A study published by Canadian researchers in Science Translational Medicine confirmed what many athletes already knew.
Study: “Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage”
- intense bicycle training
- one thigh was massaged one muscle for 10 minutes
- then they took tissue samples from both thighs and compared them
Result:
- massaged thigh had lower inflammatory markers
- increased acitivity of genes that boost the replenishment of mitochondria in cells
So there you have it. Massages not only feel good but can help you recover faster. And If you don’t have someone who wants to massage you, I would guess the same also applies for foam rolling after workouts.
True…
However, don't we sometimes need the inflammatory?
Eg. if we pursue muscle growth or strngth gains, tendon healing or other kind of adaptions?
No doubt massage does what it does, but there's a difference in the usefullness of it – think of a biker in the middle of the Tour and an off season weightlifter…
You are right that we need inflammatory signals.
But I wouldn't say there is no (or less) usefulness for weightlifters. You often see weightlifters getting massages to after workouts (of course that doesn't prove the point). So there seem to be benefits to it.