In short, yes, injury-prevention warm-up programs significantly reduce the injury rate ratio for sports injuries.
How Do Sports Injuries Occur?
Sport injuries are usually a consequence of direct trauma or indirect overuse to the tissues. A direct trauma, such as from a slide tackle in soccer, could cause a fracture, bruise, ligament sprain, or muscle strain. These injuries are acute and happen instantaneously. On the other hand, overuse injuries usually occur over time and can be due to a number of reasons, such as inappropriate loading, improper technique, or underlying muscle imbalance. Some examples of overuse injuries are tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, or shin splints.
Why Are Warm-Ups Important?
Despite sports injuries in children and adolescents being well documented, there are many positive outcomes associated with sports participation. So, what can be done to mitigate the potential of injury? A simple strategy to implement is the warm-up.
The purpose of a warm-up is to increase body temperature, blood flow, heart rate, and muscle flexibility as a means to both mentally and physically prepare for more intense exercise.1 Warm ups consist of different movement components such as strength, flexibility, balance, neuromuscular control, or sport-specific exercises, etc.
What Does the Research Show?
A systematic review on the effectiveness of warm-ups noted that injury-prevention warm-up programs significantly reduced the injury rate ratio for upper- and lower-limb sports injuries in children and adolescents.2 This study’s findings were “clinically meaningful for reduction of injury rates.”2 The authors found that by implementing an injury prevention warm-up, there was a reduction of sport injuries by 36%.2
What Should a Sports Warm-Up Include?
To put this practically, your child’s sports team should implement a warm-up prior to every practice/game/training session that includes a combination of active movements. Some examples of active movement: dynamic movement (jogging, shuffling, hopping), static or dynamic stretching, resistance exercises, balance activities, functional activities, sport-specific drills, etc. Any warm-up activity is better than no warm-up activity. The aforementioned study also notes that for warm-ups to be effective, they should be implemented frequently and consistently.
Conclusion
In conclusion, injury rates are reduced by incorporating a simple warm-up prior to any sport or activity. The warm-up should be consistent and include a combination of active movements.
How Leaside Sports Medicine Can Help
Rachel is a physiotherapist with a special interest in sports and exercise injuries and rehabilitation. Her specialties include concussion management, acupuncture, and dry needling. Rachel firmly believes that movement is the best medicine and incorporates movement into every treatment plan, working closely with each client.
For young athletes, Leaside Sports Medicine also offers a Youth Athlete Assessment Program, which helps identify sport-specific movement inefficiencies, biomechanical limitations, and injury risk factors before they become bigger problems. The program is designed to help young athletes prevent injury, improve performance, and stay in their sport longer.
You can also book with any member of the team at Leaside Sports Medicine through the clinic’s Jane App booking page.
References
- NHS Scotland. (2022, December 1). Warm-up and cool-down. NHS inform. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/keeping-active/before-and-after-exercise/warm-up-and-cool-down
- Ding, L., Luo, J., Smith, D. M., Mackey, M., Fu, H., Davis, M., & Hu, Y. (2022). Effectiveness of warm-up intervention programs to prevent sports injuries among children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106336
