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Overview of Injury-Prevention Warm-Up Programmes

Furthermore, the literature describes proposed protocols such as the
IPW (Injury-Prevention Warm-up), a clearly structured and evidence-
informed warm-up model intended for a broader range of grappling
sports, including wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and sambo. The IPW pro-
gramme was developed on the basis of epidemiological analyses, injury-
mechanism data, and identified practical barriers to implementation
(Bell et al., 2024).
For standing and striking combat sports, the MASS-12 programme
has been developed. MASS-12 is a 12-exercise preventive/prehabilitation
protocol created through the integration of injury-surveillance data and
the selection of interventions considered feasible within recreational
and club-based training environments. The authors place particular em-
phasis on biomechanical retraining, especially regarding hip-knee-ankle
alignment, while also highlighting the need for additional intervention
studies to evaluate effectiveness more comprehensively (Bacon & Wil-
son, 2024).
Table 8.1 (pp. 122–123) summarises the key characteristics of these
programmes, including target sport or discipline, programme structure,
content emphasis, and level of supporting evidence. The subsequent sec-
tions of this contribution provide a more detailed description and analy-
sis of each programme.

Conclusion
Preventive warm-up programmes represent a practical and scalable
strategy for reducing injury risk in combat sports because they can be
integrated into routine training without requiring separate sessions, sub-
stantial additional equipment, or major organisational modifications.
Evidence from team sports demonstrates that structured, evidence-
informed warm-ups can improve key neuromuscular qualities relevant
to injury prevention, and this general approach has increasingly been
adapted to combat sports through both discipline-specific and cross-
disciplinary protocols.
In combat sports, preventive warm-ups are best interpreted in rela-
tion to the specific demands of each discipline. Grappling sports require
robust control during throws, takedowns, groundwork transitions, and
partner-contact situations, which is reflected in programmes such as
Wrestling Plus, IPPON, and IPW that emphasise strength and stabili-
ty, balance, trunk control, falling technique, and partner-based drills.
In standing and striking disciplines, where explosive striking actions,

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