ArticleBMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation2015
Deep soft-tissue massage applied to healthy calf muscle has no effect on passive mechanical properties: a randomized, single-blind, cross-over study.
Article in BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Post-Exercise Massage on Passive Muscle Stiffness Measured Using Myotonometry - A Double-Blind Study.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2018Trial
- The effect of deep tissue massage on respiratory parameters in healthy subjects-A non-randomised pilot study.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Effects of Therapeutic Calf Massage on Cardiac Autonomic Function in Healthy Volunteers-a Pilot Study.International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork · 2023Article
- Stiffening of the gluteal muscle increased the intramuscular stress: An in-silico implication of deep tissue injury.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Effects of two-week machine massage on muscle properties in adolescent wrestlers.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- An Acute Bout of Self-Myofascial Release Does Not Affect Drop Jump Performance despite an Increase in Ankle Range of Motion.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Selective Effects of Manual Massage and Foam Rolling on Perceived Recovery and Performance: Current Knowledge and Future Directions Toward Robotic Massages.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Review
- Acute effects of different foam rolling volumes in the interset rest period on maximum repetition performance.Hong Kong physiotherapy journal : official publication of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association Limited = Wu li chih liao · 2017Article
- ACUTE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SELF-MASSAGE VOLUMES ON THE FMS™ OVERHEAD DEEP SQUAT PERFORMANCE.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2017Article
- MAXIMUM REPETITION PERFORMANCE AFTER DIFFERENT ANTAGONIST FOAM ROLLING VOLUMES IN THE INTER-SET REST PERIOD.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMassage is often applied with the intention of improving flexibility or reducing stiffness in musculotendinous tissue. There is, however, a lack of supporting evidence that such mechanical effects occur. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of massage on the passive mechanical properties of the calf muscle complex.
methodsTwenty nine healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 45 years of age had their calf muscle compliance and ankle joint dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) measured using an instrumented footplate before, immediately and 30 minutes after a ten minute application of deep massage or superficial heating to the calf muscle complex. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to determine differences between testing sessions and the types of intervention. Reliability testing for the measurement method was conducted using analysis of variance both within and between testing sessions.
resultsThere was no significant change in calf muscle stiffness or ankle dorsiflexion range of motion with or without the application of calf massage. Inter- and intra-session reliability were very high, ICC > 0.88 (p < 0.001).
conclusionsAlthough individuals' perception of a change in tissue characteristics following massage has been reported, there was no evidence that soft tissue massage led to a change in the passive mechanical properties of the calf muscle complex. The findings of this study suggest that the use of massage to increase tissue flexibility prior to activity is not justified.
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