Resumen de Massage Impairs Postexercise Muscle Blood Flow and "Lactic Acid" Removal
E. Victoria Wiltshire, Veronica Poitras, Melissa Pak, Terence Hong, Jay Rayner, Michael E. Tschakovsky
Purpose: This study tested the hypothesis that one of the ways sports massage aids muscle recovery from exercise is by increasing muscle blood flow to improve "lactic acid" removal.
Methods: Twelve subjects performed 2 min of strenuous isometric handgrip (IHG) exercise at 40% maximum voluntary contraction to elevate forearm muscle lactic acid. Forearm blood flow (FBF; Doppler and Echo ultrasound of the brachial artery) and deep venous forearm blood lactate and H+ concentration ([La-], [H+]) were measured every minute for 10 min post-IHG under three conditions: passive (passive rest), active (rhythmic exercise at 10% maximum voluntary contraction), and massage (effleurage and petrissage). Arterialized [La-] and [H+] from a superficial heated hand vein was measured at baseline.
Results: Data are presented as mean +/- SE. Venoarterial [La-] difference ([La-]v-a) at 30 s of post-IHG was the same across conditions (passive = 6.1 +/- 0.6 mmol[middle dot]L-1, active = 5.7 +/- 0.6 mmol[middle dot]L-1, massage = 5.5 +/- 0.6 mmol[middle dot]L-1, NS), whereas FBF was greater in passive (766 +/- 101 mL[middle dot]min-1) versus active (614 +/- 62 mL[middle dot]min-1, P = 0.003) versus massage (540 +/- 60 mL[middle dot]min-1, P < 0.0001). Total FBF area under the curve (AUC) for 10 min after handgrip was significantly higher in passive versus massage (4203 +/- 531 vs 3178 +/- 304 mL, P = 0.024) but not versus active (3584 +/- 284 mL, P = 0.217). La- efflux (FBF x [La-]v-a) AUC mirrored FBF AUC (passive = 20.5 +/- 2.8 mmol vs massage = 14.7 +/- 1.6 mmol, P = 0.03, vs active = 15.4 +/- 1.9 mmol, P = 0.064). H+ efflux (FBF x [H+]v-a) was greater in passive versus massage at 30 s (2.2 +/- 0.4e-5 vs 1.3 +/- 0.2e-5 mmol, P < 0.001) and 1.5 min (1.0 +/- 0.2e-5 vs 0.6 +/- 0.09e-5 mmol, P = 0.003) after IHG.
Conclusions: Massage impairs La- and H+ removal from muscle after strenuous exercise by mechanically impeding blood flow
