Acute effects of unilateral and bilateral split-squat conditioning on change-of-direction performance in elite fencers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of unilateral and bilateral split-squat conditioning on change-of-direction (COD) performance in elite sabre fencers, with a particular focus on comparing dominant-leg, non-dominant-leg, and bilateral protocols and evaluating how the responses changed over time. Seventeen elite sabre fencers (13 males, 4 females; age range: 15–21 years; mean age: 17.29 ± 1.93 years) from a national Olympic preparation center participated in a within-subject randomized cross-over design. Participants performed three conditioning-activity protocols at 85% of estimated 1RM (dominant-leg, non-dominant-leg, and bilateral split squats) and a control condition. COD performance was recorded as time in seconds (s) using the 4-2-2-4 agility test at baseline and at 1, 3, 5, and 7 min post-conditioning activity. Lower time values indicated improved performance. COD time was analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model with condition, time, and the condition × time interaction as fixed effects and participant as a random intercept. Time was treated as a categorical factor. Secondary participant-level condition-versus-control differences in change from baseline were evaluated using one-sample t tests with Holm correction for 12 comparisons. COD performance changed significantly over time, F(4, 304) = 7.894, p < 0.001. However, neither the overall condition effect, F(3, 304) = 1.866, p = 0.135, nor the condition × time interaction, F(12, 304) = 0.828, p = 0.621, was statistically significant. None of the 12 condition-versus-control comparisons remained statistically significant after Holm correction. These results provide no evidence of differential temporal responses among conditions; they do not demonstrate that the protocols are equivalent. COD performance changed over repeated assessments, including during the control condition. The present data provide no evidence that dominant-leg, non-dominant-leg, or bilateral split-squat conditioning produced a temporal response that differed from the control condition. Because the study was not designed or powered to test equivalence, similarity among protocols cannot be inferred. Protocol-specific patterns in the descriptive means should therefore be interpreted as exploratory.