Julio Cesar de Oliveira Muniz Cunha

Introduction: Acute neuromuscular fatigue impairs athletic performance and increases the risk of musculoskeletal injury. Recovery strategies such as manual massage (MM) and intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) have been proposed to mitigate these effects, although their efficacy in elite youth soccer remains under debate. Objective: To compare the acute effects of MM and IPC on muscle damage recovery, lower limb strength, and power in Brazilian Under-20 soccer athletes. Methods: A randomized crossover study was conducted with twenty male youth athletes (18.65 ± 0.67 years) from the under-20 category of Paysandu Sport Club—Brazil. Each athlete underwent both MM and IPC interventions, separated by a seven-day washout. Variables assessed included serum creatine kinase (CK), quadricep and hamstring isometric voluntary contraction (IVC), and vertical jump (VJ). Results: MM resulted in a CK reduction of Δ = −77.1 U/L (p = 0.042; d = 0.37), indicating a moderate effect size, while IPC induced a larger reduction of Δ = −138.0 U/L (p = 0.160; d = 1.41), with a very large effect size despite the lack of statistical significance. Neither intervention produced significant changes in quadricep or hamstring IVC, nor in VJ height (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Both MM (statistical difference) and IPC (clinical difference) were viable recovery strategies for attenuating acute serum CK without impairing neuromuscular performance in elite under-20 soccer players.

Introduction: Acute neuromuscular fatigue impairs athletic performance and increases the risk of musculoskeletal injury. Recovery strategies such as manual massage (MM) and intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) have been proposed to mitigate these effects, although their efficacy remains controversial. Objective: To compare the MM and IPC effects on muscle damage recovery, lower limb strength, and power in Under-20 soccer athletes. Methods: A cross-sectional crossover studyn was conducted with twenty male youth athletes (n = 20) from the under-20 category (18.65 ± 0.67 years) of Paysandu Sport Club – Brazil, who underwent a fatigue protocol followed by either MM or IPC, with a seven-day washout between sessions. The following variables were assessed: serum creatine kinase (CK), quadriceps and hamstrings isometric voluntary contraction (IVC), and vertical jump (VJ). Results: CK decreased following the MM (pre: 382.50 ± 163.02 U/L; post: 305.40 ± 239.98 U/L; p=0.042) but not for IPC (pre: 337 ± 114.50 U/L; post: 199 ± 89.50 U/L); p=0.16). After the crossover, IPC elicited a significant reduction in CK (pre: 307 ± 198 U/L; post: 256 ± 84.75 U/L; p=0.028), whereas MM did not reach statistical significance (pre: 316.70 ± 116.66 U/L; post: 252.50 ± 91.77 U/L; p=0.094). Neither intervention (MM or IPC) resulted in significant improvements in Quadriceps or Hamstring (p>0.05) IVC or VJ height (p>0.05). Conclusion: MM and IPC are viable recovery tools to mitigate biochemical markers of muscle stress without compromising performance, a crucial consideration for high-performance environments where recovery windows are narrow.