Sport Warm-Up and Injury Prevention Routines

Pick your sport and age to get a 6 to 10 minute pre-game warm-up built on the RAMP method, a 15-minute injury-prevention routine for the injuries your sport causes most after 35, a short cool-down and tips for coming back after a break. Every exercise has sets, reps or time and a one-line cue, and a built-in timer runs you through it.

Your age

How this sport warm-up builder works

Each routine has four parts:

  • Pre-game warm-up (6 to 10 minutes), built on the RAMP model from strength coach Ian Jeffreys: Raise your heart rate and body temperature, Activate and Mobilise the muscles and joints your sport uses, then Potentiate with a few faster, sport-like efforts so your first sprint, swing or serve is not your hardest. A review of 32 good-quality studies found that warming up improved performance in 79% of the measures tested.
  • Injury-prevention (“prehab”) routine: 15 minutes, twice a week, on non-game days. It targets the injuries that the research shows are most common in your sport, for example low back and elbow for golf, elbow and calf for padel, hamstring, groin and ankle for football, and shin, Achilles and knee for running.
  • Cool-down: a few minutes of easy movement and gentle stretches. Honest note: a large review found active cool-downs do not prevent injuries or reduce soreness much, so treat it as a calm way to finish and a good time for stretching, not as injury protection.
  • Coming back after a break: practical tips for your sport and age.

Your age changes the plan. From 35 the raise phase gets longer and the final efforts stop short of maximum; from 55, jumps and all-out sprints are swapped for no-jump options and the hardest prehab moves get gentler versions. These age adjustments are our practical suggestions to help you ease in, not rules tested in trials.

Why prehab matters more than stretching

In a meta-analysis of randomised trials covering more than 26,000 athletes, strength training cut sports injuries to about a third, balance (proprioception) training cut them by about 45%, and stretching showed no protective effect. Specific moves have strong evidence too: programmes including the Nordic hamstring curl roughly halved hamstring injuries, a single Copenhagen adduction exercise lowered groin problems in footballers by 41%, a home balance programme cut repeat ankle sprains by 35%, and the FIFA 11+ warm-up programme reduced football injuries by 39%. That is why each prehab routine leans on strength and balance work rather than long static stretches.

Keep static stretches short before you play: holds of under 60 seconds, followed by dynamic movement, have only a tiny effect on performance, while longer holds reduce it more. Save longer stretching for the cool-down or another time of day.

Using the timer

  • Tap Start on any section. The timer gives you a 5-second count-in, then runs each exercise in order with three short beeps before every change. Beeps need one tap to start (browsers block sound until you interact) and you can switch them off.
  • For exercises counted in reps, the timer shows a sensible time block. Finish your reps inside it and rest for the remainder, or tap Skip to move on early.
  • Prefer your own intervals? Use our free workout timer. Need to see an exercise? Check the exercise library.

When to stop and get help

Stop straight away and call your local emergency number (999 in the UK, 911 in the US) if you get chest pain, pressure or tightness, pain spreading to the arm, neck or jaw, or severe breathlessness. A snap or pop with sudden pain, a joint that changes shape, or being unable to put weight on a leg also needs urgent care the same day. If you have been inactive and have heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms such as chest discomfort or unusual breathlessness, get medical clearance before returning to vigorous sport. For pain that keeps coming back, try our pain-free exercise swaps and see a physiotherapist or doctor.

Related guides

Sources

  1. Jeffreys I (2007). Warm-up revisited: the RAMP method of optimizing performance preparation. Professional Strength and Conditioning 6:12–18
  2. Fradkin AJ, Zazryn TR, Smoliga JM (2010). Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res
  3. Behm DG et al. (2016). Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion and injury incidence. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab
  4. Lauersen JB, Bertelsen DM, Andersen LB (2014). The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BJSM
  5. Thorborg K et al. (2017). Effect of the FIFA 11 and 11+ programmes on the overall injury rate in football: systematic review and meta-analysis. BJSM 51:562–571
  6. van Dyk N, Behan FP, Whiteley R (2019). Including the Nordic hamstring exercise in injury prevention programmes halves the rate of hamstring injuries. BJSM
  7. Harøy J et al. (2019). The Adductor Strengthening Programme prevents groin problems among male football players: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. BJSM
  8. Hupperets MDW, Verhagen EALM, van Mechelen W (2009). Effect of unsupervised home based proprioceptive training on recurrences of ankle sprain: randomised controlled trial. BMJ
  9. Ekstrand J, Hägglund M, Waldén M (2011). Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med
  10. Murray A et al. (2023). Cross-sectional study of characteristics and prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in 1170 male golfers. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med
  11. Ehlert A, Wilson PB (2019). A systematic review of golf warm-ups: behaviors, injury, and performance. J Strength Cond Res
  12. Incidence, prevalence and nature of injuries in padel: a systematic review (2023). BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med
  13. Pluim BM, Staal JB, Windler GE, Jayanthi N (2006). Tennis injuries: occurrence, aetiology, and prevention. BJSM
  14. Pardiwala DN et al. (2020). Badminton injuries in elite athletes: a review of epidemiology and biomechanics. Indian J Orthop
  15. Fahlström M, Björnstig U, Lorentzon R (1998). Acute Achilles tendon rupture in badminton players. Am J Sports Med 26:467–470
  16. Andreoli CV et al. (2018). Epidemiology of sports injuries in basketball: integrative systematic review. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med
  17. Lopes AD et al. (2012). What are the main running-related musculoskeletal injuries? A systematic review. Sports Med
  18. Nielsen RØ et al. (2014). Excessive progression in weekly running distance and risk of running-related injuries. JOSPT 44:739–747
  19. Heiderscheit BC et al. (2011). Effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running. Med Sci Sports Exerc
  20. Dettori NJ, Norvell DC (2006). Non-traumatic bicycle injuries: a review of the literature. Sports Med 36:7–18
  21. Orchard JW, Kountouris A, Sims K (2016). Incidence and prevalence of elite male cricket injuries using updated consensus definitions. Open Access J Sports Med
  22. Posch M et al. (2021). In recreational alpine skiing, the ACL is predominantly injured in all knee injuries needing hospitalisation. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc
  23. Wanivenhaus F, Fox AJS, Chaudhury S, Rodeo SA (2012). Epidemiology of injuries and prevention strategies in competitive swimmers. Sports Health
  24. Forrester JD, Holstege CP (2009). Injury and illness encountered in Shenandoah National Park. Wilderness Environ Med
  25. Are trekking poles helping or hindering your hiking experience? A review (2020). Wilderness Environ Med 31:482–488
  26. Van Hooren B, Peake JM (2018). Do we need a cool-down after exercise? A narrative review. Sports Med
  27. Gabbett TJ (2016). The training–injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? BJSM
  28. Riebe D et al. (2015). Updating ACSM’s recommendations for exercise preparticipation health screening. Med Sci Sports Exerc
  29. World Health Organization (2020). Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour
  30. NICE NG59: Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management
  31. NHS: Heart attack symptoms

This tool gives general education, not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for a coach, physiotherapist or doctor. Warm-ups and prehab lower injury risk but cannot remove it. If you have a current injury, a heart condition or other medical condition, or pain that persists, get it assessed by a physiotherapist or doctor before following this routine.

More free tools: Pain-free exercise swaps · Workout timer · Cricket preseason planner · Couch to 5K after 40 · All tools