The Association Between Athletic Movement Quality and Physical Fitness in Athletic Populations: A Systematic Review With Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Wijekulasuriya, GA, Woods, CT, Kittel, A, and Larkin, P. The association between athletic movement quality and physical fitness in athletic populations: A systematic review with multilevel meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2026—Proficient athletic movement skill is purported to be foundational for the development of physical fitness qualities. Conducting a meta-analysis to determine the association between athletic movement quality and physical fitness in athletic populations would thus provide empirical evidence to substantiate or challenge this purportion. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association between athletic movement quality and physical fitness measures in athletic populations. Following our literature search, 62 studies were identified for inclusion. Multilevel meta-analyses were then conducted to determine the association between assessments of athletic movement quality and physical fitness measures, which included GRADE assessments for certainty of evidence. Subgroup analysis determined whether associations differed between movement quality assessments. There was high certainty of evidence for the association between athletic movement quality and balance, lower-body bilateral power, and speed. There were also associations between athletic movement quality and cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, and muscular strength. However, associations were negligible to low in magnitude and were assessment-dependent for some physical fitness measures. Bias due to nonreporting and limited control for confounding factors was identified, and moderate model and between-study heterogeneity was evident for most meta-analyses. Thus, the association between athletic movement quality and physical fitness seems small and assessment specific. These results may influence the selection of athletic movement quality assessments for athletes in addition to long-term athletic development strategies in youth populations.