Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Physical Fitness and Skill-Related Performance in Badminton Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract Badminton is a sport that engages both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, with agility, endurance, and explosive power as its core competitive attributes. These physical qualities must be paired with advanced technical skill to produce optimal athletic performance. Currently, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sport-specific interval training are widely used in badminton training. However, existing research lacks sufficient comparative investigation into how high-intensity training of different durations and modalities impacts the overall physical fitness and athletic performance of badminton players, and there is a shortage of comprehensive empirical evidence to confirm the effectiveness of various training programs. This study adopted a systematic review framework combined with meta-analysis, searching multiple academic databases including PubMed, Web of Science and other sources for all relevant literature published (up to January 2026. After screening for eligible studies, we performed quantitative analysis using Review Manager 5.4 software. In total, 8 moderate-quality studies were included in this analysis, involving 202 participants aged 10–19 years. The included HIIT interventions lasted 8–10 weeks, with 2–4 sessions per week and each session lasting 30–90 minutes, while individual study sample sizes ranged from 16 to 40 participants. The

Results: indicate that, compared with traditional badminton training, HIIT significantly improves athletes' sprinting ability (MD = 0.77, 95% CI [0.03, 0.51], P = 0.04), agility (MD = 4.60, 95% CI [4.35, 4.86], P