Abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of this study was comparing the effects of massage and rest on fatigue and recovery of strength following exhaustive concentric contraction. Material and Methods: In this research, 10 subjects (age 20.7 ± 0.94 yrs, body mass 59.5 ± 5.89 kg, height 173 ± 3.6 cm ,body mass index 20.5 ± 1.37 m/cm 2 ) from 60 male, non-athlete students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, participated voluntarily and based on the specific inclusion/exclusion criteria of the
study. The subjects participated in two testing sessions during a week (with an interval of 48 hours between the first and second session). Subjects did warm-up at the beginning of each session. In the first session, maximum strength of quadriceps was measured by leg extension machine. In the second session (the rest session) the participants initially did exhausting concentric contractions with 50% of their maximum strength after the warm-up, then quadriceps muscle strength was measured before and after 6 minutes of rest, using evaluation instrument of isometric
strength in 90 degree knee angle. In the third session the participants received classical massage techniques instead of resting for 6 minutes. The data regarding fatigue and strength recovery, between passive rest and massage sessions have been analyzed using paired sample t-test. All the data analyses were done using SPSS software. P <0/05 was considered as significant.
Results: The results of t-test indicated a significant difference in the average rate of recovery from fatigue (pre= 0.812 , post= 0.002) and muscle strength (pre= 0.150, post= 0.000) between pre and post-tests following the passive rest and massage sessions. Discussion and Conclusion: Massage was an effective intervention for enhancing muscle performance and
reducing fatigue but rest did not have such an effect.
Machine summary:
"Considering the fact that massage currently plays a crucial role in reducing fatigue and restoration of muscular strength, the present study sets to investigate the effects of massage on fatigue and recovery following exhaustive contractions.
After 6 minutes of massage, fatigue and muscular strength was significantly restored in the participants following exhaustive concentric contractions.
Therefore, massage may result in a more effective recovery following exhaustive concentric contractions (fatigue) as compared to passive rest.
Rinder and Sutherland (1995) investigated the effect of massage on the performance of quadriceps muscles in 20 healthy participants following exhaustive exercise.
Moreover, massage has been more effective in restoring strength following a fatigue-inducing protocol and exhaustive concentric contractions, as compared to passive rest..
The results of the present study showed that there was a significant difference between the effects of massage and passive rest, on fatigue reduction and strength restoration, following exhaustive contractions.
Therefore, with regards to the biomechanical (increase in the ROM, decrease in tissue adhesions), physiological (increase in blood flow in tissues, increase in parasympathetic nervous activities, decrease in the secretion of stress hormones), and psychological and neurological effects of massage, it is recommended that massage be used to remove fatigue and restore muscular strength during rest intervals in strength and exhaustive sports as well as exercise.
A comparison between the present and previous findings shows that further research is necessary to illuminate the exact effects of massage on restoration of muscular strength, improvement of performance and reduction of fatigue."