A systematic review and network meta-analysis on the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions for reducing the injury incidence in youth team-sport players. Part 2: an analysis by movement patterns.

This network meta-analysis looked at which types of exercises within injury prevention programs are linked to fewer injuries in youth team-sport athletes, sorting exercise components by movement pattern rather than by program name. The researchers pooled data from 19 studies, categorizing exercises into groups such as lower body concentric and eccentric movements, core work, movement mechanics, acceleration drills, and lower body stability work, then compared their effects on overall injuries as well as injuries to the lower extremity, thigh, knee, and ankle specifically. Most programs reduced overall, lower extremity, and ankle injury rates compared to control groups, and programs combining lower body concentric and eccentric exercises, core work, mechanics training, and stability exercises appeared most associated with these reductions. No program showed a reduction in thigh injuries, and results for knee injuries were inconsistent across studies.

At the individual component level, only lower body exercises (both bilateral and unilateral, concentric and eccentric) showed a statistically significant link to reduced overall injuries. Because this relies on indirect network comparisons across varied studies, the certainty of these component-specific conclusions remains limited.

If you're a young athlete on a team sport, or a parent of one, you've probably heard about warm-up programs designed to prevent injuries. This review pooled findings from 19 studies to figure out which specific types of exercises within these programs actually seem to matter most, rather than just looking at whether a program worked as a whole package. The researchers found that most of these prevention programs were linked to fewer overall injuries, fewer lower extremity injuries, and fewer ankle injuries when compared to athletes who didn't do them.

Programs that included exercises working the lower body muscles in both lengthening and shortening actions, core exercises, movement technique training, and balance or stability work seemed most consistently associated with these benefits. However, none of the programs showed a reduction in thigh injuries, and results for knee injuries were mixed and inconsistent across studies.

When researchers looked at individual exercise types on their own, only lower body strengthening exercises showed a clear statistical link to fewer overall injuries. Because this analysis compares different studies indirectly rather than testing components head-to-head in the same trial, these conclusions should be seen as suggestive rather than definitive.

This is a summary of research, not medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about anything affecting your care.

This network meta-analysis (part of a two-part series) reanalyzed 19 studies of exercise-based injury prevention programs in youth team-sport athletes, this time categorizing exercise components using a movement-pattern taxonomy (upper body pushing/pulling, lower body concentric/eccentric, core, mechanics, acceleration, lower body stability) rather than by traditional program labels. Pairwise and network meta-analyses were used to estimate pooled and component-level effects on overall, lower extremity, thigh, knee, and ankle injury incidence rates. Most programs reduced overall, lower extremity, and ankle injury incidence relative to controls, with programs incorporating lower body concentric/eccentric, core, mechanics, and stability components showing the strongest associations with these reductions based on indirect evidence.

No intervention reduced thigh injury rates, and knee injury findings were contradictory across studies, suggesting these body regions may require different or additional preventive strategies not yet captured by current programs. At the individual component level, only lower body (bilateral and unilateral, concentric and eccentric) exercises showed a statistically significant association with reduced overall injury rates. The reliance on network meta-analytic indirect comparisons across heterogeneous study designs and populations limits the strength of causal inference about which specific components drive protective effects, and the authors themselves frame results as indirect evidence rather than confirmed component-level efficacy.