What Are The Effects Of Massage On Muscular Recovery?

Mrs. Rese Eberl
March 10, 2014
Basic Massage

The Effects of Massage on Muscular Deterioration

Massage is obviously beneficial, but to individuals who previously underwent vigorous exercise it is much more than noticeable. It’s almost instinct to understand that a therapeutic massage can relieve much of the tension and soreness from previous exercise, but how and why is massage helpful in recovery? In this essay I will be explaining the correlation between massage and its ability to relieve muscular tension and expedite muscle recovery. While addressing the more scientific effects of massage to expose the biological process and healing purpose of the practice. When an individual receives a massage it’s obvious to notice that they’re calm and relaxed opposed to someone who routinely exercises at a gym who is often tense and eager. The effects of the practices are opposite of
each other. While vigorous exercise is aimed towards stretching and tearing the muscle, massage relieves and relaxes the muscle. Therefore it’s easy to understand why massage would relieve a sore, tense muscle, but how exactly does massage affect the muscle? A research article published by Science Translation Medicine indicates that massage relieves inflammation and repairs the trained muscle within the physiological and biological makeup. Their experiment revealed that massage suppresses the components that set off the immune reaction of inflammation, which is the body’s reaction to the cells repairing the muscle. In other words a massage reduces the accumulation of compounds called Cytokines, which are directly related to the inflammation of the muscle and this causes relief in the muscle tissue. Another benefit of massage is the ability to expedite the healing process of the muscle.
Whereas a muscle is able to recover and repair quicker with massage then it would if allowed to heal naturally. This in my opinion is critical when there are situations in which an individual must recover quickly in order to perform physically at the best of their abilities. For example in the “Olympics” where an athlete must perform in a competition and success is dependent upon muscular output. Massage could ensure that the muscle will perform much more efficiently after previous exercise and preparation. According to the article, the effects of massage on muscle reparation is biologically defined by the stimulation of the mitochondria. The mitochondria is like the microscopic factory found within the cell that is responsible for transforming glucose into the energy that is needed for a cells functioning and repairing. Since massage has the ability to energize these biological repairmen the recovery process is accelerated and the amount of time it takes to recover is dramatically
reduced. Since the effects of massage are commonly associated with verbal clarification and the analysis of physical reaction. Then understanding the effects from a scientific point of view can help one interpret how these simple therapeutic motions have physical healing capabilities, especially on those who routinely damage their muscle tissue. Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky explains the scientific effects of Swedish massage concisely, “The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis,” In conclusion the repairing abilities of massage are effective physiologically and biologically. So for those in need of muscular anti-inflammatory turn to massage instead of aspirin or other alleviating drugs.

Work Cited
Cloud, John. "How Massage Works." Time. N.p., 19 Jan. 2011. Web.
Tarnopolsky, Mark A. "Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise- Induced Muscle Damage." Science Translational Medicine. N.p., 1 Feb. 2012. Web.