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Most teams still warm up wrong. They stand in a circle. They hold static hamstring stretches. They believe stretching stops injury. All three are out of date.
Sports science moved on years ago. The team next to you on Sunday is still running 1990s drills. That’s good news. You can do better.
This post pulls the best evidence from the last few years. I’ll tell you what the data says, not what the bloke down the park reckons. We’ll cover dynamic vs static stretching, the FIFA 11+ programme in full, the prehab exercises that genuinely cut injuries, and a few oddly useful things – like why half-time on a cold day is so risky.
Personally, I’d run with the FIFA 11+ twice a week. Then add the Nordic curl. That’s most of the way there.
Football injuries are getting worse
The UEFA Elite Club Injury Study has tracked top European teams since 2001. The trend isn’t pretty.
Hamstring injuries used to be 12% of all injuries. They’re now 24%. The rate has more or less doubled.
Training hamstring injuries went up 6.7% a year over the last eight seasons. Match injuries went up 3.9% a year. Players cover more sprint distance now. Tissues are taking more punishment.
Hip and groin injuries are next on the list. They’re around 14% of all time-loss injuries. Adductor strains make up 63% of that.
So we know what hurts. The question is what to do about it. Here’s the quick-look table of the evidence.
Evidence snapshot – the key numbers
| Finding | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Hamstring injuries doubled from 12% to 24% of all injuries in elite men’s football | UEFA Elite Club Injury Study (Ekstrand et al., BJSM) | 2022 |
| Hip & groin = ~14% of time-loss injuries. Adductor is 63% of those | UEFA Elite Club Injury Study | 2024 |
| FIFA 11+ cut injuries by 30–46% in recent football RCTs | Systematic review of RCTs | 2025 |
| Nordic hamstring exercise: up to 60% fewer new HSIs and 85% fewer recurrent ones | Tedeschi et al., scoping review | 2025 |
| Static stretching pre-match cut sprint by ~1% and jump by 10.6% | Gaelic football RCT (Sole et al.) | 2016 |
| Dynamic stretching beat static and combined methods for repeated sprints | Bouguezzi et al., RCT | 2024 |
| Muscle temp drops 3.5–6.2 °C during the 15-min half-time break | Russell et al. / Christaras et al. | 2023 |
| 3 weeks of post-exercise sauna (30 min × 3/wk) boosted VO₂max ~6% | Scoon et al. | 2007 |
Static vs dynamic stretching – get this right
This is the single easiest fix for most teams.
The short answer: dynamic stretching before you play. Static stretching after, or as a separate session.
Why? Static stretching held before a match drains your power. The Sole et al. trial on Gaelic footballers (very similar physical demands to soccer) found static stretching cut sprint speed by about 1%. Jump height dropped by 10.6%. Jump power dropped by 6.4%.
Hold a 30-second hamstring stretch ten minutes before kick-off and you’re literally jumping lower for the next hour.
A 2024 trial on elite male soccer players found the same pattern for repeated sprints. Dynamic stretching won outright. Static lost. Combining the two was no help.
One quirky finding: the “no stretching at all” group did fine in that 2024 study too. That suggests the warm-up itself matters more than the stretching label.
Static vs dynamic at a glance
| Factor | Dynamic | Static |
|---|---|---|
| When to use | 5–15 min before match or training | After training, or as a separate session |
| Effect on sprint | Neutral or slightly better | -1.0% to -1.2% within 10 min |
| Effect on jump | Held or improved | Up to -10.6% |
| Effect on strength | Held | Up to -9% for up to an hour |
| Long-term flexibility | Modest gains | Best tool for the job |
| Examples | Leg swings, walking lunges, A-skips, carioca, World’s greatest stretch | Standing hamstring, pigeon, couch stretch, seated forward fold |
| Wrong timing? | Barely matters | Costs you power for an hour |
Static stretching isn’t bad. It’s just badly timed by most teams. Save it for after training or for separate flexibility sessions. Do it daily, hold each stretch 30–60 seconds, and you’ll build real range of motion over weeks.
The FIFA 11+ – explained in full
The FIFA 11+ is the gold standard. It’s the warm-up programme with the strongest evidence behind it.
It was built by an international panel of experts in 2006. The first big trial was in Norway in 2008. Teams using it twice a week had 30–50% fewer injured players. Later research has backed that up. A 2025 systematic review of RCTs put the injury reduction at 30–46%.
How it’s structured
The full programme is 15 exercises in three parts. It takes about 20 minutes.
Set up six pairs of parallel cones, 5–6 metres apart. Two players start at the first pair of cones. They jog up the inside doing the running exercises. Then they jog back along the outside, building speed as they go.
Run all three parts twice a week during training. Before a match, just do parts 1 and 3 – drop the strength and balance work.
The key thing – technique matters more than effort. Knees over toes. Straight leg alignment. Soft landings. Players start at Level 1 of each exercise and progress when they can do it cleanly. Most clubs move all players up a level every 3–4 weeks.
The full FIFA 11+ programme
| PART 1 – Running exercises · 8 minutes (between cones, slow speed) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Exercise | Reps / sets | ||
| 1 | Running straight ahead – jog between cones, easy pace | 2 sets | ||
| 2 | Running hip out – lift knee out to the side at each cone | 2 sets | ||
| 3 | Running hip in – lift knee inward at each cone | 2 sets | ||
| 4 | Running, circle your partner – sidestep round each other | 2 sets | ||
| 5 | Running with shoulder contact – jump and bump shoulders mid-cone | 2 sets | ||
| 6 | Running, quick forwards & backwards – short sharp shuttles | 2 sets | ||
| PART 2 – Strength · Plyometrics · Balance · 10 minutes (each exercise has 3 levels) | ||||
| # | Exercise | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
| 7 | The bench (front plank) | Static hold, 20–30 sec × 3 | Alternate legs lifted, 40–60 sec × 3 | One-leg lift & hold, 20–30 sec each leg × 3 |
| 8 | Sideways bench (side plank) | Static hold, 20–30 sec each side | Raise & lower hip, 3 × 20–30 sec | With leg lift, 3 × 20–30 sec |
| 9 | Hamstrings (Nordic curl) | Beginner – 3–5 reps | Intermediate – 7–10 reps | Advanced – 12–15 reps |
| 10 | Single-leg stance | Hold the ball, 30 sec each leg × 2 | Throw ball with partner, 30 sec × 2 | Test your partner (small pushes), 30 sec × 2 |
| 11 | Squats | Squats with toe raise, 2 × 30 sec | Walking lunges, 2 × 10 each leg | One-leg squats, 2 × 10 each leg |
| 12 | Jumping | Vertical jumps, 2 × 30 sec | Lateral jumps, 2 × 30 sec | Box jumps, 2 × 30 sec |
| PART 3 – Running exercises · 2 minutes (moderate to high speed) | ||||
| 13 | Running across the pitch – focus on knee-over-toe position | 2 sets | ||
| 14 | Bounding – high knee drive, full extension | 2 sets | ||
| 15 | Plant & cut – sprint, plant, cut hard at cones | 2 sets | ||
If your team does nothing else from this article, do the FIFA 11+. Twice a week. Every week. For a season.
The catch is compliance. The programme only works if you do it. One session a week isn’t enough. The trials that found the biggest reductions had teams doing it as their standard warm-up. The teams that “tried it for a bit” got nothing.
Strength exercises that actually help
Football is a single-leg sport. You sprint off one leg. You cut off one leg. You shoot with one leg. You jump for headers off one leg.
Most gym programmes still have you doing back squats and bench press. Those aren’t bad. But they don’t match what football asks of you. Unilateral work is where the big wins are.
Lower-body work for footballers
| Exercise | What it builds | Sets × reps | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgarian split squat | Single-leg quad and glute strength. Carries over to sprinting and cutting | 3 × 6–8 per leg | 2×/week |
| Single-leg RDL | Hamstring and glute strength. Balance under load | 3 × 6–8 per leg | 2×/week |
| Trap-bar deadlift | Raw force. Posterior chain | 3–4 × 4–6 | 1×/week |
| Hip thrust | Glute strength. Direct sprint-acceleration carryover | 3 × 6–10 | 1–2×/week |
| Weighted step-up | Concentric leg drive. Mimics sprint propulsion | 3 × 6 per leg | 1×/week |
| Cossack squat | Adductor mobility under load. Tackle-ready hips | 2 × 6 per side | 2–3×/week |
| 90/90 hip rotations | Rotational hip range. Helps cutting and pivoting | 2 × 5 per side | Daily |
| World’s greatest stretch | Lunge + thoracic + hamstring. Full body in one rep | 3–5 per side | Warm-up |
If you have to pick two lifts and that’s it: Bulgarian split squats and single-leg RDLs. Twice a week. Heavy. Done.
Prehab – the unsexy stuff that keeps you fit
Prehab means doing the boring exercises now so you don’t end up doing rehab later. The list is short. The wins are big.
The prehab exercises with real evidence
| Exercise | Targets | Evidence | Dosing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nordic hamstring curl | Eccentric hamstring strength | Up to 60% fewer hamstring injuries; 85% fewer recurrences (Tedeschi 2025) | 2–3 × 5–8 reps, 2×/week |
| Copenhagen adductor | Eccentric adductor strength | Strong gains in strength, ROM, balance across 10 RCTs (Hassan 2026) | 3 × 6–10 per side, 2–3×/week |
| Heavy slow calf raises | Gastroc & soleus | Cuts calf strain risk in high-mileage runners | 3 × 8–12, 2×/week |
| Tibialis raises | Front of shin | Helps with shin splints | 3 × 12–15, 2–3×/week |
| Single-leg balance | Proprioception, ankle/knee stability | Core part of FIFA 11+ and most evidence-based programmes | 3 min daily; eyes open → closed → unstable |
How to do the Nordic curl
Kneel on a soft surface. Get a partner to anchor your ankles, or use a Nordic bench. Keep your body straight from knees to shoulders. Now lower forward as slowly as you can. Resist the fall with your hamstrings. Catch with your hands at the bottom. Push back up.
You will be sore. Like, properly sore for the first few weeks. That’s normal. Build the eccentric duration over time.
How to do the Copenhagen adductor
Lie on your side, propped on a forearm. A partner holds your top leg by the knee (easier) or ankle (harder), horizontal to the floor. Lift the bottom leg up to meet the top leg. Lower slowly. Repeat.
If you don’t have a partner, use a bench – rest the top leg on it.
If you do nothing else for prehab, do Nordic curls. They’re the single most-studied injury-prevention exercise in football.
12 things most coaches don’t tell you
The standard warm-up advice misses a lot. Here are twelve things from the research that change how you should prepare.
| # | Insight | The data | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The half-time temperature crash | Vastus lateralis temp drops 3.5 °C in 18 °C ambient and 6.2 °C in 2 °C ambient during the 15-min break | Don’t just sit. 2–3 min of jogging or dynamic work in the dressing room keeps muscle temperature up |
| 2 | Second-half injuries cluster early | Premier League data shows decelerations, high-intensity distance and pace all drop in the first 15 min of the second half. Injuries cluster here | A brief re-warm in injury time at half-time is the cheapest fix in football |
| 3 | Last 15 min of each half is risky | Injuries rise toward the end of each half. Fatigue is the main driver | Conditioning that holds up under fatigue is injury prevention. Don’t be the player who refuses to come off |
| 4 | Subs are the most at-risk players | Players on the bench cool down faster than half-time players. Heated trousers solved this in a 2024 study | If you’re on the bench, keep moving. Layer up. Re-warm for 5 min before going on |
| 5 | Warm-ups decay in 15–20 min | Muscle temp drops once you stop moving. A Champions League anthem and ceremony delay kills your warm-up | Finish your warm-up 3–5 min before kick-off. Not 20 |
| 6 | The PAP window is narrow | Post-activation potentiation peaks 4–8 min after a hard contraction. A 2025 study found a 2.9% sprint boost from depth jumps | Throw in 3–5 max jumps or a short sprint in the last 5 min of your warm-up |
| 7 | Effective playing time is ~50 min | The ball is only in play for around 50 of the 90 minutes | Train for repeated sprints with irregular rest. Not long steady-state running |
| 8 | Eccentric strength beats flexibility | Bourne et al. showed low eccentric hamstring strength predicts injury – independent of flexibility | Stretching tight hamstrings won’t protect them. Nordic curls will |
| 9 | Heat improves stretching | 20 min in a 45 °C hot room gave flexibility gains comparable to active warm-up. Stretching after improved it further | Cold-weather games – start in a heated dressing room. Stay layered |
| 10 | Hot baths help in heat | 6 days of 40-min post-exercise hot water immersion gave a ~5% boost on a 5 km time trial in hot conditions | Got a hot match coming? Start hot-bath sessions a week out |
| 11 | Extra time wrecks glycogen | Muscle glycogen falls 29% by 90 min, another 30% during ET. By the end ~75% of fibres in the dominant leg are depleted | If ET is possible, get 60g of carbs in per hour. Don’t skip the break before ET |
| 12 | Ice baths may be placebo | A 2025 RCT in male youth footballers found cold-water immersion, hot-water immersion, and a sham laser all gave the same recovery | Use them if they help you feel better. Don’t put them above sleep and nutrition |
Items 1 and 2 are the biggest free wins in this article. Most amateur sides sit on a bench at half-time and walk back out cold. Don’t be that team.
Your match-day warm-up – minute by minute
Here’s the practical version. Adjust to the time you have. The order matters more than the duration.
The 20-minute match-day warm-up
| Time | Phase | What to do | Kit / environment |
|---|---|---|---|
| −30 to −25 | Personal prep | Sip 250 ml water. Foam-roll any niggles | Dressing room. Tracksuit on |
| −25 to −22 | General mobilisation | Joint circles, ankle pumps, hip openers, thoracic rotation | Indoor if cold. Layers on |
| −22 to −17 | Light raise | Easy jog. Conversational pace | On pitch. Top layer still on |
| −17 to −12 | Dynamic mobility | Leg swings (front-back and side-side), walking lunges with twist, World’s greatest stretch × 3, inchworms, lateral lunges | Pitch. Layer down once warm |
| −12 to −8 | Running drills | A-skips, B-skips, high knees, butt kicks, carioca. Build pace each rep | Pitch. Base kit |
| −8 to −5 | Accelerations & cuts | 3–4 × 20 m progressive sprints (60% → 95%). 2–3 short cuts | Pitch |
| −5 to −3 | Sport-specific | Short passing. Ball touches. Half-pace shots for strikers | Pitch |
| −3 to −1 | PAP stimulus | 3–5 max-effort broad jumps or vertical jumps. Optional: one near-max 10 m sprint | Pitch |
| −1 to 0 | Stay primed | Jog on the spot. Light bounding | Sideline. Re-layer if standing still |
Half-time – don’t sit there like a lemon
Half-time is the most underused period in football. Sit still and you lose 3–6 °C of muscle temperature. Get it right and you walk back out primed.
| Time | Do this | Don’t do this |
|---|---|---|
| 0–8 min | Hydrate. Tactical briefing seated. Eat a gel or a banana | Sit completely still in cold weather. Skip the carbs |
| 8–12 min | Light re-warm: leg swings, 30 sec jog on the spot, 5–10 squat jumps or skips | Static stretch tight hamstrings. Re-warming beats it |
| 12–15 min | 1–2 short accelerations. Layer down. Mental cues | Walk out cold |
Weather and substitute adjustments
| Scenario | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Cold (under 10 °C) | Add 5 min to general warm-up. Keep base layer on through dynamic mobility. Gloves and snood early. Never strip more than 5 min before kick-off |
| Hot (over 25 °C) | Less jogging. More dynamic mobility. Pre-cool with a cold towel or ice slurry drink. Plan for higher fluid loss |
| Substitute role | Heated trousers or extra layers. Re-warm every 15–20 min. 5 min personal warm-up before going on |
| Hot match coming up | 5–7 days of 30–40 min sauna or hot bath after training. Drives heat acclimation |
A sensible weekly programme
Pulling it all together for an amateur or semi-pro footballer:
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Mon | Recovery. Easy mobility. Optional sauna or hot bath. Sleep priority |
| Tue | Strength. Bulgarian split squats. Single-leg RDLs. Hip thrusts. Nordic curls. Copenhagen adductor |
| Wed | Football training. Full FIFA 11+ warm-up |
| Thu | Strength (lighter, single-leg focus). Step-ups. Calf raises. Tibialis raises. Balance |
| Fri | Light technical work. Activation drills |
| Sat | Match day. 20-min structured warm-up. Half-time re-warm |
| Sun | Active recovery. Walk. Light mobility. Heat exposure if you use it |
The bottom line
The data on football warm-ups is unusually clean for a sports science topic. Here’s the summary you can actually use:
- Static stretching before a match is a bad idea. Drops your power for an hour.
- Dynamic stretching before. Static stretching after. Or save it for a separate session.
- FIFA 11+, twice a week. Cuts injuries by ~30–46%. Better than anything else available.
- Nordic hamstring curls. The single best prehab exercise football has.
- Re-warm at half-time. 2–3 minutes. Saves you a 6 °C muscle temperature drop.
- Subs need to keep moving. Cold body coming on cold = injury risk.
- Hydrate and fuel. Cramps and injuries aren’t separate from performance – they’re linked.
- Hot baths post-training. Maybe useful. Cold baths probably placebo. Sleep is better than both.
The players still on the pitch in March aren’t the ones with the best technique. They’re the ones who took the boring stuff seriously.
Get the warm-up right. Do your Nordic curls. Stay moving at half-time. The rest takes care of itself.
References and further reading
- Ekstrand J, Bengtsson H, Waldén M, et al. Hamstring injury rates have increased during recent seasons and now constitute 24% of all injuries in men’s professional football: the UEFA Elite Club Injury Study from 2001/02 to 2021/22. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022.
- Sole G, et al. The effects of a combined static-dynamic stretching protocol on athletic performance in elite Gaelic footballers: A randomised controlled crossover trial. Physical Therapy in Sport. 2016.
- Amiri-Khorasani M, et al. Static vs. Dynamic Acute Stretching Effect on Quadriceps Muscle Activity during Soccer Instep Kicking. Journal of Human Kinetics.
- Bouguezzi R, et al. Superiority of Dynamic Stretching over Static and Combined Stretching Protocols for Repeated Sprint Performance in Elite Male Soccer Players. 2024.
- Bizzini M, Dvorak J. FIFA 11+: an effective programme to prevent football injuries in various player groups worldwide – a narrative review. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
- Soligard T, Myklebust G, Steffen K, et al. Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2008.
- Saavedra A, et al. The Impact of the FIFA 11+ Injury Prevention Program on Injury Incidence in Football Athletes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. 2025.
- F-MARC. The 11+ Manual: A complete warm-up programme. FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre.
- Tedeschi R, Farì G, Giorgi F, et al. Strengthening football: The role of the Nordic hamstring exercise in preventing hamstring injuries. 2025.
- Impellizzeri F, et al. Why methods matter in a meta-analysis: a reappraisal showed inconclusive injury preventive effect of Nordic hamstring exercise. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2021.
- Bahr R, et al. Still poorly adopted in male professional football: but teams that used the Nordic Hamstring Exercise in team training had fewer hamstring injuries.
- Hassan N, et al. The influence of Copenhagen adduction exercise on the management of groin pain: A systematic review. 2026.
- Pasquarelli BN, et al. Can the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise Prevent Groin Injuries in Soccer Players? A Critically Appraised Topic. 2023.
- Ribeiro de Avila V, et al. Effects of rear-foot instability devices on lower-limb muscle activation during the Bulgarian split squat in male football players. Scientific Reports. 2025.
- Sabido R, et al. Passive vs. active warm-up combined with stretching on hamstring flexibility and maximal voluntary contractions. 2025.
- Yıldız S, et al. Post-activation potentiation effect of different preloading protocols on sprint performance. Scientific Reports. 2025.
- Gustafsson J, et al. Cold- and hot-water immersion are not more effective than placebo for the recovery of physical performance and training adaptations in national level soccer players. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2025.
- Ahokas EK, et al. A post-exercise infrared sauna session improves recovery of neuromuscular performance and muscle soreness after resistance exercise training. Biology of Sport. 2022.
- Stevens C, et al. Hot water immersion: potential to improve intermittent running performance and perception of in-game running ability in semi-professional Australian Rules Footballers. 2022.
- Connolly C, et al. Dehydration linked to muscle cramps in IRONMAN triathletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2024.
- Christaras G, et al. Effects of a Short Half-Time Re-Warm-Up Program on Matches Running Performance and Fitness Test Performance of Male Elite Youth Soccer Players. Applied Sciences. 2023.
- Lopez-Samanes A, et al. The Efficacy of Re-Warm-Up Practices during Half-Time: A Systematic Review. 2021.
- Russell M, et al. Physiological mechanisms associated with the use of a passive heat intervention: positive implications for soccer substitutes. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2024.
- The demands of the extra-time period of soccer: A systematic review. 2022.