Effects of massage at different times of application on post-exercise recovery of cardiac autonomic modulation: a randomized crossover trial

Background Recovery after exercise is essential for optimizing performance. Massage is widely used and has been associated with improvements in autonomic responses, including heart rate variability (HRV). However, the influence of application timing on autonomic recovery remains unclear. Objective To evaluate the effects of massage on HRV recovery when applied at different time points. Methods A randomized crossover trial was conducted with 36 physically active men. Two randomized evaluation conditions were carried out. In the first condition, the behavior of heart rate variability (HRV) after the stress protocol and immediately after the massage was evaluated (EM) and in the second condition the behavior of the HRV after the stress protocol was evaluated, however, the application of the massage was performed 60 minutes after the end of the stress protocol, corresponding to the exact HRV recovery time (ERM). The stress protocol included squats, jumps, and the Wingate test. HRV indices were analyzed in time and frequency domains (p<0.05). Results HRV returned to baseline earlier in the EM condition (10 minutes) compared to ERM (60 minutes) for most indices. Conclusion Massage applied immediately after exercise accelerates HRV recovery, whereas delayed application does not enhance post-exercise autonomic recovery. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (CAAE XXXXXXXX.X.XXXX.XXXX) and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (XXXXXXXXX).