Effectiveness of an Injury Prevention Warm-up for Unit Physical Training: A Case Series of Two Flying Squadrons

Injury prevention has been assessed and studied in professional and collegiate athletic populations, but application to the military setting has been limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an injury prevention warm-up in two flying squadrons. At the commanders' request, two Air Force flying squadrons (276 individuals) were provided an injury prevention warm-up of evidence-based exercises, which focused on functional range of motion and dynamic core stability. The routine was performed before unit physical training twice a week. The number of injuries did not significantly decrease after the injury prevention warm-up compared to 12 months before the intervention. However, the amount of time a subject was "grounded," duty not involving flying, because of a musculoskeletal injury decreased significantly from 146 days per month to 73 days per month (p = 0.02). A quick, generic warm-up of evidence-based exercises may decrease the number of limited duty days in a flying population.