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An acute session of roller massage prolongs voluntary torque development and diminishes evoked pain

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Abstract

Introduction

Roller massage (RM) has been reported to reduce pain associated with exercise-induced muscle soreness and increase range of motion without force or activation impairments. The objective was to examine RM effects on evoked pain and contractile properties.

Methods

Twelve men received three sets of 30-s RM at a perceived discomfort level of 7/10 on a visual analogue scale on the ipsilateral (IPSI-R) stimulated plantar flexors (PF), contralateral PF (CONTRA-R), Sham (light rolling on stimulated PF), or Control. At pre-test, post-test, and 5-min post-test, they received evoked maximal twitch, tetanus, and 70% maximal tetanic stimulation, and performed a maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC). Data analysis included perceived pain and contractile properties.

Results

The 70% tetanus illustrated significant 9–10% increases in pain perception with Sham and Control at post- and 5-min post-test, respectively (p < 0.01). There was no pain augmentation with IPSI-R and CONTRA-R. There were no main effects or interactions for most contractile properties. However, MVIC force developed in the first 200 ms showed 9.5% (p = 0.1) and 19.1% (p = 0.03) decreases with IPSI-R at post-test and 5-min post-test.

Conclusion

Data suggest that RM-induced neural inhibition decreased MVIC F200 and nullified the testing-induced increase in evoked pain associated with 70% tetanic stimulation.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

CONTRA-R:

Contralateral plantar flexors rolling massage

DOMS:

Delayed onset muscle soreness

ES:

Effect size

F200:

Peak force exerted within 200 ms of the maximum voluntary isometric contraction

IPSI-R:

Ipsilateral plantar flexors rolling massage

MVIC:

Maximum voluntary isometric contraction

PF:

Plantar flexors

PPT:

Pain pressure threshold

RM:

Roller massager

VAS:

Visual analogue scale

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Acknowledgements

The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and a MITACS Accelerate grant financially supported this study. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Thamir Alkanani for his organization and preparation of the laboratory and equipment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Memorial University of Newfoundland, School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada

    Mark Tyler Cavanaugh, Alexander Döweling, James Douglas Young, Patrick John Quigley, Daniel David Hodgson, Joseph H. D. Whitten, Jonathan C. Reid, Saied Jalal Aboodarda & David G. Behm

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  1. Mark Tyler Cavanaugh
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  2. Alexander Döweling
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  3. James Douglas Young
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  4. Patrick John Quigley
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  7. Jonathan C. Reid
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  8. Saied Jalal Aboodarda
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  9. David G. Behm
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Correspondence to David G. Behm.

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Communicated by Olivier Seynnes.

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Cavanaugh, M.T., Döweling, A., Young, J.D. et al. An acute session of roller massage prolongs voluntary torque development and diminishes evoked pain. Eur J Appl Physiol 117, 109–117 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3503-y

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