The Effects of FIVE Neuromuscular Warm-up on Leg Strength among

Young Futsal Players

Muhammad Ikhwan Zein

, Saryono

, Ahmad Rithaudin

, Ardi Cahya Purnawan

Faculty of Sports Sciences, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Graduate School, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Futsal, Neuromuscular, Warm-up, Leg, Strength

Abstract: The research aims to determine the effects of FIVE neuromuscular warm-up on leg strength improvement

among young futsal players. This study was experimental research, recruiting two groups of high school

futsal players by conducting purposive/ judgmental sampling in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Experimental

Group (EXP) was trained by the FIVE program twice per week for eight weeks, and the Control Group

(CON) was trained by standard exercise. Twenty-nine subjects were participated in this study (n EXP =

14; n CON = 15). Leg strength assessment using leg dynamometer performed twice before and after the

intervention (pre and post-test). Changes of leg strength in each group were analyzed by paired t-test, and

changes of leg strength between the EXP and CON group were analyzed by independent/ non-paired t-

test. Significant level was set to 0.05 (p < 0,05). The result shows the leg strength improvement in both

groups (p EXP = 0.006; p CON = 0.028). While the analysis using a non-paired t-test shows that there is

not any significant difference between EXP and CON on the mean of leg strength improvement. This

research demonstrates that FIVE neuromuscular warm-up could be an alternative exercise program to

improve leg strength of young futsal players.

1 INTRODUCTION

Futsal is a popular and growing sport in Indonesia.

Recently, both recreational and professional futsal

increase rapidly. On the other hand, futsal

characteristics (small pitch with fast movement) lead

to a high incidence of injury (Baroni et al. 2008). A

study from Schmikli, et al. (2009) show that futsal is

one of the 10 high-risk sports, especially to young

players. Injury incidence in futsal is 2.7 times higher

than injury in football per 10.000 hours of sport

participation. Young futsal players have a higher risk

of injury due to the low physical fitness and technical

error.

Physical fitness, especially musculoskeletal

fitness, is an important factor in injury prevention

program. Carter & Micheli (2011) show that muscle

imbalance, muscle weakness, and low coordination

can increase the risk of injury.

From the researcher's observation, it is found that

high school and young futsal players have low

musculoskeletal fitness. Lack of facilities and

strength and conditioning coach, and low frequency

of training are the cause of muscle weakness and

imbalance in young futsal players. Neuromuscular

warm-up is a method that can be performed to

enhance musculoskeletal fitness, thus prevent injury.

It consists of warm-up and stretching combined with

several neuromuscular training to improve strength,

balance, power, and agility. Neuromuscular warm-up

corrects several technical errors e.g., valgus knee and

improper alignment. A study from Hewett et al.

(1999) show that 14 weeks of neuromuscular warm-

up can effectively reduce knee injury for female

athletes. It is also stated that neuromuscular warm up

is evidently effective in reducing knee injury risk for

14 weeks.

Neuromuscular warm-up in football (FIFA 11+)

shows good results in reducing injury incidence of

football players, especially in young and female

athletes (Bizzini & Dvorak, 2015). Soligard et al.

(2009) in Norway show that FIFA 11+ decreases

injury risk for one third and a half of severe injury in

young female football players.

Another program that focused on neuromuscular

fitness is called Performance Enhancement Program

(PEP) which also reduces injuries efficiently.

Mandelbaum et al. (2005) show that PEP consists of

a neuromuscular training program focusing on

strength and stabilization of muscle coordination

646

Zein, M., Saryono, ., Rithaudin, A. and Purnawan, A.

The Effects of FIVE Neuromuscular Warm-up on Leg Strength among Young Futsal Players.

DOI: 10.5220/0009800206460650

In Proceedings of the 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science in conjunction with the 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports

(YISHPESS and CoIS 2019), pages 646-650

ISBN: 978-989-758-457-2

surrounding knees joints to reduce the total of anterior

cruciate ligament (ACL) injury incidents. Besides,

the research concludes that PEP performed minimally

2-3 times per week can reduce total of ACL incidents

for 2 to 4 times. Pollard et al. (2006) show that PEP

improves hip abductor muscle strength and reduces

hip rotation. Lim et al. (2009) show that PEP

improves knee flexion and decreases maximum knee

extension during landing in female basketball players.

Further, Chappell & Limpisvasti (2008) suggest that

PEP can decrease knee valgus during a jumping test

in female football and basketball players.

Neuromuscular warm up in volleyball called

“Volley Veiling” is also developed to prevent or

reduce injuries in fingers, wrist, feet, wrist, and knees

(Gouttebarge et al. 2017). Kiani et al. (2010)

developed a knee injury program named HarmoKnee,

purposively focusing on providing structural

warming up protocol and improving the body's fitness

components. HarmoKnee consists of five parts of

exercise, including warm-up, muscle activation,

balance, strength, and core stability (Daneshjoo et al.

2012). Eight months of HarmoKnee program can

reduce 77% of acute knee injury in Sweden female

football players (Kiani et al. 2010).

Saryono et al. (2019) developed specific

neuromuscular warming up for futsal called as FIVE

(Futsal Injury Prevention and Enhance

Performance). FIVE consists of 5 neuromuscular

warm-up components, namely (1) cardiovascular

warm-up, (2) dynamic stretching, (3) strengthening,

(4) balance, plyometric & agility, (5) preparing to

play (with the ball). The purpose of the study is to

determine the effects of FIVE neuromuscular warm-

up on leg strength improvement among young futsal

players.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

2.1 Research Type

The researchers recruited two groups of young futsal

players by conducting purposive/ judgmental

sampling from high school futsal teams in

Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Two high schools were

chosen in accordance with the criteria of participating

selection in this research. The selection criteria, then,

were comprised of several things as follows. (1)

There is futsal extracurricular program; (2) It has a

permanent facility and sufficient futsal exercise; (3) It

has futsal coach or physical education teacher; and (4)

It has regular exercise schedule, minimally two times

per week. Groups were arranged randomly to

determine which school was chosen as an

experimental (EXP) and controlled (CON) group. All

subjects from both groups were the members of the

school futsal team. Thus, there were a total of 29

futsal players fulfilling the criteria to participate in

this research. Meanwhile, there are also some

inclusion criteria; they are (1) the member of school

futsal team, (2) only performing regular exercise in

accordance with schedule of futsal extracurricular in

school, (3) passing the medical examination, (4)

obtaining permission from parents/ custody (signing

on written agreement of research form), and (5)

having commitment to attend a series of complete

researches.

2.2 FIVE Intervention

The EXP group performed the FIVE program twice

per week for eight weeks and the CON performed

regular exercise. The FIVE consists of five parts with

19 types of exercise and it is performed as warm-up

in each training session. Coach of the EXP was

trained for the FIVE program, so that the FIVE

program was performed correctly before the research

was applied. Both groups performed physical fitness

tests twice, pre and post-8 weeks intervention. This

test was done in a similar time, field, and trained staff.

Leg dynamometer was applied to measure the leg

strength. Each test was conducted twice and the best

result was taken for data analysis.

2.3 Data Collecting

Name, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI),

and leg strength (pre and post-intervention) were

collected by the same trained staff.

2.4 Statistical Analysis

A paired t-test was performed in comparing the

difference results between pre and post-intervention

from both the EXP and CON groups. An independent

t-test was performed to compare the mean difference

between the EXP and CON groups. The normality

test was performed using Shapiro Wilk test (sample

is < 50). The parametric test was applied for normal

distribution data, and non-parametric test (Mann

Whitney and Wilcoxon) was applied if the data were

not normal. All data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0.

Significance level was set at p < 0,05.

The Effects of FIVE Neuromuscular Warm-up on Leg Strength among Young Futsal Players

647

3 RESEARCH RESULT AND

DISCUSSION

3.1 Research Result

3.1.1 Characteristics of Subject

From 29 subjects, 7 players were 15 years old (24%),

4 players were 16 years old (14%), 8 players were 17

years old (27%), 6 players were 18 years old (21%),

and 4 players were 19 years old (14%). Table 1

presents the characteristics of the subjects in the EXP

and CON groups.

Table 1: Characteristics of the Subject

Group EXP (n=14) CON (n=15)

Age (year) 17,7 ± 1.05 16 ± 1.12

BMI (kg/m

) 22,66 ± 3,41 22,02 ± 3,98

3.1.2. Intervention Effects

The results show that both EXP and CON groups had

significant leg strength improvement (p = 0,006 and

p = 0,028) (table 2). Independent t-test shows that no

significant difference of improvement between EXP

and CON groups (pre-test p = 0.502; post-test p =

0.885) (Table 3). However, the clinical analysis

shows that the EXP group had more significant leg

strength improvement (kg) compare to the CON

group.

Table 2: Pre and post-test results in the EXP and CON Group

*significance value applied (pre and post-test) was p < 0,05.

Table 3: Result of Legs Strength during Pre and Post-Test between the EXP and CON groups

Intervention

ean of Dif. Std. Error Dif. p

Pre 27 -12.17143 17.90298 0,502

Post 27 3.05714 20.93622 0,885

* significance value applied (pre and post-test) was p < 0,05.

Figure 1: Enrollment and randomization of the studied participants

Groups

Legs Strength (kg)

Pre-test Post-test

EXP 140,92 ± 45,44 190,85 ± 34,85 0,006

CON 153,10 ± 50,57 187,80 ± 70,66 0,028

YISHPESS and CoIS 2019 - The 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science (YISHPESS

2019) in conjunction with The 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports (CoIS 2019)

648

3.2 Discussion

The result of the research shows that both EXP and

CON groups had significant improvement in leg

strength. The leg strength in the EXP group had more

clinical improvement than the CON group (+ 49,93

vs. + 34.7 kg).

The leg strength improvement in the EXP group

can be caused by the strength program in FIVE,

including single toe raises, nordic hamstring,

Copenhagen exercise, and bounding side.

The “single toe raises” can knowingly improve

the muscle strength in ankles and calves and reduce

the injury risk in Achilles' tendons. Thomee et al.

(2001) argue that the patients suffering chronic issue

in their Achilles’ tendons express that significant toe

raises exercise to reduce pain in Achilles' tendon

during pre or post-physical activity.

Nordic hamstring can improve hamstring muscle

strength, thus it reduces hamstring strain injury (Van

Der Horst et al. 2015). It is also described that

professional football players in the Netherland

shown the result of Nordic hamstring, having ability

to reduce the injury level of hamstring by 65% up to

70%. It is also followed by prevention effect in

reducing repeated injury.

Copenhagen is a dynamic and high-intensity

exercise that focuses on the lower extremity,

especially on the abductor muscle group (Serner et

al. 2014). Thorborg et al. (2014) show that the

Copenhagen program has succeeded in preventing

thigh injury in Danish football players.

Core strength exercise (plank and side-plank) in

the FIVE program also contributes to improve the leg

strength. A Study from Ekstrom et al. (2007) shows

that plank and side plank are effective exercises for

strengthening hip and lower extremity, improve

stability, and prevent injury.

A short period (eight weeks) of training program in

this study can improve the leg strength. The effect of

FIVE can be optimal if the program is done in 9-12

weeks as the recommendation.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Eight weeks of FIVE program can improve leg

strength in young futsal players. It can be an

alternative program to enhance physical fitness and

reduce injury. Further research to evaluate the effects

of the FIVE program on a large scale population is

needed.

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2019) in conjunction with The 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports (CoIS 2019)

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