Effectiveness of a Warm-up Program with Dynamic Stretching in Preventing Sports Injuries

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to conduct a warm-up (W-up) program incorporating movement preparation (MP) and clarify its effect on sports injury prevention.Methods: The subjects of the study were 55 first- to third-year students (age: 15.9 ± 1.0 years, height: 168.5 ± 5.2 cm, weight: 57.4 ± 5.3 kg) belonging to a high school boys' soccer team. The first two months were the control period (CP), and the next two months were the intervention period (IP). The CP was a conventional W-up and the IP was a W-up with MP. The effects of each W-up were compared in terms of the incidence of sports injuries and disabilities during both periods and the incidence of sports injuries and disabilities by cause. Other measurements were compared for a total of seven items, including flexibility, balance, and performance.Results: During the IP, the incidence of sports injuries during practice and the incidence of non-contact sports injuries were reduced, whereas flexibility, balance, and performance improved.Conclusions: W-up incorporating MP showed improvement in flexibility and related balance, which may have led to the reduction of sports injuries.