Key aspects on physical fitness and injury prevention programs in football: a narrative review

Abstract

Football practice depends on many factors such as technical, biomechanical, psychological and physiological components. Football is a sport with a high incidence of injury during training and practice, especially in competition. In this article various data about injuries and their causes in high-level players are collected. The main aim of this paper was to analyze the references and studies about training and injury prevention to complement the training sessions, whose main objectives are improving the performance and reducing the incidence of injury in football. The information has been gathered from various scientific articles and reviews related to the topic, all current and selecting only the information that interests us regarding this issue. In addition, it's proposed a training program based on the literature discoveries. In conclusion, the key elements of an effective program of strengthening and injury prevention for football players should contain cardio, functional strength (where the eccentric work of the femoral biceps is included), trunk stability, neuromuscular balance, plyometrics and stretching static or dynamic depending on the time of the session.