Effects of petrissage massage on fatigue and exercise performance following intensive cycle pedaling

Ryuji Ogai ^1*, Motoi Yamane ², Takaaki Matsumoto ¹ and Mitsuo Kosaka ³

¹ Chukyo University Graduate School of Health and Sport Sciences, Japan
² Life System Science and Technology, Chukyo University, Japan
³ Aichi Medical University, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rogyai{at}yahoo.co.jp.

Accepted 23 January 2008

Abstract

Objective: Petrissage is assumed to influence circulation as well as interstitial drainage of both superficial and deep tissues. To study its effect it was applied between consecutive bouts of supra-maximal exercise performed by the lower leg muscles.

Methods: Subjects were 11 healthy female students actively engaged in sports. Exercise bouts of ergometer cycling at loads determined individually (0.75 kp x body weight [kg]) for 5 sec repeated 8-times at intervals of 20 sec had to be performed twice on an experimental day with 35 min intermittent bed rest. Each subject was investigated on two occasions with a minimum interval of one week, once without (control, CO) and once with 10 min petrissage (massage, MA) of the exercising lower leg during the bed rest phase. Effects of exercise bouts on blood lactate, muscle stiffness and perceived lower-limb fatigue and their recovery before and after the second exercise bout were determined.

Result: For the first exercise bouts total power did not differ between MA and CO. Courses of blood lactate did not differ between MA and CO. However, recovery from measured muscle stiffness (P < 0.05) and perceived lower-limb fatigure (P < 0.05) were more pronounced and total power during the second exercise bout was enhanced (P < 0.01) in MA as compared to CO subjects. Conclusion: Petrissage improved cycle ergometer pedaling performance independent of blood lactate but in correlation with improved recovery from muscle stiffness and perceived lower-limb fatigue.