SynthesisBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2020
Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT07728422 (Effects of Ozone Therapy Modalities on Biochemical Markers of Muscle Damage Following Eccentric Exercise), which is not on this map. Cited by 58 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Ozone Therapy Modalities on Biochemical Markers of Muscle Damage Following Eccentric Exercise
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evaluating the Impact of Massage Therapy on Performance and Well-Being in Taekwondo Practitioners: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Physical Therapies for Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness: An Umbrella and Mapping Systematic Review with Meta-meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Recovery Strategies After Training and Competition in Endurance Athletes: An Umbrella Review.Sports medicine - open · 2024Pooled it
- Acute Effect of Percussive Massage on Cross-Section Area, Muscle Strength, and Late Muscle Pain of the Quadriceps Muscle Following a Fatigue Protocol in Physically Active Men: Randomized Clinical Trial.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Trial
- Effects of lymphatic drainage and intense sports massage on muscle properties, damage, and function after eccentric plyometric training: a randomized controlled parallel trial.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Acute Effects of Percussive Massage Intensity on Change-of-Direction Performance, Vertical Jump Kinetics, and Neuromuscular Performance Across Morning and Evening Sessions in Trained Male Football Players.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Trial
- Active release techniquesJournal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation · 2026Trial
- Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization and percussion massage therapy in cervical disc herniation: a randomized controlled study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Trial
- Massage positively influences daytime brain activity and reduces arousal state in poor sleepers: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Immediate effect of ice and dry massage during rest breaks on recovery in MMA fighters : a randomized crossover clinical trial study.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Acute effects of cold, heat and contrast pressure therapy on forearm muscles regeneration in combat sports athletes: a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment on Movement Velocity during Resistance Training.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Comparison of Interventional Strategies to Improve Recovery after Eccentric Exercise-Induced Muscle Fatigue.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Effects of the Foam Massage Roller on VEGF-A and FGF-2 Blood Levels in Young Men.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Trial
- Short-Term Tensiomyography Responses of the Vastus Medialis to Percussive Massage Therapy with Different Frequency-Duration Combinations.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- Mechanisms and Efficacy of Massage Therapy for Post-Exercise Muscle Repair: A Narrative Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Changes in the mechanical properties of myotonometric muscles following manual therapy during archery: a single-group, single-session repeated measurement study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMassage is ubiquitous in elite sport and increasingly common at amateur level but the evidence base for this intervention has not been reviewed systematically. We therefore performed a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of massage on measures of sporting performance and recovery. DESIGN AND ELIGIBILITY: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane to identify randomised studies that tested the effect of manual massage on measures of sporting performance and/or recovery. We performed separate meta-analyses on the endpoints of; strength, jump, sprint, endurance, flexibility, fatigue and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
resultsWe identified 29 eligible studies recruiting 1012 participants, representing the largest examination of the effects of massage. We found no evidence that massage improves measures of strength, jump, sprint, endurance or fatigue, but massage was associated with small but statistically significant improvements in flexibility and DOMS.
conclusionAlthough our study finds no evidence that sports massage improves performance directly, it may somewhat improve flexibility and DOMS. Our findings help guide the coach and athlete about the benefits of massage and inform decisions about incorporating this into training and competition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.