Effect of Combined Active Recovery and Foam Rolling on Blood Lactate, Heart Rate, and Reducing Muscle Pain After Simulated Competition

This study investigates the effects of combining Active Recovery (AR) and Foam Rolling (FR) on blood lactate, heart rate, and muscle soreness in competitive 400-meter sprint athletes. Twenty healthy athletes will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: Experimental group: Active Recovery + Foam Rolling Control group: Active Recovery only All participants will perform a simulated 400-meter sprint. Following the sprint, both groups perform 5 minutes of light jogging (Active Recovery). Subsequently, participants in the experimental group will perform 10 minutes of foam rolling on the quadriceps, hamstring, and gastrocnemius muscles. Measurements include: Blood lactate: pre- and post-recovery Heart rate: baseline, pre-exercise, post-recovery Muscle soreness (VAS 0-10): quadriceps, hamstring, gastrocnemius at baseline, pre-exercise, post-recovery, 1 hour, and 24 hours post-exercise The study aims to determine whether adding foam rolling to active recovery improves post-exercise physiological and perceptual recovery markers. Participants will not be informed of their group assignment to reduce bias; only the investigators will know. All procedures will take place at the Athletics Track, Surabaya State University, Indonesia. Ethical approval has been obtained from Komite Etik Penelitian Kesehatan STIKES Guna Bangsa Yogyakarta (Ethical Approval No: 009/KEPK/II/2026).