The Effect of Timing of Sports Massage on 60-m Sprint Performance in Competitive Athletes

Sports massage is considered to improve muscle tone and flexibility and thus, overall, contribute to the improvement of athletes' performance. It is not yet clear whether pre- or post-warm-up sports massage can enhance athletes' performance. Additionally, while essential oils are believed to enhance the effects of massage, empirical evidence remains limited.

The present study aimed to evaluate the timing effect of pre-competition sports massage, using two different massage oils, on sprint performance.

A total of 40 competitive male young sprint and multiple-sprint sport athletes were randomly divided into two groups-group 1: sports massage applied after the warm-up followed by a max 60-m sprint trial, group 2: sports massage before the warm-up followed by a max 60-m sprint trial. All participants were assessed in three different massage conditions: (i) control: usual warm-up, no massage; (ii) AEO: sports massage using activation essential oil; (iii) BO: sports massage using baby oil.

The results demonstrated a statistically significant main effect of massage on sprint performance, by reducing 60-m sprint time (F(2,78) = 5.304, p ≤ 0.005). Specifically, sprint performance improved (3.91%, p = 0.008) when the sport massage session took place after the athletes' warm-up (group 1) and when the AEO was applied (p = 0.004).

A brief pre-competition sports massage, especially after the warm-up session and when AEO is applied, could be used as a complementary approach to help improve sprint performance.