Ramos-Campo et al. 2026, pacing strategies and endurance performance: network meta-analysis

This network meta-analysis of 24 studies (302 participants, 765 observations) comparing imposed fast-start, even, slow-start and self-selected pacing across endurance events found no significant difference in performance between self-selected and any imposed pacing strategy (all SMDs < 0.20, p > 0.05). Extended slow starts were associated with impaired performance. The authors concluded that self-selected pacing is a flexible, context-adaptive strategy not outperformed by any imposed alternative. Moderate evidence from pooled experimental trials.