Effectiveness in the Combination of Active Recovery and Sport Massage Towards the Reduction of Lactic Acid and Perception on Fatigue of Women’s Futsal Athletes of Malang City

This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of a combination of active recovery and sports massage in accelerating the reduction of lactic acid levels and perception on fatigue of women’s futsal athletes after high-intensity physical activity. This research was a true experimental study with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design using repeated measures at three measurement times. Subjects were randomized into intervention and control groups using block randomization. Lactic acid levels were measured by using The Edge Blood Lactate Analyzer, while perception on fatigue was measured by using the Borg CR-10 scale. The validity and reliability of the lactic acid measurement instrument were at 0.96, while the reliability of the RPE measurement was in the range of 0.89. The data analysis included a two-way repeated measures ANOVA and an independent samples t-test for the lactic acid variable, as well as the Friedman, Wilcoxon, and Mann–Whitney tests for the RPE variable. The research findings reveal a significant change in lactic acid levels between measurement times (F = 829.715; p < 0.001) and a significant interaction between time and group (F = 14.052; p < 0.001), indicating that the combination of active recovery and sports massage is more effective than passive recovery.