Page 143 - Safe Wrestling

Wrestling Plus

Data Extraction and Presentation
For each included study, the following elements were extracted and sum-
marised: participant characteristics, intervention duration, weekly fre-
quency, comparator condition, and key outcome domains (e.g., injury
incidence, training time loss, movement-screening outcomes, balance,
and proprioception measures). Programme structure and exercise con-
tent were presented in a fixed sequence corresponding to the official pro-
tocol, supported by figures and tables to facilitate coach-friendly delivery
and replication.

Scope and Limitations
This contribution does not constitute a systematic review and there-
fore does not include exhaustive database searching, preregistration,
or quantitative meta-analysis. Although the evidence base for Wrestling
Plus is comparatively stronger than that available for many other combat-
sport preventive warm-up programmes, it remains limited by the rela-
tively small number of published studies and variability across popu-
lations (e.g., age, training status, competitive level) and outcome mea-
sures. Accordingly, the conclusions should be interpreted as evidence-
informed guidance for practical application and programme implemen-
tation rather than as definitive claims applicable to all wrestling contexts.

Results and Discussion
Wrestling Plus (Gioftsidou et al., 2015; United World Wrestling, n.d.) is a
comprehensive, evidence-based warm-up programme developed specif-
ically for freestyle wrestlers. It is one of the relatively few preventive pro-
tocols in combat sports for which randomised and experimental stud-
ies have demonstrated both improvements in functional movement pat-
terns and reductions in injury incidence. The following section provides
a detailed overview of the programme design, structure, and key efficacy
studies, with particular emphasis on practical guidelines for integration
into the training process.
Wrestling Plus was developed by United World Wrestling (UWW) in
collaboration with a research group in response to the high incidence
of injuries in freestyle wrestling. The programme was designed to target
the most common injury locations in wrestling, particularly the shoul-
der, cervical region, lumbar spine, knee, and ankle, while simultaneously
preparing athletes for the specific movement demands of the discipline.
WrestlingPlusisgrounded incontemporary evidence-based principles

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