University Sports Medicine

Prevent Injury, Enhance Performance (PEP) Program

Developed in Santa Monica by a prominent orthopaedic Research Foundation, the PEP (Prevent Injury, Enhance Performance) program was designed to address a female athlete's neuromuscular coordination. The neuromuscular system is the combination of the nervous system and the muscles within the body and the interaction that occurs between the two during human movement. This system, along with other variables such as hormones, has been the subject of studies targeted at finding out why female athletes are more susceptible to serious knee injuries than male athletes.

Over a two-year period, the researchers in Santa Monica studied the results of the PEP program in female soccer athletes. The results of the study were nothing short of astonishing. In the first year of the study, the group that performed the PEP program sustained an 88% decrease in the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. After the second year, the group that performed the program experienced a 74% reduction in ACL injuries.

What the study wss able to show is that a specific warm-up program done two-to-three times a week can significantly reduce the probability that the female athlete will sustain an ACL injury. The only catch is that this program of strengthening, plyometrics, agility, and flexibility must be done with precision. The only way to ensure that the PEP program will be successful is to make sure that the athletes perform all of the movements with appropriate form and technique. Execution is everything.

The PEP program was designed originally for soccer athletes, but with some minor modifications can be transferred to other sports such as basketball and volleyball. The goal of University Sports Medicine is to train and instruct those athletic teams and leagues that wish to put themselves in the best position to help minimize serious knee injuries from occurring. Although there is no sure prevention, the PEP program is a first step in providing female athletes with the tools necessary to assist in minimizing serious knee injuires.