A Structured 20-Minute Warm-Up Can Reduce Injuries in Young Athletes

Can something as simple as a better warm-up actually prevent injuries? This large Norwegian trial put that question to a rigorous test in youth football, and it remains one of the most influential injury-prevention studies in sport.

The researchers randomised 125 football clubs — 1,892 female players aged 13 to 17 — into two groups and followed them for a full eight-month league season. The intervention teams replaced their usual warm-up with a structured programme: roughly eight minutes of running exercises, ten minutes of strength and balance exercises, and two minutes of running to finish. The exercises targeted core stability, balance, and controlled landing and cutting technique. Control teams warmed up as they normally would.

Over the season, players in the intervention group had a significantly lower overall risk of injury, with a relative risk of 0.68 compared to controls. The reductions were even larger for specific categories: overuse injuries were cut roughly in half (relative risk 0.47), and severe injuries were also significantly reduced (relative risk 0.55). In practical terms, teams that consistently did the structured warm-up saw meaningfully fewer players sidelined.

This trial helped establish the neuromuscular warm-up approach behind programmes like FIFA 11+, which have since been adopted across many sports and age groups. The practical lesson for athletes and parents is that injury prevention does not require special equipment or extra sessions — a consistently performed, well-designed warm-up built into normal training can measurably lower injury risk. For anyone returning to sport after a knee injury, these same kinds of strength, balance, and landing-control exercises are often woven directly into rehabilitation and stay valuable long after formal rehab ends.

Key findings

• A cluster randomised controlled trial involving 125 Norwegian football clubs and 1,892 female players aged 13-17, followed over one eight-month season.
• The intervention was a structured warm-up: about eight minutes of running exercises, ten minutes of strength and balance exercises, and two minutes of running.
• Players doing the programme had a significantly lower overall risk of injury (relative risk 0.68).
• Overuse injuries (relative risk 0.47) and severe injuries (relative risk 0.55) were also significantly reduced.
• This trial is part of the evidence base behind the FIFA 11+ style neuromuscular warm-up programmes used worldwide.

Clinical relevance

Structured neuromuscular warm-ups are something a rehab team can teach and progress in-clinic, giving athletes a proven, equipment-free tool to reduce reinjury risk after they return to their sport.

Prepared by the Volt Health team as an educational summary of the cited publication. It is not medical advice; assessment and treatment decisions should always be made with a qualified health professional.