Citation

Shumway JD, Anderson DN, Bishop B. Mil. Med. 2016; 181(5 Suppl): 95-103.

Affiliation

David Grant USAF Medical Center, 101 Bodin Circle, Travis Air Force Base, CA 94534.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)

DOI

10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00190

PMID

27168558

Abstract

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.

Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Language: en