Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 1;16(6):1396-1404.
doi: 10.26603/001c.29860. eCollection 2021.

Lower Limb Exercise-Based Injury Prevention Programs Are Effective in Improving Sprint Speed, Jumping, Agility and Balance: an Umbrella Review

Loïc Bel  1 , Nicolas Mathieu  1 , Vincent Ducrest  1 , Mario Bizzini  2
Affiliations

Lower Limb Exercise-Based Injury Prevention Programs Are Effective in Improving Sprint Speed, Jumping, Agility and Balance: an Umbrella Review

Loïc Bel et al. Int J Sports Phys Ther. .

Abstract

Background: Exercise-based injury prevention programs for athletes have demonstrated consistent results in reducing the risk of lower limb injuries. Compliance is essential for program effectiveness and may be facilitated when these programs demonstrate positive effects on athletic performance.

Hypothesis/purpose: To summarize the findings of current systematic reviews on the effectiveness of lower limb injury prevention programs with multiple neuromuscular components on sports performance and quantify these effects. The authors hypothesized that injury prevention programs can improve certain sports performance criteria.

Study design: Umbrella systematic review.

Methods: Systematic reviews published in French, German, or English between January 1990 and January 2020 were identified in five databases. Only articles that investigated multicomponent lower limb injury prevention programs and their effects on the performance criteria of strength, balance, agility, jumping or speed by both amateur and professional athletes of all ages and sex were included. The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was assessed by two reviewers independently using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews measurement tool.

Results: Five systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria. Overall, beneficial effects of multicomponent exercise-based injury prevention programs were observed for balance, agility, jumping and speed. While the effects on strength were more variable, there was a positive trend in favor of injury prevention programs.

Conclusion: Injury prevention programs with multiple neuromuscular exercise components demonstrate overall beneficial effects on the performance criteria of balance, agility, jumping or speed. These beneficial effects may be used to promote the implementation of such programs.

Level of evidence: 2a.

Keywords: exercise; lower limb injury; performance; prevention programs; systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest pertinent to this manuscript to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. PRISMA Diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organisation Global recommendations on physical activity for health.; Geneva. Geneva: WHO; [2020-3-30]. OCLC: 1131937612.
    1. Sports injury and illness incidence in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Summer Games: A prospective study of 11274 athletes from 207 countries. Soligard Torbjørn, Steffen Kathrin, Palmer Debbie, Alonso Juan Manuel, Bahr Roald, Lopes Alexandre Dias, Dvorak Jiri, Grant Marie-Elaine, Meeuwisse Willem, Mountjoy Margo, Pena Costa Leonardo Oliveira, Salmina Natalia, Budgett Richard, Engebretsen Lars. Sep;2017 [2021-6-6];British Journal of Sports Medicine. 51(17):1265–1271. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097956. https://bjsm.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097956 - DOI - PubMed
    1. The prevalence and impact of overuse injuries in five Norwegian sports: Application of a new surveillance method: The prevalence of overuse injury. Clarsen B., Bahr R., Heymans M. W., Engedahl M., Midtsundstad G., Rosenlund L., Thorsen G., Myklebust G. Jun;2015 [2021-6-6];Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 25(3):323–330. doi: 10.1111/sms.12223. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/sms.12223 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Neuromuscular training injury prevention strategies in youth sport: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Emery Carolyn A, Roy Thierry-Olivier, Whittaker Jackie L, Nettel-Aguirre Alberto, van Mechelen Willem. Jul;2015 [2020-10-5];British Journal of Sports Medicine. 49(13):865–870. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-094639. https://bjsm.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bjsports-2015-094639 - DOI - PubMed
    1. The effectiveness of neuromuscular warm-up strategies, that require no additional equipment, for preventing lower limb injuries during sports participation: a systematic review. Herman Katherine, Barton Christian, Malliaras Peter, Morrissey Dylan. Dec;2012 [2020-10-5];BMC Medicine. 10(1):75. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-75. http://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-10-75 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources