The Acute Effect of Percussive Massage Intervention with and without Heat Application on Plantar Flexor Muscles’ Passive and Active Properties
Masatoshi Nakamura1,, Hironori Uchida1, Yuta Murakami2, Kazuki Kasahara2, Takaki Imai3, Andreas Konrad4
1Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishi Kyushu University, Saga, Japan 2Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan 3Department of Rehabilitation, Kyushu University of Nursing and Welfare, Kumamoto, Japan 4Institute of Human Movement Science, Sport and Health, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Andreas Konrad Institute of Human Movement Science, Sport and Health, University of Graz, Graz, Austria Email: andreas.konrad@uni-graz.at
Received: 15-12-2023 -- Accepted: 25-12-2023 Published (online): 01-03-2024
ABSTRACT
Recently, percussive massage (PM) intervention using a handheld percussive massage device, namely a massage gun, has been used as an easy way to perform vibration functions. Additionally, a product has been developed that allows PM intervention and heat application to be performed simultaneously. Thus, this study aimed to compare the acute effects of PM intervention with and without heat application on dorsiflexion (DF) range of motion (ROM), passive stiffness, and muscle strength in the gastrocnemius muscle. Fifteen healthy young men (20.9 ± 0.2 years) participated in this study. We measured the DF ROM, passive torque at DF ROM (an indicator of stretch tolerance), passive stiffness, and maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque of the plantar flexor muscles before and immediately after 120 seconds PM intervention with and without heat application. The results showed that PM intervention with and without heat application significantly increased DF ROM and passive torque at DF ROM and decreased passive stiffness, not MVIC torque. These results suggest that PM intervention increased ROM and decreased passive stiffness regardless of the presence or absence of the heat application.
Key words:
Range of motion, passive torque, stiffness, stretch tolerance, maximum voluntary isometric contraction
Key Points
We investigated the acute effect of percussive massage (PM) intervention with and without heat application on dorsiflexion range of motion (DF ROM), passive stiffness, and muscle strength in the gastrocnemius muscle.
We measured the DF ROM, passive torque at DF ROM (an indicator of stretch tolerance), passive stiffness, and maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque of the gastrocnemius before and immediately after 120 seconds PM intervention with and without heat application.
These results suggest that PM intervention increased ROM and decreased passive stiffness regardless of the presence or absence of the heat application.
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The Acute Effect of Percussive Massage Intervention with and without Heat Application on Plantar Flexor Muscles’ Passive and Active Properties
Masatoshi Nakamura, Hironori Uchida, Yuta Murakami, Kazuki Kasahara, Takaki Imai, Andreas Konrad
, Hironori Uchida1, Yuta Murakami2, Kazuki Kasahara2, Takaki Imai3, Andreas Konrad4
