Page 118 - Safe Wrestling

Marina Dobnik, Rok Vatovec, and Matej Plevnik

thereby increasing the importance of sport-representative tasks and pro-
gression from general activation toward combat-specific drills (Krabben
et al., 2019). In practice, many contemporary warm-up frameworks
explicitly structure this progression, for example through the Raise-
Activate-Mobilise-Potentiate (RAMP) framework (Jeffreys, 2007, 2017).
Within combat-sport settings, coach- and athlete-oriented evaluations
of structured warm-up protocols further highlight their feasibility, ac-
ceptability, and practical value during routine training sessions (von Ger-
hardt et al., 2020; von Gerhardt et al., 2023).
Implementation nevertheless remains a decisive factor. Even well-
designed preventive warm-up programmes depend on feasibility, coach
engagement, and sustained adherence over time. Recent implementa-
tion research continues to demonstrate that delivery quality and con-
textual fit strongly influence real-world adoption and long-term uptake
(Lucander et al., 2025).
Therefore, the purpose of this contribution is to provide an overview
of structured injury-prevention warm-up programmes used in combat
sports, to compare their key characteristics, and to discuss practical con-
siderations for selecting and implementing such programmes within ev-
eryday training environments.

Methods
Design and Conceptual Approach
This contribution was developed as a targeted narrative overview. The
aim was to synthesise evidence from sports medicine and injury-preven-
tion literature in order to outline key principles of dynamic and neuro-
muscular warm-ups relevant to combat sports and to summarise prac-
tical implementation considerations. The contribution provides a high-
level comparison of preventive warm-up approaches and introduces a
structured framework intended to support programme selection and in-
tegration into routine combat-sport training.

Literature Search Strategy
A targeted literature search was conducted using major scientific data-
bases and search engines commonly used in sport science and sports
medicine, including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Sci-
enceDirect, and Google Scholar. Search terms were combined using
Boolean operators and included keywords related to warm-up and injury
prevention (e.g., warm-up, ‘dynamic warm-up,’ ‘neuromuscular train-

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