Classic and Sham Massage on Psychological and Physical Functional Variables in Athletes

It involves applying the classic massage techniques: effleurage (gliding or sliding movement over the skin with a smooth continuous motion following the direction of the muscle fibers of the superficial muscles in a distal to proximal direction); petrissage (lifting, wringing, or squeezing of soft tissues in a kneading motion, or pressing or rolling of the tissues under or between the hands); tapotement (various parts of the hand striking the tissues at a fairly rapid rate). The general objective is to improve extensibility of muscle, tendon, fascia, joint capsule, and ligamentous structures.

This group received a placebo intervention at the same time as the other group, maintaining only soft touch with the participant without exerting any mechanical pressure.