Muscular Development – July 2019

BODYBUILDING science

By Michael J. Rudolph, Ph.D.

Senior Science Editor

108 MD musculardevelopment.com July 2019

Massage can provide several benefits such as increased

blood flow, reduced muscle soreness and decreased

catabolic hormone levels.

Enhance Recovery

and Performance

With Massage

While many elite athletes regularly utilize
sports massage as an essential part of their
training routine to improve performance and
recovery, others typically consider massage
to be a lavish procedure primarily used for
relaxation. However, based on recent research,
many in the sports medicine community have
come to believe that massage can provide
several benefits such as increased blood flow,
reduced muscle soreness and decreased
catabolic hormone levels. Moreover, this flood
of research showing the positive influence of
massage is generating a greater consensus
that massage is more than just a relaxation
technique as it can also improve overall
athletic performance.

Improved AthletIc
performAnce
One of the more interesting ways that
massage has been shown to enhance athletic
performance is by generating greater blood
flow by decreasing the rigidity within blood
vessels known as arteries. This decreased
arterial stiffness tends to open up the artery,
generating greater blood flow. The ability of
massage to increase blood flow was shown
in a study by Okamoto et al.^1 that measured
arterial stiffness in 10 healthy, young subjects
before and after massage of the entire body.
The results showed that massage made the
blood vessels significantly less stiff while
also increasing the concentration of nitrite and
nitrate, which are precursors to the signaling
molecule nitric oxide (NO). This greater
amount of nitrite and nitrate due to massage
would most likely increase NO levels. Since
NO has been shown to also increase blood
flow by causing arteries to dilate or open
up, this additional increase in arterial blood
flow from NO signaling ought to enhance
muscular performance greatly— by supplying
a much greater amount of oxygen and
essential nutrients to working muscles, while
simultaneously removing metabolic waste.

GreAter muscle Growth

And strenGth

The stress reduction associated with

massage therapy has also been shown to

reduce the production of the stress hormone

cortisol, which is often called the “stress

hormone” because it is secreted by the

adrenal glands following emotional or physical

stress. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that

has the ability to transform the body from

an anabolic, muscle-building state to a

catabolic, muscle-depleting state. In several

studies looking at the influence of massage

on cortisol levels2-4, massage typically caused

a considerable decrease in cortisol levels

(averaging decreases around 31%). In one of

these studies, Leivadi et al. reported^5 that

subjects performing intense exercise that

were exposed to either massage or relaxation

therapy after their workout only had lower

cortisol levels after massage. The reduction

of cortisol from massage promotes a more

anabolic environment, supporting greater

muscle growth and strength.

less pAIn And Better

endurAnce

Although massage therapy reduces

pain in damaged muscle associated with

weightlifting, the exact mechanism has

PER BERNAL