Multi-faceted exercise programs versus strength training to prevent sports injuries

Exercise and sports participation are important for children and adolescents development, quality of life, and prevention of metabolic diseases (1). Adverse effects, in form of sports injuries, render injury prevention a necessary and relevant subject for both researchers and lay persons (2,3). Treatment of sports injuries can be troublesome, time-consuming, and expensive. Indeed, effective prevention of injuries would potentially benefit the whole spectrum of individuals involved in any kind of sport or exercise. Efforts to prevent sports injuries, also in adolescents, have been pursued and several internal and external risk factors have been targeted for intervention (4). Within these, proper exercise training has been identified as a useful intervention to treat these risk factors.