DOI: 10.31459/turkjkin.2025968 ISSN: 2459-0134

Acute effects of infrared therapy and massage following active warm-up on balance, jump performance, and muscle tightness in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial

Sezen Karabörklü Argut, Seda Ateş
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Active warm-up enhances neuromuscular readiness; however, its benefits fade rapidly during the transition period before competition or physical testing. Passive modalities applied post-warm-up may help sustain performance readiness, yet their acute effects remain insufficiently understood. This study compared the acute effects of infrared therapy and massage following active warm-up on balance, jump performance, and lower-extremity muscle tightness in healthy adults. One hundred participants (18–35 years) were randomly assigned to an infrared therapy group (n=50) or a massage group (n=50) following a 5-minute cycle ergometer warm-up. Each 10-minute intervention targeted the lower-extremity musculature. A blinded assessor evaluated dynamic balance (Y-Balance Test), static balance (Flamingo Balance Test), jump performance (MyJump2), and muscle tightness pre- and post-intervention. Both groups exhibited significant pre-to-post changes in balance, jump performance, and quadriceps and hamstring muscle tightness (p<0.001), whereas gastrocnemius tightness did not change significantly in either group (p=0.32). Between-group comparisons revealed no statistically significant differences in any outcome. Post-intervention vertical jump height was 22.35 ± 10.28 cm in the infrared therapy group and 21.59 ± 8.53 cm in the massage group (mean difference = 0.76 cm, 95% CI [−2.99, 4.52], Cohen’s d=0.08, p=0.68). Gastrocnemius tightness also did not differ significantly between groups (p=0.70). Following a standardized active warm-up, improvements were observed in both groups across most parameters, with no statistically significant between-group differences; these findings do not establish equivalence between the modalities. Future studies incorporating sham or non-intervention control groups are needed to clarify whether these changes stem directly from the passive interventions or the warm-up itself.

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