How a warm-up can prevent sports injuries

By Jane Collingwood

A specially-designed warm-up programme can cut sports injuries dramatically, say researchers.

Torbjorn Soligard and colleagues from the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre, Norway, developed a 20-minute warm-up for young footballers, consisting of slow and speed running, key exercises to improve strength and balance, and movements that focus on core stability, hip control and knee alignment.

The researchers recruited 1,892 female footballers aged 13 to 17 years. Of these, 837 performed traditional warm-up exercises and 1,055 were taught the new programme.

At the end of a single football season, there had been a total of 264 injured players. The researchers analysed the rate of injuries, and found a significantly lower overall rate among the players given the new warm-up programme (121 versus 143).

On the website of the British Medical Journal, they report that the risk of injuries overall was approximately 32 per cent lower. Risk of overuse injuries was 53 per cent lower, and severe injuries 45 per cent lower.

The experts conclude: "This indicates that a structured warm-up programme can prevent injuries in young female football players."

In an accompanying editorial, John Brooks, an injury expert for the Rugby Football Union, Twickenham, London, UK, writes: "Warm-up programmes in sport can reduce injury, and should be recommended at all levels of participation."

He points out that injuries from team sports "place a considerable burden on medical services, and often disrupt the lives of those injured".

"Evidence based strategies to prevent injury should therefore be encouraged," he states. "Increasing awareness and evidence of the benefits of such strategies will increase their widespread use and effectiveness."

Soligard, T. et al. A comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in female youth football: A cluster randomised controlled trial. The British Medical Journal, 2008;337:a2469.

Brooks, J. H. M. and Erith, S. J. Warm-up programmes in sport. The British Medical Journal, 2008;337:a2381.