Incorporating Squats into Warm-Up Optimizes Sprint, Jump, and Agility in Young Soccer Players

This study investigated how adding squat exercises to the end of warm-ups affects sprinting, jumping, agility, and aerobic fitness in youth soccer players. Twenty-four male U17 players were split into two groups: one performed squats (experimental) and the other did rondo drills (control) for nine weeks. The squat group trained twice a week, doing 3–4 sets of 4–12 reps at increasing intensity (50–85% of 1-RM). After the intervention, the squat group showed significant gains in sprint speed (10 m: –3.8%; 30 m: –2.7%), jumping power (SJ: +6.8%; CMJ: +7.2%; SLJ: +3.8%; 5JT: +3.6%), and agility (–2.8%), while aerobic capacity changed little (+3.4%). The control group showed no improvement. Overall, integrating brief, progressive squat exercises at the end of warm-ups twice weekly led to clear improvements in explosive and agility performance, with minimal effect on endurance.