SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2025
The Role of Muscle Mass in Endurance Performance and Neuromuscular Fatigue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A comparison of the neuromuscular, cardiopulmonary and muscle oxygenation responses to single- and double-leg cycling in older adults.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- The efficacy and physiological bases of small muscle mass exercise in health and disease.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNumerous physiological factors can contribute to endurance performance. Among them, active muscle mass engaged in an exercise task has been postulated to alter fatigue.
objectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effect of active muscle mass on endurance performance and neuromuscular fatigue.
methodsPubMed, EMBASE, SPORT Discus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases were searched using a combination of terms relating to the intervention (muscle mass) and outcomes. This review was preregistered on PROSPERO (CRD42022304793).
resultsA total of 19 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis of the systematic review, with 17 in the meta-analysis. Whereas time-to-task failure was not different between active muscle mass exercises (Hedges' g: 0.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] - 0.39, 1.15, p = 0.317), the decline in maximal force-generating capacity after closed- and open-ended tasks was greater following smaller muscle mass exercise (Hedges' g: - 1.26, 95% CI - 2.0, - 0.50, p = 0.001). The greater decline in maximal force was likely due to a greater deterioration of muscle contractile function (reflected in decreased electrically evoked twitch force) following smaller muscle mass exercise (Hedges' g: - 1.37, 95% CI - 2.34, - 0.44, p = 0.002), with a small contribution from differences in voluntary activation (Hedges' g: - 0.28, 95% CI - 0.73, - 0.03, p = 0.034).
conclusionsOverall, endurance performance was the same in response to small versus large muscle mass exercise, while muscle contractile capacity and voluntary activation were reduced to a greater extent following small muscle mass exercise. Individuals can tolerate greater muscle metabolic perturbations with a smaller amount of active muscle mass.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40742651What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.