervention strategies for adolescents exposed to school bullying.

The superiority of Variable Resistance Training (VRT) over traditional Constant Resistance Training (CRT) for enhancing lower-limb performance is debated, with previous meta-analyses limited by aggregating disparate exercises. This systematic review and meta-analysis, the first to focus exclusively on the squat, compared the acute and long-term effects of VRT versus CRT on maximal strength and explosive power. Following PRISMA guidelines, 20 studies were analyzed (literature search up to 15 June 2025), with Hedges’ g used for effect size (ES) calculation. Results demonstrated VRT’s superiority for both acute (ES = 0.34) and long-term adaptations. Acutely, effects peaked with an 8–12 min recovery (ES = 0.43). Long-term, VRT produced greater gains in maximal strength (ES = 0.31) and explosive power (ES = 0.17). Subgroup analyses on maximal strength revealed that elastic bands were highly effective (ES = 0.67), particularly in trained individuals (ES = 0.35), males (ES = 0.41), within cycles < 8 weeks (ES = 0.44), and at frequencies of ≤2 sessions/week (ES = 0.45). For explosive power, chains were most effective (ES = 0.37), significantly improving jumping performance but not sprinting. In conclusion, VRT is a more effective modality for squat training; optimal programs should utilize elastic bands for strength and chains for power, with strength-focused blocks being short-term (<8 weeks) and lower-frequency (≤2 sessions/week) for trained individuals.

(1) Background: Change of direction (COD) is crucial for agility in team sports. Complex contrast training (CNT), alternating between heavy and light exercises, is a newer method currently gaining attention, but its effectiveness compared to others (strength training, ST; plyometric training, PT; complex descending training, DT; complex ascending training, AT) is unclear. (2) Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines included studies with CNT interventions. The effect size (ES) was measured using Hedges’ g, with subgroup analyses for moderating factors. (3) Results: CNT improved COD performance more than PT (ES = 0.65), ST (ES = 0.88), and controls (ES = 1.24), with no significant difference from DT (ES = −0.08) or AT (ES = 0.19). CNT was particularly effective for athletes under 18 (ES = 1.13), females (ES = 1.59), amateurs (ES = 1.02), and COD measures with more than three turns (ES = 1.08). (4) Conclusions: CNT enhances COD performance, proving superior to standalone strength or plyometric training. However, its effectiveness is comparable to other combined-training models, suggesting that the integration of high-load strength and high-velocity power exercises is the primary driver of adaptation. The benefits are most pronounced in younger, female, and amateur athletes. Future large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings and refine protocols for diverse populations.