Sports guides
Guides for nine sports, each built from the trials: what the sport asks of your body, its common injuries and what prevents them, the strength and power work that improves performance, a warm-up shown on our 3D figure, and two workouts to follow.
Some of the best evidence in sports medicine is here, such as the FIFA 11+ warm-up and Nordic hamstring curls in football. Some popular advice has none, such as stretching to prevent running injuries. Each page grades what it says and names its sources.
Endurance sports: the overuse injuries that come with repetition, and the strength work that makes you more economical.
Exercises for runners, with the evidence: strength and hops that make running more economical, what prevents injuries, what doesn't, and a warm-up.
CyclingStrength training for cyclists, with the evidence: heavy leg work that lifts power, jumps for bone density, bike fit and back pain, and mobility.
SwimmingDryland training for swimmers, with the evidence: swimmer's shoulder, a shoulder care routine, strength and jumps for starts and turns, knees and backs.
Sports of rotation, reach and grip: backs, elbows, shoulders and fingers, and the power and strength behind the skill.
Golf exercises with the evidence: a warm-up, strength and power work for clubhead speed, hip and upper-back mobility, and how to protect your back and wrists.
Tennis and padelExercises for tennis and padel: a warm-up, a shoulder programme borrowed from handball trials, elbow care, footwork and power training, and eye safety.
ClimbingClimbing training with the evidence: what predicts grade, safe hangboard use, antagonist work, finger pulley and shoulder injuries, and growth plates in teens.
Cutting, landing and long descents: knees, ankles, hamstrings and groins, with the prevention programmes that work.
Football exercises with the evidence: FIFA's 11+ warm-up step by step, the Nordic and Copenhagen exercises that cut hamstring and groin injuries, and ACL tips.
Skiing and snowboardingSki fitness with the evidence: a leg, balance and landing workout, a slope-top warm-up, how ACL tears happen, and the helmets and wrist guards that work.
Hiking and hillwalkingTrain for hiking with step-ups, stairs, hills and loaded walks, ease your knees on descents with poles, and stay safe with altitude, heat, cold and rescue.
Across 25 trials in many sports, strength training cut injuries to about a third and balance training to about half, while stretching made no difference. More strength training went with fewer injuries. In runners it hasn't been shown: in 9 trials of endurance runners, exercise programmes didn't clearly reduce injuries, though the few supervised ones did better.
The FIFA 11+ warm-up cut football injuries by 39% across 4 trials, and the young players who did it most often had 35% fewer injuries than those who did it less. Programmes only work when they're done regularly, through the whole season.
Heavy strength training made running about 2 to 8% more economical and improved cycling performance; gym training added about 4% to golf clubhead speed; and finger training built finger strength in climbers. Most trials were small and short, in trained or young players, so expect modest gains.
In every sport, anyone who might have a concussion stops at once and doesn't play or train again that day. Get them assessed within 24 hours by a healthcare professional or NHS 111, and call 999 for red flags such as worsening drowsiness, repeated vomiting or a fit. No return to competition before day 21, and only after a gradual return; see a GP if symptoms last more than 28 days.
Source 10
Answer the PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) before you take up a hard sport or step up your training, and check with a GP first if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or fainting. Alongside your sport, the NHS asks adults to do strengthening activities on at least 2 days a week.
Strength training has the best evidence: across 25 trials in many sports, it cut injuries to about a third, and balance training to about half. Sport-specific programmes do well too, such as the FIFA 11+ warm-up in football and Nordic hamstring curls for hamstring injuries. Stretching on its own hasn't been shown to prevent injuries.
Yes, for most sports. It made runners more economical, improved cycling performance and golf clubhead speed, and across many sports it cut injuries. Two sessions a week, away from your hardest sport sessions, is the usual pattern in the trials.
Not on its own: across trials, stretching made no difference to sports injuries. A warm-up that moves you through your sport's movements, building in speed, is a better use of the time, and stretching afterwards is fine if you enjoy it.
A 20-minute football warm-up of running drills, strength, balance and jumping exercises, in three levels. Across 4 trials it cut football injuries by 39%, and players who did it more often had fewer injuries. Our football page sets it out exercise by exercise.
Regularly, through the whole season: FIFA asks for its 11+ warm-up at least twice a week. In the football trials, the players who did the warm-up most often had the fewest injuries.
Not that day, and not in competition before day 21, after a gradual return to activity, under the UK's grassroots concussion guidelines. Get assessed within 24 hours by a healthcare professional or NHS 111, and see a GP if symptoms last more than 28 days.
Exercise education for people who play sport, not a personal prescription or a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP or physiotherapist before hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or an injury that isn't settling, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.