Including Stretches to a Massage Routine Improves Recovery From Official Matches in Basketball Players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of incorporating stretches into a massage recovery treatment after a competitive basketball match on perceptual and physical markers of recovery. Nine men (age: 22 ± 3 years; stature: 191.2 ± 8.5 cm; body mass: 90.9 ± 10.1 kg; and body fat: 12.4 ± 4.7%) and 8 women (age: 21 ± 3 years; stature: 176.4 ± 8.1 cm; body mass: 73.9 ± 9.7 kg; and body fat: 21.9 ± 5.5%) who are national-level basketball players received a massage, a massage and stretching, or no treatment immediately after a competitive match. The perception of overall fatigue and leg soreness was assessed immediately after the treatment and 24 hours later, whereas countermovement jump (CMJ) and repeated sprint ability (RSA) were tested 24 hours after the treatment. Compared with massage, massage and stretching induced lower perception of leg soreness immediately only in women (p ≤ 0.001; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.86), whereas a longer lasting effect was observed in men, with a difference between treatments reported after 24 hours (p ≤ 0.001; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.94). Furthermore, both treatments resulted in a better CMJ performance compared with the control condition in men only (p = 0.0001; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.33), and massage and stretching involved a lower performance decrement during RSA compared with massage in women only (p = 0.015; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.29). The results suggest that women benefit slightly more from the combination treatment than men, and therefore this type of recovery intervention should be adopted by physiotherapists working with women teams in particular.

Static stretching does not enhance recovery in elite youth soccer players

“…These results are consistent with previous research suggesting SS as a recovery technique has no effect on recovery time when considering muscle oedema,18 perceived soreness10 11 18 and CMJA7 10; therefore, it may be argued that in contrast to findings by Delextrat et al ,4 SS is an ineffective method for reducing muscle oedema for elite young soccer players. Additionally, due to the elite training status of these individuals, the body may be accustomed to managing the repair of damaged muscle fibres and the removal of myoprotein,19 and as a result SS has little effect on the repair process.…”

“…In contrast to research demonstrating SS has no effect on recovery, Delextrat et al 4 report a significant reduction in perceived muscle soreness (PMS) (females) and a significant improvement in countermovement jump with arms (CMJA) performance (males) as a result of an SS intervention on state-level basketball players. Again limitations to this study exist as the recovery intervention incorporated massage therapy, and therefore findings cannot be directly compared with studies focusing solely on SS.…”

“…When performing SS, muscles are elongated, often to the point of slight discomfort where they are held for a prescribed period of time 3. It has been suggested that SS may assist in the dispersion of postexercise muscle oedema,4 reducing the potential damaging effects of reactive oxygen species, neutrophils, lymphocytes and proinflammatory cytokines which, although act as a protective mechanism, may inadvertently cause further cell damage 5…”

“…In addition to the recommendations for using SS with non-elite participants,1 SS is known to be used by elite athletes, with research highlighting the application on national-level basketball4 and soccer3 players. Furthermore, Dadebo et al 6 reported English Premier League football clubs dedicate almost 40% of training time to flexibility training, with the most common technique being SS, although this study did not specify the context in which SS was implemented (warm-up or cool-down).…”

“…Applied studies investigating the effects of SS have explored numerous sports such as basketball,4 7 8 Australian rules football9 and soccer 3 10 11. Research assessing the effects of SS in basketball has revealed varied and inconclusive findings.…”