Impact of Functional Motor Training on Agility in Recreational Athletes

Background: Functional motor training, which emphasizes movement patterns that mimic real-life activities and sport-specific demands, has gained significant attention in recent years as a potential method to enhance agility. Hence the purpose of this study is to identify the impact of functional motor training on agility and functional motor screening score. Methodology: This research is a quasi-experimental single-blinded study conducted from January 2024 to October 2024 on 30 recreational athletes attending gym for at least twice a week. The study was approved from institutional review board of ____________. Athletes who lie in the age between 20–40 years, were included via convenience sampling technique. Participants performed FMT for 2–3 times a week each session lasting 30 minutes supervised by researcher and a fitness trainer. Functional Movement Screen (FMS) score and agility was assessed pre-post 8 weeks of intervention. Results Both in male and female population the training improved the Functional Movement Screen score from 10.12 ± 1.23 to 16.33 ± 2.14, p < 0.001 and agility from 17.90 ± 2.35 to 16.36 ± 1.34, p < 0.001. Conclusion Functional motor training program implemented in recreational athletes significantly improved both the FMS score and Illinois agility test. Moreover, it was determined that agility was linked with age of the participants since older age participants were found to perform relatively weaker compared to the younger counterparts.