OBJECTIVE: The usefulness of massage as a recovery method after high-intensity exercise has yet to be established. We aimed to investigate the effects of whole-body massage on heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure (BP) after repeated high-intensity cycling exercise under controlled and standardized pretest conditions. METHODS: The study included 62 healthy active individuals. After baseline measurements, the subjects performed standardized warm-up exercises followed by three 30-second Wingate tests. After completing the exercise protocol, the subjects were randomly assigned to a massage (myofascial release) or placebo (sham treatment with disconnected ultrasound and magnetotherapy equipment) group for a 40-minute recovery period. Holter recording and BP measurements were taken after exercise protocol and after the intervention. RESULTS: After the exercise protocol, both groups showed a significant decrease in normal-to-normal interval, HRV index, diastolic BP (p > 0.001), and low-frequency domain values (p = 0.006). After the recovery period, HRV index (p = 0.42) and high-frequency (HF) (p = 0.94) values were similar to baseline levels in the massage group, whereas the HRV index tended (p = 0.05) to be lower and the HF was significantly (p < 0.01) lower versus baseline values in the placebo group, which also showed a tendency (p = 0.06) for HF to be lower than after the exercise. Likewise, diastolic BP returned to baseline levels in the massage group (p = 0.45) but remained lower in the placebo group (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Myofascial release massage favors the recovery of HRV and diastolic BP after high-intensity exercise (3 Wingate tests) to preexercise levels.
Reprinted from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics with copyright permission from the National University of Health Sciences.

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