Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes

  • November 9, 2011

Integrating a coach-led neuromuscular warm-up prior to practice appeared to reduce the risk of lower extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes, according to a study published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Cynthia R. LaBella, MD, and colleagues performed a cluster randomized controlled trial on 90 coaches and 1,492 athletes, randomizing schools to intervention (737 athletes) and control groups (755 athletes). Coaches in the intervention groups were trained to implement a 20-minute neuromuscular warm-up in their coaching routine, as well as an abbreviated version of the warm-up prior to each game. Control coaches were instructed to use their normal warm-up.

Neuromuscular training included progressive strengthening, balance, plyometric and agility exercised, as well as an educational component wherein coaches provided feedback to athletes to promote safe jumping and landing techniques, according to an American Medical Association news release.

Self-report and direct observation were collected from the coaches, who reported 96 lower extremity injuries in the control group and 50 lower extremity injuries in the intervention group. Thirteen of the control athletes and two of the intervention athletes each sustained multiple lower extremity injuries, and all of the athletes who had non-contact lower extremity injuries requiring operative intervention were in the control group, the release noted. The authors estimated the cost of training for a group of 15 to 20 coaches was approimately $80 per coach.

“Coach-led neuromuscular warm-up reduces noncontact lower extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes from a mixed-ethnicity, predominantly low-income, urban population,” the authors wrote. “These findings suggest that neuromuscular training should be routine in girls’ high school soccer and basketball.”

Reference:
  • LaBella CR, Huxford MR, Grissom J, et al. Effect of neuromuscular warm-up on injuries in female soccer and basketball athletes in urban public high schools: Cluster randomized controlled trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.168

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