Wigand Poppendieck1,2, Melissa Wegmann3, Alexander Ferrauti4, Michael Kellmann5,6, Mark Pfeiffer7, Tim Meyer3. 1. Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. wigand.poppendieck@ibmt.fraunhofer.de. 2. Department Medical Engineering and Neuroprosthetics, Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Ensheimer Strasse 48, 66386, St. Ingbert, Germany. wigand.poppendieck@ibmt.fraunhofer.de. 3. Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. 4. Unit of Training and Exercise Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. 5. Unit of Sport Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. 6. Schools of Human Movement Studies and Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. 7. Institute of Sports Science, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Post-exercise massage is one of the most frequently applied interventions to enhance recovery of athletes. However, evidence to support the efficacy of massage for performance recovery is scarce. Moreover, it has not yet been concluded under which conditions massage is effective. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature on massage for performance recovery. METHODS: We conducted a structured literature search and located 22 randomized controlled trials. These were analysed with respect to performance effects and various characteristics of the study design (type and duration of massage, type of exercise and performance test, duration of recovery period, training status of subjects). RESULTS: Of the 22 studies, 5 used techniques of automated massage (e.g., vibration), while the other 17 used classic manual massage. A tendency was found for shorter massage (5-12 min) to have larger effects (+6.6%, g = 0.34) than massage lasting more than 12 min (+1.0%, g = 0.06). The effects were larger for short-term recovery of up to 10 min (+7.9%, g = 0.45) than for recovery periods of more than 20 min (+2.4%, g = 0.08). Although after high-intensity mixed exercise, massage yielded medium positive effects (+14.4%, g = 0.61), the effects after strength exercise (+3.9%, g = 0.18) and endurance exercise (+1.3%, g = 0.12) were smaller. Moreover, a tendency was found for untrained subjects to benefit more from massage (+6.5%, g = 0.23) than trained athletes (+2.3%, g = 0.17). CONCLUSION: The effects of massage on performance recovery are rather small and partly unclear, but can be relevant under appropriate circumstances (short-term recovery after intensive mixed training). However, it remains questionable if the limited effects justify the widespread use of massage as a recovery intervention in competitive athletes.
BACKGROUND: Post-exercise massage is one of the most frequently applied interventions to enhance recovery of athletes. However, evidence to support the efficacy of massage for performance recovery is scarce. Moreover, it has not yet been concluded under which conditions massage is effective. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature on massage for performance recovery. METHODS: We conducted a structured literature search and located 22 randomized controlled trials. These were analysed with respect to performance effects and various characteristics of the study design (type and duration of massage, type of exercise and performance test, duration of recovery period, training status of subjects). RESULTS: Of the 22 studies, 5 used techniques of automated massage (e.g., vibration), while the other 17 used classic manual massage. A tendency was found for shorter massage (5-12 min) to have larger effects (+6.6%, g = 0.34) than massage lasting more than 12 min (+1.0%, g = 0.06). The effects were larger for short-term recovery of up to 10 min (+7.9%, g = 0.45) than for recovery periods of more than 20 min (+2.4%, g = 0.08). Although after high-intensity mixed exercise, massage yielded medium positive effects (+14.4%, g = 0.61), the effects after strength exercise (+3.9%, g = 0.18) and endurance exercise (+1.3%, g = 0.12) were smaller. Moreover, a tendency was found for untrained subjects to benefit more from massage (+6.5%, g = 0.23) than trained athletes (+2.3%, g = 0.17). CONCLUSION: The effects of massage on performance recovery are rather small and partly unclear, but can be relevant under appropriate circumstances (short-term recovery after intensive mixed training). However, it remains questionable if the limited effects justify the widespread use of massage as a recovery intervention in competitive athletes.
Authors: Danilo R Coimbra; Guilherme G Bevilacqua; Fabiano S Pereira; Alexandro Andrade Journal: J Sports Sci Med Date: 2021-03-01 Impact factor: 2.988
Authors: Billy Sperlich; Martin Becker; Andreas Hotho; Birgit Wallmann-Sperlich; Mahdi Sareban; Kay Winkert; Jürgen M Steinacker; Gunnar Treff Journal: Front Physiol Date: 2017-09-20 Impact factor: 4.566
Authors: Gian Nicola Bisciotti; Piero Volpi; Maurizio Amato; Giampietro Alberti; Francesco Allegra; Alessandro Aprato; Matteo Artina; Alessio Auci; Corrado Bait; Gian Matteo Bastieri; Luca Balzarini; Andrea Belli; Gianandrea Bellini; Pierfrancesco Bettinsoli; Alessandro Bisciotti; Andrea Bisciotti; Stefano Bona; Lorenzo Brambilla; Marco Bresciani; Michele Buffoli; Filippo Calanna; Gian Luigi Canata; Davide Cardinali; Giulia Carimati; Gabriella Cassaghi; Enrico Cautero; Emanuele Cena; Barbara Corradini; Alessandro Corsini; Cristina D'Agostino; Massimo De Donato; Giacomo Delle Rose; Francesco Di Marzo; Francesco Di Pietto; Drapchind Enrica; Cristiano Eirale; Luigi Febbrari; Paolo Ferrua; Andrea Foglia; Alberto Galbiati; Alberto Gheza; Carlo Giammattei; Francesco Masia; Gianluca Melegati; Biagio Moretti; Lorenzo Moretti; Roberto Niccolai; Antonio Orgiani; Claudio Orizio; Andrea Pantalone; Federica Parra; Paolo Patroni; Maria Teresa Pereira Ruiz; Marzio Perri; Stefano Petrillo; Luca Pulici; Alessandro Quaglia; Luca Ricciotti; Francesco Rosa; Nicola Sasso; Claudio Sprenger; Chiara Tarantola; Fabio Gianpaolo Tenconi; Fabio Tosi; Michele Trainini; Agostino Tucciarone; Ali Yekdah; Zarko Vuckovic; Raul Zini; Karim Chamari Journal: BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med Date: 2018-05-24