ReviewSports (Basel, Switzerland)2021
Acute and Long-Term Effects of Attentional Focus Strategies on Muscular Strength: A Meta-Analysis.
Review in Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Preferred Reporting Items for Resistance Exercise Studies (PRIRES): A Checklist Developed Using an Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.Sports medicine - open · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of Attentional Focus on Muscular Endurance: A Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Attentional Cueing Modifies the Observed Association Between Post-Set Lactate and Velocity Loss During Smith Machine Bench Press.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- Attention focus modulates motor performance and frontoparietal connectivity: an fNIRS study.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- Effects of Music Choice on Performance and Psychophysiological Responses to Exercise-A Scoping Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Review
- Differential effects of attentional focus on drop jump performance with implications for primary level coaches.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Supervision During Strength Training-the Interplay with Facilitation, Feedback and Attentional Focus: A Narrative Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- Focus of Attention in Coach Instructions for Technique Training in Sports: A Scrutinized Review of Review Studies.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2023Review
- A Pilot Study on Attentional Focus in Prescribing Physical Exercise in Outpatients with Obesity.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Appropriate Reporting of Exercise Variables in Resistance Training Protocols: Much more than Load and Number of Repetitions.Sports medicine - open · 2022Review
- The Acute Effects of Normobaric Hypoxia on Strength, Muscular Endurance and Cognitive Function: Influence of Dose and Sex.Biology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review aimed to perform a meta-analysis examining the following: (a) acute effects of adopting an internal focus vs. external focus of attention on muscular strength; and (b) long-term effects of adopting an internal focus vs. external focus of attention during resistance training on gains in muscular strength. We searched through five databases to find eligible studies. Random-effects meta-analyses of standardized mean differences were conducted to analyze the data. Ten studies were included. In the meta-analysis for the acute effects, there was a significant positive effect of external focus on muscular strength (standardized mean difference: 0.34; 95% confidence interval: 0.22, 0.46). In the meta-analysis for the long-term effects, there was no significant difference between training with an internal focus and external focus on muscular strength gains (standardized mean difference: 0.32; 95% confidence interval: -0.08, 0.73). In the subgroup analysis for lower-body exercises, we found a significant positive effect of training with an external focus on muscular strength gains (standardized mean difference: 0.47; 95% confidence interval: 0.07, 0.87). In summary, our findings indicate an acute increase in muscular strength when utilizing an external focus of attention. When applied over the long-term, using an external focus of attention may also enhance resistance training-induced gains in lower-body muscular strength.
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Registered trials
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