Physiological and performance responses to the “FIFA 11+” (part 1): is it an appropriate warm-up?

The aim of the study was to examine the post-exercise effects of the "FIFA 11+" on various physical performance and physiological variables, to understand whether this programme is an appropriate warm-up for football players. Results were compared with the literature using a meta-analytical approach. Twenty amateur male football players [mean age 25.5 (s ± 5.1) years, body mass 75(8) kg, height 181(6) cm] participated in the study. They were tested twice before (control period) and once after the "FIFA 11+" for: 20-m sprints, agility, vertical jump, stiffness, isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), rate of force development (RFD), and star excursion balance test. Oxygen uptake, lactate and core temperature were also measured. Pre-post warm-up differences were found for all the performance variables (from 1.0 to 6.2%; 0.015 < P < 0.001) with the exclusion of MVC (-13%; P = 0.426) and RFD (-10%; P = 0.205). After the warm-up there was an increase (0.004 <P < 0.001) in resting oxygen uptake from 325(87) to 379(142) mL · min(-1), in core temperature from 37.3(0.3) to 37.7(0.3) °C, and in lactate from 1.0(0.2) to 2.6(1.1) mmol · L(-1). In conclusion, the "FIFA 11+" prevention programme can be considered an appropriate warm-up, inducing improvements in football players comparable with those obtained with other warm-up routines reported in the literature.