Sports Injury Prevention - The Warm Up

If improving sporting performance is your goal, then there is no batter why to do that than by staying injury free. When it comes to sports injury, prevention is better than cure.

Warm-up activities are a crucial part of any exercise or sports training. The importance of a structured warm-up routing should not be underestimated when it comes to the prevention of sports injury.

An effective warm-up has a number of key elements. These elements should all work together to minimize the likelihood of sports injury from physical activity.

There are 4 key elements which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm-up.

1. General Warm-up
This should consist of light physical activity, and should last 5 - 10 minutes and result in a light sweat.

The aim of the general warm-up is to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate. This in turn increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to be working muscles. It also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch.

2. Static Stretching
This is a very safe and effective form of stretching. During this part of the warm-up, static stretching should include all the major muscle groups and should last 5 - 10 minutes.

Static stretching is performed by placing the body in a position where the muscle (or group of muscles) to be stretched is under tension. Both the opposing muscle group and the muscle to be stretched are relaxed. Then slowly the body is moved to increased the tension of the muscle to be stretched. At this point that positions is held or maintained to allow the muslce and tendons to lenghten.

This second part helps to lengthen both the muscles and tendons, which is turn allows the joints a greater range of movement. This is very important in the prevention of muscle and tendon injuries.

The proper completion of elements one an two prepare the athlete for the more specific and vigorous activities necessary for elements three and four.

3. Sport -Specific Warm-up
After parts 1 and 2 are done, it is now safe to move into part 3 of the warm-up. During this part of the warm-up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions that will be required during the sporting event.

4. Dynamic Stretching
Finally, a correct warm-up should finish with a series of dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretching is for muscular conditioning as well as flexibility and is really only suited for well-trained, highly conditioned athletes. A note of caution: this form of stretching carries with it a high risk of injury if used incorrectly. Dynamic stretching should only be used after a high level of general flexibity has been established.

Dynamic stretching involved a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to move a particular body part to the limit of it range of movement. The force of the bounce is gradually increases but should never become radical or uncontrolled.

This is the final part of the warm-up and should result in the athlete reaching a physical and mental peak.  At this point the athlete is most prepared for the recourse of their of their sport or activity.


Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

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