Effects of Massage on the Short-term Post-exercise Recovery
Condition: Healthy Volunteers
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Objectives: To analyze the behavior of the effects of massage on clinical, metabolic and
      functional variables in different scenarios: i) under no stress or massage application; ii)
      after massage; iii) after exhaustion protocol; iv) after the immediate application of
      post-exercise massage; v) after application of the massage 1hour post-exercise.

      Method: This was a randomized cross-over clinical trial in which 24 participants had their
      clinical, functional and metabolic outcome data analyzed under different scenarios: i)
      control scenario (CO): basal condition (under no stress or massage application); ii) Massage
      (MA): after receiving the massage; iii) Exhaustion protocol (PE): after protocol of
      exhaustion; iv) PE + immediate massage (EMI): after the protocol of exhaustion followed
      immediately by massage; iv) PE + delayed massage (EMT): after the protocol of exhaustion and
      massage received 1h after its end. The exhaustion protocol used consisted of 10 series of 10
      jumps and one Wingate test and the manual massage protocol was composed of 12 minutes of
      massage, 3 minutes for the anterior region of the thigh of each lower limb and 6 minutes to
      the dorsal trunk. The variables studied were: muscle soreness, perceived recovery, maximal
      voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), strength and power in the guided bar, vertical jump
      and blood lactate concentration [Lac].

      Measurements. The primary outcome measures will be measured 2h after the start of each stage,
      and the secondary outcome measures will be measured at specific times during each stage. The
      primary outcome includes measures of functional performance, and the measures of secondary
      outcome includes clinical and metabolic variables.
    

Detailed description: 
      Introduction: Background: Massage has been shown over the years a recuperative technique
      widely used in sports. Studies demonstrate divergent results of the technique in terms of
      recovery of functional, clinical and metabolic performance after exercise. The wide
      methodological variety of these studies, as in relation to the moment of massage application,
      may be a possible justification for such a scenario. Thus, the study investigating the
      effects of massage applied at different moments of post-exercise recovery deserves to be
      highlighted.

      Objectives: To analyze the behavior of the effects of massage on clinical, metabolic and
      functional variables in different scenarios: i) under no stress or massage application; ii)
      after massage; iii) after exhaustion protocol; iv) after the immediate application of
      post-exercise massage; v) after application of the massage 1hour post-exercise.

      Design: A cross-over randomized clinical trial.

      Method: This was a randomized cross-over clinical trial in which 24 participants had their
      clinical, functional and metabolic outcome data analyzed under different scenarios: i)
      control scenario (CO): basal condition (under no stress or massage application); ii) Massage
      (MA): after receiving the massage; iii) Exhaustion protocol (PE): after protocol of
      exhaustion; iv) PE + immediate massage (EMI): after the protocol of exhaustion followed
      immediately by massage; iv) PE + delayed massage (EMT): after the protocol of exhaustion and
      massage received 1h after its end. Exhaustion protocol: consisted of 10 series of 10 jumps
      and one Wingate test. Manual massage protocol: was composed of 12 minutes of massage, 3
      minutes for the anterior region of the thigh of each lower limb and 6 minutes to the dorsal
      trunk.

      Measurements. The primary outcome measures will be measured 2h after the start of each stage,
      and the secondary outcome measures will be measured at specific times during each stage. The
      primary measures includes the Strength and power test, Maximal voluntary isometric
      contraction (MVIC) and Squat jump. The secondary measures includes the subjective pain
      assessment, perception of recovery, psychological questionnaire, belief questionnaire and de
      analysis blood lactate concentration.

      The variables studied were: muscle soreness, perceived recovery, maximal voluntary isometric
      contraction (MVIC), strength and power in the guided bar, vertical jump and blood lactate
      concentration [Lac].

      Analysis: The normality of the data will be evaluated through the Shapiro-Wilk test. The
      sphericity of the data was tested by the Mauchly's test. In case of breach of the sphericity
      assumption, Greenhouse-Geisser corrections were used. Effect size was calculated using
      partial eta-square (η²) and interpreted as small (≥0.01), moderate (≥0.06) or large (≥0.14).
      When identified a large effect size, was used the Friedman's test with post-hoc Bonferroni
      test, for soreness and perceived recovery, and Repeated Measures ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey's
      test for vertical jump and MVIC. The level of significance was set at 5%.
    

Intervention name(s): Stress Protocol; Massage Protocol
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Participants will be submitted to an exercise protocol consisting of a jumping program and a maximum short cycle test (ALMEIDAetal). The jumping program consists of 10 sets of 10 jumps with one minute interval between sets. The participants will then perform the Wingate Anaerobic Test protocol, which will be performed on a Biotec 2100 cycle ergometer (Cefise, Nova Odessa, Brazil). A 5-minute warm-up will be carried out where the participant will pedal at a speed of 60 to 90 rpm with a fixed load of 1.0 kg and perform sprints in the 2nd and 4th minute and the test itself, which consists of a maximum of pedals In 30 seconds with a stipulated load of 0.075 kP · kg-1 of the participant's body mass.; the present protocol will have a total of 12 minutes duration, being six minutes in the anterior region of the thigh (three minutes for each limb) and six minutes in the posterior region of the trunk.
Surface and deep sliding techniques will be used, the latter being presented in two intensities, moderate or intense, gradually increased. The massage will be performed towards the muscle fibers, from distal to proximal and following the lymphatic flow. In addition to the standardization of the intensity of the massage performed by the physiotherapist, in order to avoid causing discomfort and possible variations in the application of the technique, participants should report their level of comfort from a scale that considers the technique "light", "moderate" or "Intense", corresponding respectively to surface slip, Deep Slip 1 and Deep Slip 2.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: Exercise; Massage; Post-exercise recovery; Athletic performance