Muscle recovery
More and more girls and women are playing rugby and there is increasing recognition that their training and treatment regimes need to be different from those for male players. Hayley Bungard, one of our Sport, Exercise and Health students, investigated whether massage helps with muscle recovery and injury prevention.
Hayley arranged for members of the Otago Spirit women's rugby team to receive a massage once a week during pre-season training and the playing season. She surveyed the women about their understanding of massage and perceptions of its benefits, and also collected data about how they felt immediately before and after each massage session.
The results revealed a high correlation between massage and recovery of players. The players felt that the massage helped their bodies recover after each game and therefore meant their next training session was more beneficial. The players learned more about the value of massage in the process.