Afonso, José, Warneke, Konstantin, Lohmann, Lars H., Pizzari, Tania, and Boullosa, Daniel (2025) Does the warmup really reduce injury risk? Why we need new approaches to confidently answer this question. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 29 (3). pp. 259-261.

Preview

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (519kB) | Preview

Abstract

[Extract] 1. The warmup reduces injury risk…or does it? Coaches and players generally believe that the warmup may prevent injuries,1,2 and research seemingly supports a preventive role for certain types of warmups (e.g., FIFA 11+, SHRed Injuries Basketball).3–5 Although these are structured injury prevention programs (IPPs) designed to replace the routine warmup, the common belief is that any warmup helps reduce the risk of injury. However, there is an important gap between the interpretation of research findings on the benefit of warming up for injury risk and what the research on the topic has, in fact, responded to.6 When practitioners state that the warmup prevents injuries, they are mostly considering the acute effects of warming up, not the long-term effects associated with specific IPPs (e.g., the FIFA 11+). When existing research shows that the warmup prevents injuries, it is mainly referring to the chronic effects of such IPPs when implemented as or during the warmup. Therefore, it fails to distinguish between effects attributable to warmup and effects from generally enhanced physical fitness components because of repeating that IPP over time. In this viewpoint, we discuss why this scenario has relevant implications for how we interpret research on warmup and injury prevention. Moreover, we discuss why a chronic preventive effect of an IPP that happens to be implemented during or as a warmup is potentially unrelated to the purported acute effects of warmup itself. Finally, we propose a different approach that may, in the future, assist to answer the question of whether purported warmup protocols reduce injury risk.

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page