Effect of sport massage and reflexology on decreases heart rate and blood pressure after training

Abstract

Background and purpose This study aims to determine the effect of sports massage and reflexology on changes in heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) after perform HIIT exercises in athletes. Methods The method used in this study was a true experimental design with a randomized control group pretest-posttest design and used 30 athletes with normal resting heart rate (RHR), normal blood pressure and no history of certain diseases. Subject groups were randomly divided into 3 groups, CG (n = 10, control group), MG (n = 10, massage group), and RG (n = 10, reflexology group). The exercise perform by CG, MG, and RG for 40 minutes/ session with an intensity 60-70%. The exercise is done once in 5 minutes (squad jump, push-up, jumping jack, right split squad, high knee, left split squad, mountain climber, burpees). Massage treatment was carried out for 62 minutes post HIIT exercise, On lower extreme of each subject received a 32-minuts (16 minutes each lower limb ) standardized massage routine targeting four areas: quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius. On upper extreme of each subject received a 16-minutes targeting four areas: trapezius, latissimus dorsi, core muscle, and upper limps. Reflexology treatment was applied for 42 minutes post HIIT exercise, first, the reflexology practitioner (RP) warmed her hands and cleaned the patient’s feet with a warm wet napkin. Then, the feet were gently massaged for 3 minutes. She took the heel of the foot with her left hand and applied pressure on the spinal, upper back, shoulder, arm, and lower back points with the right-hand thumb alternately. The massage of reflex zones lasted for 15 minutes. Lastly, the foot was gently massaged for 3 minutes the same as the beginning of the procedure. Therefore, the protocol was performed for 21 minutes and on each foot (42 minutes each session). Heart rate and blood pressure measured 10 minutes pre-exercise, immediately post-exercise, and immediately after massage and reflexology given. Measurement of heart rate and blood pressure used OMRON digital blood pressure meter (OMRON Model HEM-7130L, Omron Co., Osaka, Japan). Data analysis technique used in this study was paired t-test test with SPSS 21vers (Chicago, IL, USA). Results The results show that mean in heart rate and blood pressure between post-training vs. post-treatment on MG and RG significantly different (p<0.05). Conclusions Our results of this study conclude that giving sports massage and reflexology for 40 to 60 minutes after doing HIIT exercise reduce heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure.

Keywords

• sport massage, reflexology, heart rate, blood pressure, exercise