15-Minute Exercices Decrease ACL Injuries in Soccer Players: Results From a RCT

SAN FRANCISCO—Fifteen-minute warm-up exercises substantial decreases knee injury risk in soccer players, according to data presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The investigators studied the effects of a regular, progressive warm-up exercise program on knee injuries and health.

The study involved more than 4,500 female soccer players in Sweden, age 12-17, from 309 elite clubs. The players were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an intervention group instructed to complete a 15-minute muscular warm-up consisting of six progressively more difficult knee and core stability exercises, twice a week throughout the 2009 season, and a non warm-up “control” group. Team coaches documented player participating during the season and acute knee injuries were examined by the physical therapist and/or physician assigned to each club.

There was a 64% decrease in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the intervention group and an 83% reduction among “compliant,” fully participating players. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the rates of all severe knee injuries.

“We showed a statistically significant reduction – by almost two-thirds – in ACL injuries in (participating) female teenage soccer players in a coach-directed neuromuscular warm-up program,” said Markus Waldén, MD, PhD, lead investigator, and an orthopaedic surgeon at Hässeleholm-Kristianstad Hospitals in Hässeleholm, Sweden. “Interestingly, players (who complied) had a reduction in other acute knee injuries as well.

"The program is intended to replace the ordinary warm-up and thus does not steal time from soccer training," said Dr. Waldén.

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