a scoping review of the musculoskeletal and broader health impacts of high-intensity functional training
High-intensity functional training (HIFT) has grown in popularity among the general population. HIFT approaches combine strength, endurance, and mixed-modality functional exercise. Despite increasing uptake, uncertainty remains regarding injury risk and the broader effects on physical and psychological health.
Map the literature relating to HIFT and associated practices, examine injury risk and prevention strategies, and identify broader physiological, psychological, and societal health effects.
PRISMA-ScR scoping review with descriptive and thematic synthesis. Peer-reviewed literature identified from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest Central, and Ovid, limited to publications from 2014 to 2024.
501 records were screened and 60 studies were included after full-text review. The literature was heterogeneous in design, populations, and terminology. Injury risk in HIFT did not appear uniformly greater than in traditional training approaches. Risk was multifactorial, more commonly linked to chronic loading and overuse than to isolated events. Prevention was strongly influenced by coaching quality, load management, and movement competency. These modalities were associated with favourable cardiometabolic adaptations, with psychological and wellbeing benefits an emerging but under-studied area.
Hybrid and high-intensity functional training present a mixed profile of risk and benefit, but the musculoskeletal risks identified are likely substantially outweighed by the wider physical, mental, and social benefits of exercise participation. Future research should prioritise clearer definitions, prospective injury surveillance, and standardised outcome reporting to better inform safe participation and athlete care.
Across 60 included studies, several consistent themes emerged regarding injury risk, prevention, physiological adaptation, and broader health outcomes in HIFT populations.
Evidence levels were assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) framework across 44 of the 60 included studies. The literature was predominantly observational.
HIFT presents a mixed but overall favourable risk-benefit profile. As a visible, accessible, and habit-forming exercise modality, HIFT may reduce barriers to participation and support sustained physical activity engagement.
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In-progress scoping review. Findings subject to revision prior to final publication.