Strength- and Velocity-Oriented Unilateral Training in Male Collegiate Team-Sport Players

This study used a randomized, two‐arm, parallel‐group design. Following familiarizationand baseline testing, eligible male university team‐sport players were randomly allocatedto either a strength‐oriented training group or a velocity‐oriented training group.Participants completed two supervised training sessions per week for 8 weeks, resultingin a total of 16 training sessions. The primary training exercise was the unilateralfree‐weight split squat. The strength‐oriented group trained at 80% of the limb‐specificone‐repetition maximum, whereas the velocity‐oriented group trained at 40% of thelimb‐specific one‐repetition maximum. In both groups, the non‐dominant limb performedfour sets of five repetitions and the dominant limb performed three sets of fiverepetitions during each session. Repetitions were performed with maximal intendedconcentric velocity, with real‐time velocity feedback provided to participants. Loadswere adjusted when necessary to maintain the prescribed limb‐specific training intensity.Assessments were conducted before the intervention and after completion of the 8‐weekintervention. An additional interim assessment was conducted at Week 4, after the firsteight training sessions. Data from the Week 4 assessment were used for an exploratoryinterim analysis of limb‐specific load‐velocity relationships and between‐limbdifferences in derived mean concentric velocity. The Week‐8 assessment evaluated theeffects of the complete intervention on unilateral strength, load‐velocitycharacteristics, balance, unilateral jump performance, basketball‐specificchange‐of‐direction performance, and lower‐limb asymmetry.