Effects of Sports Massage on the Physiological and Mental Health of College Students Participating in a 7-Week Intermittent Exercises Program

Chih-Chien Shen, Yi-Han Tseng, Meng-Chun Susan Shen and Hsiao-Hsien Lin
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Chih-Chien Shen: Institute of Physical Education and Health, Yulin Normal University, 1303 Jiaoyu East Rd., Yulin 537000, China
Yi-Han Tseng: Department of Tourism Leisure and Health Management, Chung Chou University of Science and Technology, No. 6, Lane 2, Sec. 3, Shanjiao Rd., Yuanlin City 510, Taiwan
Meng-Chun Susan Shen: Department of Business Administration, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
Hsiao-Hsien Lin: Department of Leisure Industry Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 41170, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: The purpose of the research is to analyze the improvement in the physical and mental health of college students after intermittent exercises are performed by massage. The present study employed a mixed research method. An experimental study was conducted to analyze the current status of the volunteers’ sports performance and body composition, and then a questionnaire was designed for the subjects’ physical and mental health. The data were then analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software for statistical analysis such as t -test and ANOVA. The subjects were then interviewed to collect their opinions on the study results, and finally, the results were explored by multivariate analysis. The study found that intermittent exercise can help university students develop physical fitness and performance, improve body composition, and regulate physical and mental health. The combination of intermittent exercise with sports massages further enhanced the performance of sit-ups and standing long jump, improve blood pressure, BMI, and self-confidence, as well as reducing suicidal tendencies (experimental group > control group). However, intermittent exercise participants still experienced fatigue, headache, emotional loss, and fear of depression, and the addition of sports massage did not significantly improve flexibility and cardiorespiratory endurance (control group > experimental group).

Keywords: sports massage; body composition; physiological health; mental health; college students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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