Does Cupping Therapy Actually Speed Up Athletic Recovery? New Research Has Answers

Cupping therapy appears to help athletes recover from intense workouts by reducing inflammation and the feeling of muscle fatigue, according to a new 2025 study. Researchers found that when table tennis athletes used dry cupping after high-intensity training, they reported lower perceived exertion and showed reduced inflammatory markers in their blood compared to those who didn't use cupping. However, the therapy didn't significantly reduce all muscle damage markers, suggesting its benefits work through a different mechanism than previously thought.

What Happens to Your Muscles During Intense Exercise?

High-intensity exercise triggers inflammation and muscle fatigue in the body, which can limit athletic performance, increase injury risk, and slow recovery speed. Elite athletes have increasingly turned to cupping therapy in recent years, hoping to address these post-workout challenges. The therapy uses bamboo, glass, or acrylic cups to create negative pressure on the skin over an acupoint or painful region. Practitioners believe this suction alleviates muscle pain, enhances blood flow, and reduces muscle stiffness.

How Did Researchers Test Cupping's Effects?

Scientists at the Journal of Physiological Intervention designed a careful study to measure whether dry cupping actually delivers on these promises. Ten table tennis athletes completed two identical high-intensity training sessions, with a two-week interval between them. After one session, participants received dry cupping treatment; after the other, they received no treatment. This design allowed researchers to compare each athlete's response to cupping versus no cupping.

The researchers measured fatigue in multiple ways to get a complete picture. Participants reported their perceived exertion levels before each session, immediately after, and again 30 minutes after cupping. Blood samples were also collected to measure immune cells, inflammatory indicators, and markers of muscle damage and metabolic stress.

What Did the Blood Tests Reveal?

The results showed that cupping had measurable effects on some—but not all—markers of recovery. Participants reported lower perceived exertion after cupping compared to no cupping, which is meaningful because how athletes feel during recovery influences their training decisions and mental resilience. Blood tests revealed that the therapy reduced inflammatory markers and blood urea nitrogen, a marker of muscle damage.

However, the findings weren't uniformly positive. No significant changes were observed in two other muscle damage markers when comparing cupping to no cupping. This suggests that dry cupping may support post-exercise recovery by reducing inflammation and the subjective feeling of fatigue, rather than directly limiting the underlying muscle damage itself.

Ways to Understand Cupping's Role in Athletic Recovery

• Inflammation Reduction: Cupping appears to lower inflammatory markers in the blood after intense exercise, which may help the body's natural healing process work more efficiently.
• Perceived Fatigue Relief: Athletes reported feeling less exhausted after cupping, even if some muscle damage markers remained unchanged, suggesting psychological and physiological benefits may work together.
• Selective Muscle Recovery: The therapy reduced blood urea nitrogen but didn't significantly affect other muscle damage markers, indicating cupping targets specific aspects of recovery rather than all recovery pathways.

What Should Athletes Know About These Findings?

The 2025 study suggests that cupping therapy isn't a magic bullet for athletic recovery, but it may offer genuine benefits for certain aspects of post-exercise healing. The reduction in inflammatory markers and perceived fatigue could be valuable for athletes managing intense training schedules, particularly those in sports requiring repeated high-intensity efforts like table tennis. The fact that participants felt less exhausted after cupping is noteworthy because recovery isn't just about physical markers—how athletes feel influences their motivation, injury prevention behaviors, and long-term training adherence.

The research also highlights an important distinction: cupping may work by helping the body manage inflammation and subjective fatigue rather than by preventing muscle damage itself. This reframes how athletes and coaches should think about the therapy. It's not a replacement for proper nutrition, sleep, and gradual training progression—the foundational elements of recovery—but rather a complementary tool that may enhance how the body processes the stress of intense exercise.

As with any recovery modality, individual responses may vary. The study involved a small group of table tennis athletes, so results may differ across sports, fitness levels, and individual physiology. Athletes considering cupping should discuss it with their coaches or sports medicine professionals to determine whether it fits their specific recovery needs and training goals.