Does sports massage help recovery

The various types of sports massage

You will see “sports massage” described as a particular type or style of massage, but the term is used to describe a wide variety of types of massage applied to help those who play sports or exercise.

Conventional massage vs vibration

There are two main types of massage that can be used as “sports massage”: conventional and vibration. Conventional massage is the typical massage where a therapist uses techniques like pressure, rubbing and kneading. Vibration massage is where a mechanical vibrator is used to send therapeutic vibrations deep into the muscles. These are obviously applied differently, and as you will see give completely different results.

What you need for recovery

Strenuous exercise can cause microscopic damage to your muscles and cause them to tighten. For more information about this please see our article Does massage help healing and recovery. Because of this your main issues after sport or exercise will will be:

1. stiffness and soreness
2. a temporary reduction in strength and endurance until the microscopic damage is repaired.

The goal of post exercise therapies (including sports massage) is to help reduce this by:

1. relaxing the muscles,
2. increasing blood flow (remove wastes, carry in oxygen and nutrients), and
3. stimulate healing.

How well does do massages do this

In this section we will summarise how well each type of massage does this. For those who want more details we’ve put details of the clinical trials and other science in the appendix below.

What science says about conventional sports massage

Conventional massage relaxes muscles and increases blood flow so it should help both help reduce post exercise soreness and stiffness, and help muscles regain their strength faster. However, the large number of clinical trials conducted have only shown:

• a very small or no decrease soreness and stiffness
• either a very small reduction or no improvement at all, in loss of strength.

What science says about vibration massage

The trials of vibration massage show that this can give an excellent reduction in post exercise soreness and soreness, and help you regain strength faster.

Your best options to help recovery

Sports massage should be part of an overall recovery strategy

To help get the best recovery after sports or exercise you need a complete strategy including rest, hydration, nutrition and other things. For more information please see our article The practical, science based guide to post exercise recovery

Your sports massage options

We’ve see that vibration massage will give you by far better results, so if you want you can jump straight to the vibration massage section. However, some people have access to conventional massages and we need to discuss self applied conventional massage using foam rollers, so we’ll discuss this as well.

Vibration massage

As discussed above vibration massage generally gives by far the best results, and it is extremely easy to use on yourself. In this section we will briefly explain what vibration massage is and how it works, then point you in the right direction to get an effective vibration massager and use it properly.

Getting an effective vibration massager

You will need a decent professional strength vibration massager. To get the right equipment please see our article How to choose a massager. Please check this out as there is a lot of really poor equipment on the market. In particular you need to be warned about “consumer massagers” and massage guns.

Consumer massagers

As found in a study of massage equipment intended for public use (1)⁠ manufacturers have a long history of being more concerned about how their products look on shop shelves than how they work. As a result they are usually very ineffective and not recommended by professionals.

Massage guns (percussion massagers)

Massage guns are a marketing exercise based on the claim that by driving their heads into the muscles like jack hammers it enhances their penetration and effectiveness. However, as discussed in our article Do massage guns actually work this dramatically reduces their ability to deliver effective therapeutic vibration, while increasing their likelihood of causing injury or damage. Their manufacturers charge a massive premium on their products so they can pay celebrities and athletes to say that this stupid idea is a good thing for you.

How to use a vibration massager

Vibration massagers are incredibly easy to use. We have links below to instructions with hints, precautions and specific uses, but basically all you need to do is place the head of the vibration massager over part you want to massage and let the vibrations penetrate. There is no need to press in, move the machine around, or know any conventional massage techniques. You can use it on your muscles before exercise as a warm up, after to help recovery, or on specific issues such as trigger points or injuries.
Resources
How to use a massager
The sports and exercise guide to vibration massage

Resource for fitness professionals

Please check out our video guide for fitness professionals

Appendix: summary of scientific evidence

Vibration massage

Conventional massage

Foam rollers

Note: when conducting trials of foam rollers patients are chosen for suitability, then given excellent instructions and supervision. Even with these optimum conditions the results were only marginal. In the real world people use foam rollers without good instructions or supervision, and sometimes on conditions not suitable for foam rolling. Therefore, in the real world expect even poorer results.

References

1. McDonagh D, Wilson L, Haslam C, Weightman D. Good vibrations: Do electrical therapeutic massagers work? Ergonomics. 2005;
2. Alghadir AH, Anwer S, Zafar H, Iqbal ZA. Effect of localised vibration on muscle strength in healthy adults: a systematic review. Physiother (United Kingdom) 2018;104(1):18–24.
3. Shuang Wu, Hong-Ting Ning S-MX. Effects of vibration therapy on muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function in older adults with sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2020;17:12.
4. Percival S et al. Local vibration therapy increases oxygen re-saturation rate and maintains muscle strength following exercise induced muscle damage. J Athl Train. 2021;Aug 17.
5. Lau WY, Nosaka K. Effect of vibration treatment on symptoms associated with eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2011;
6. Imtiyaz S, Veqar Z, Shareef MY. To compare the effect of vibration therapy and massage in prevention of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). J Clin Diagnostic Res. 2014;
7. Bakhtiary AH, Safavi-Farokhi Z, Aminian-Far A. Influence of vibration on delayed onset of muscle soreness following eccentric exercise. Br J Sports Med. 2007;
8. Davis HL, Alabed S, Chico TJA. Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020;6(1):e000614.
9. Jönhagen S, Ackermann P, Eriksson T, Saartok T, Renström PAFH. Sports massage after eccentric exercise. Am J Sports Med. 2004;32(6):1499–503.
10. White GE, West SL, Caterini JE, Di Battista AP, Rhind SG, Wells GD. Massage therapy modulates inflammatory mediators following sprint exercise in healthy Male athletes. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2020;5(1):1–11.
11. Naderi A, Aminian-Far A, Gholami F, Mousavi SH, Saghari M, Howatson G. Massage enhances recovery following exercise-induced muscle damage in older adults. Scand J Med Sci Sport. 2021;31(3):623–32.
12. Freiwald J, Baumgart C, Kühnemann M, Hoppe MW. Foam-Rolling in Sport und Therapy- Potential benefits and risks. Sport Orthop Traumatol. 2016;32(3):267–75.
13. DeBruyne DM, Dewhurst MM, Fischer KM, Wojtanowski MS, Durall C. Self-mobilization using a foam roller versus a roller massager: Which is more effective for increasing hamstrings flexibility? J Sport Rehabil. 2017;26(1):94–100.
14. Weiwlhove T. A Meta-Analysis of the effects of foam rolling on perforrmance and recovery. Front Physiol. 2019;10:376.