[Purpose] The study aimed to preliminarily investigate the effects of mechanical-bed
massage on exercise-induced back fatigue in athletes. [Subjects and Methods] Twelve male
college athletes, randomly allocated to experimental or control groups, were instructed to
perform reverse sit-up for 8 sessions until they became fatigued. The experimental group
received a 20-min mechanical-bed massage session, while the control group rested on a bed
for the same period of time. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) on perceived back muscle fatigue,
back muscle endurance, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) parameters including stress index
(SI), HRV index, SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, LF, HF, and LF/HF were analyzed. [Results]
Immediately and 24 hours after the intervention, the VAS significantly differed between
the groups. Experimental group’s HF was significantly higher immediately after the
intervention than control group. Experimental group’s LF and LF/HF were significantly
lower immediately after the intervention than the control group. [Conclusion] Mechanical
bed massage may help athletes overcome the subjective feelings of exercise-induced
fatigue, modulate the automatic nervous system activity, especially for balancing
sympathetic and parasympathetic activities. Therefore, mechanical bed massage may
facilitate recovery from muscle and central fatigue after athlete training or
competition.
Objectives. This paper aims at exploring the effects of GUASHA on heart rate variability between healthy volunteers under normal condition and weightlifters after training sessions. Methods. Ten healthy male volunteers under normal condition and 15 male weightlifters after weightlifting training sessions were recruited into two groups. Electrocardiography was recorded before and immediately after 20-minute GUASHA. HRV was calculated in both the time domain and the frequency domain. Results. Stress index was reduced, while standard deviation of N-N intervals (SDNN), proportion derived by dividing the number of interval differences of successive N-N intervals greater than 50 ms, and root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) were enhanced after GUASHA therapy in the two groups. The changes in SDNN and RMSSD were higher in the healthy men group than in the weightlifters group. In addition, low frequency was decreased whereas high frequency was significantly increased in healthy men after the GUASHA session. Conclusions. GUASHA therapy facilitates the parasympathetic nervous activity and modulates the balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic activities in both healthy men under normal condition and weightlifters after training sessions as indicated. Although the changes of the HRV parameters were similar in both groups, the responsiveness was more pronounced in healthy men than in male weightlifters.
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