Research · Massage
Benefits of massage: what the research says
Massage is part of training rooms, clinics and living rooms everywhere. The research backs some of its popular benefits more firmly than others. These are the reviews that pull the evidence together, in plain words. None of these studies tested Trigger PRO.
In short
- After hard exercise, massage can ease delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and the feeling of fatigue (Dupuy et al., 2018; Davis et al., 2020).
- It may give a small gain in flexibility (Davis et al., 2020).
- Reviews find no clear direct effect on strength, sprint, jump or endurance (Davis et al., 2020).
- How massage works is still being studied; the leading models point to responses in the nervous system rather than to changes in the tissue alone (Bialosky et al., 2009).
Massage after training
Two large reviews of controlled studies, one on massage alone and one comparing recovery methods. Looking for routines rather than research? See massage before or after a workout.
Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Davis HL, Alabed S, Chico TJA · BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2020;6(1):e000614
What they did. The authors pooled randomised studies testing manual massage on strength, jump, sprint, endurance, flexibility, fatigue and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
What they found. No evidence that massage improves strength, jump, sprint, endurance or fatigue. Small but statistically significant improvements in flexibility and DOMS.
Limits. The included studies were small and varied in massage type, timing and dose.
An evidence-based approach for choosing post-exercise recovery techniques to reduce markers of muscle damage, soreness, fatigue, and inflammation: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Dupuy O, Douzi W, Theurot D, et al. · Frontiers in Physiology 2018;9:403
What they did. The review compared recovery methods after exercise, including massage, active recovery, compression garments, water immersion and cold, on soreness, perceived fatigue and blood markers.
What they found. Massage came out as the most effective of the methods compared for reducing DOMS and perceived fatigue. Massage and cold exposure also gave small reductions in some inflammation markers.
Limits. It combines different study designs, and most studies measured short time frames.
How might massage work?
Researchers agree more on what massage does than on why. These two papers map the candidate explanations. For how cells themselves respond to load, see our mechanotransduction research.
The mechanisms of manual therapy in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain: a comprehensive model
Bialosky JE, Bishop MD, Price DD, et al. · Manual Therapy 2009;14(5):531–538
What they did. The authors drew together research on how hands-on techniques might work into one model to guide future studies.
What they found. The model proposes that the mechanical force of manual therapy starts a chain of responses in the peripheral and central nervous system, which then shape the outcome. They state that the mechanisms are not yet established.
Limits. A framework for research, not evidence that any one mechanism is correct.
The mechanisms of massage and effects on performance, muscle recovery and injury prevention
Weerapong P, Hume PA, Kolt GS · Sports Medicine 2005;35(3):235–256
What they did. A review of the possible biomechanical, neurological, physiological and psychological ways massage might act.
What they found. Post-exercise massage reduced the severity of muscle soreness but not the loss of muscle function. Evidence on performance, the best timing and the effects of different strokes was limited and unclear.
Limits. An older narrative review; later meta-analyses (Davis 2020, Dupuy 2018) update it.
What about deep tissue massage?
The reviews above pool many massage styles. They don't single out deep tissue massage, so its own benefits haven't been separated from those of massage in general.
What clearly differs between styles is how much pressure the practitioner's hands have to produce, day after day. The research on that side is collected under work-related musculoskeletal disorders in physical therapists. Self-massage tools such as foam rollers have their own body of research: see IASTM and foam rolling research.
Where next
Last reviewed October 2026. Summaries are ours; read the original paper before citing it. Know a study we should add? Tell us.
