Ding et al. conducted a meta-analysis¹ to determine the effectiveness of warm-up intervention programs (WIPs) in reducing the risk of injury. All studies included active warm-ups, i.e. not warm-ups from external means (hot showers, saunas etc.) 15 articles were used for the meta-analysis. Based on the risk of bias assessment, all of the studies were of “high-quality”. The participants in this study were secondary school students aged 7-18 years. The three different WIPs across the studies were categorized as neuromuscular, comprehensive, and balance. These warm-up interventions were all around 15-20 minutes and included a mix of aerobic exercise, strength, jumping, balance, flexibility and single leg stance activities.
Results

The pooled estimate of the injury risk reduction was about 36%. This paper found a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in injury rates from a WIP. When compared to the control group, synthesized across 15 cluster randomized controlled trials, the warm-up intervention group significantly reduced the injury rate ratio of upper and lower limb sports injuries in children and adolescents by 36%.

Take home message

The WIP decreased the rate of sports injury including both acute injury and overuse injury. We can model the effective WIPs collected in this study by including these warm-up principles:
⦁ Make them structured
⦁ Multifaceted
⦁ Implemented frequently
⦁ Implement them consistently

Additional interesting note

Hornbeck et al.² conducted a stratified cluster RCT with female adolescent soccer players to test the question: does neuromuscular training reduce the rate of acute knee injury? 230 Swedish soccer clubs with 4564 players aged 12-17 were followed for one season. 15 minutes of a neuromuscular warm-up program targeting core stability, balance, and proper knee alignment were given to the intervention group and were carried out twice a week throughout the season. The rate of ACL injury was reduced by 64% in the intervention group compared to the control.

1. Ding L, Luo J, Smith DM, et al. Effectiveness of Warm-Up Intervention Programs to Prevent Sports Injuries among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(10):6336. Published 2022 May 23. doi:10.3390/ijerph19106336
2. Hornbeck K, Peterson A. Neuromuscular training program reduces knee injuries among adolescent female soccer players. J Pediatr. 2012;161(5):970-971. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.08.053