Ghirlanda F.1, Barbero M.1, Schneebeli A.1, Cescon C.1, Utiger C.2, Vetterli P.2
1University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, Manno, Switzerland, 2Scuola per Sportivi d'Élite, Centro Sportivo Tenero, Tenero, Switzerland
Background: The evolution in the field of massage techniques has also led to the development of specific devices, with the goal of treating muscle condition and range of motion [4]. Among these devices, it has recently seen an exponential market evolution of the roller-massager (RM).
The RM is a dense foam cylinder the therapist can rolling it on the patient´s body thanks to two side handles using his bodyweight for determining the pressure and intensity of the massage.
Initially used as a myofascial release technique, the RM is often used by therapists, athletes and the general population to increase the joint range of motion and to relieve muscle pain [4].
Studies have shown that static stretching, which is currently used as a technique for increasing the muscle extensibility, could have some repercussions on muscle strength, causing as acute effect a reduction of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC).
Contrarily, according to recent studies [1,2,4], the RM would not have any negative impact on the strength of the subject measured by MVC.
The hypothesis is that the RM allows the subject to increase his muscle extensibility without having any influence on the force parameters.
The RM is a dense foam cylinder the therapist can rolling it on the patient´s body thanks to two side handles using his bodyweight for determining the pressure and intensity of the massage.
Initially used as a myofascial release technique, the RM is often used by therapists, athletes and the general population to increase the joint range of motion and to relieve muscle pain [4].
Studies have shown that static stretching, which is currently used as a technique for increasing the muscle extensibility, could have some repercussions on muscle strength, causing as acute effect a reduction of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC).
Contrarily, according to recent studies [1,2,4], the RM would not have any negative impact on the strength of the subject measured by MVC.
The hypothesis is that the RM allows the subject to increase his muscle extensibility without having any influence on the force parameters.
Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the immediate effect on young athletes of a single session of RM versus passive stretching and placebo on hamstring muscles extensibility and on strength.
Methods: Two tests will be performed before the intervention. Measures include maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and extensibility (Sit and Reach Test) of the hamstrings.
After the first two measurements (pre-tests), the subjects will undergo three different interventions: a treatment with Thera-Band RM, a treatment with traditional passive stretching and a placebo intervention.
The two measurement will be performed once again (post-tests) to investigate if some changes in MVC and in the extensibility of the hamstrings muscles occurred.
The MVC is recorded with a custom isometric ergometer (with the knee angle fixed at 90 degrees).
The Sit-and-Reach Test will be performed with a Sit-and-Reach Box.
A normal therapeutic bed will be used to perform the three interventions. In order to ensure a constant pressure during the massage session with the foam roller, a dynamometer will be positioned under the beds legs. A signal amplifier will be used to provide a visual feedback for the therapist.
Results: All three interventions increase the extensibility of the hamstring muscles (Wilcoxon signed rank test, P 0.05). The comparison between the increase of extensibility during the three intervention showed that the RM treatment was significantly higher than the placebo (sham ultrasound). The stretching was not significantly different from each of the other two interventions.
None of the three proposed interventions has changed the parameter of muscle strength in the short term.
Conclusion(s): The results indicates that all three interventions increase the extensibility of the hamstring muscles, but only RM intervention was significantly better than placebo (sham ultrasound). The muscle strength did not change significantly after any of the three interventions.
Implications: The current findings suggest that the RM could be an effective intervention to increase muscle extensibility.
Funding acknowledgements: Financial support for the study is provided by SUPSI and Yellow P Foundation.
Topic: Sport & sports injuries
Ethics approval: Comitato Etico Cantonale
Ufficio di sanità
CH-6501 Bellinzona
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
