If you have ever been wrecked by muscle soreness a day or two after a hard workout, you have met DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness. This review asked a question a lot of active people care about: does a post-exercise massage genuinely help you recover, or does it just feel nice?
The authors pooled 11 randomised controlled trials with 504 people, looking at massage after strenuous exercise and its effect on soreness, muscle performance, and a marker of muscle damage in the blood.
Recovery is a big reason people book massage. Knowing what the evidence supports helps us set honest expectations and time treatment well.
Massage delivered after a bout of strenuous or unaccustomed exercise, with soreness and performance measured over the following days.
Outcomes were tracked at 24, 48 and 72 hours, which matters because DOMS typically peaks a day or two after exercise.
Massage came out looking genuinely useful for recovery.
Massage significantly reduced muscle soreness, with the biggest effect at 48 to 72 hours, right when DOMS tends to peak.
Measures of muscle force and power improved, particularly around 72 hours after exercise.
Blood levels of creatine kinase, a marker of muscle damage, were lower after massage.
Benefits were clearer at 48 and 72 hours than immediately after exercise.
Massage after hard exercise reduced soreness, helped muscles recover their strength and power, and lowered a marker of muscle damage. The effect was strongest a day or two later, which is exactly when DOMS bites hardest.
This is good support for massage as a recovery tool, whether you are an athlete, a weekend warrior, or just someone who overdid it in the garden. It also gives us a practical steer on timing, since the benefits showed up strongly in the couple of days after exercise.
In the clinic, that means massage can be a smart part of a recovery routine around training or events, helping you feel and move better while your muscles bounce back.
Supports post-exercise massage as a tool to reduce soreness and support recovery.
Directly backs massage for easing DOMS and helping muscles recover strength and power.
Reinforces massage as part of a recovery routine around training and events.
Complements recovery strategies within a broader training and rehab plan.
The trials were fairly small and varied in massage type and timing, and their methodological quality was on the lower side, so the exact size of the benefit is uncertain. Massage is a recovery aid rather than a substitute for sensible training, sleep and nutrition.
Pooling 11 trials, this review found massage after strenuous exercise reduced soreness, improved muscle performance and lowered a marker of muscle damage, with the biggest effects a day or two later. For anyone who trains, it is solid support for massage as part of recovery.
Massage Alleviates Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness after Strenuous Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Guo J, and colleagues. Frontiers in Physiology, 2017. Please confirm the full citation at the source before publishing.
