Sports Massage

SPORTS MASSAGE:

Sports therapy is no longer limited to an exclusive group of professional teams and Olympic competitors. From amateur athletes to weekend warriors, more and more people are seeking the benefits of sports massage to enhance their overall health and athletic performance.

What is Sports Massage?

Participating in any type of sports or fitness activity can cause additional wear and tear on the body. A skilled therapist can assist in preventing long term damage and reducing the pain and inflammation that is often associated with intense workouts. Sport massage therapists use a wide variety of techniques to provide a specialized treatment for each individual according to their sport, body type, age and fitness level. Treatments often include a combination approach, involving therapies such as:

l Deep tissue body massage
l Soft tissue release
l Swedish massage
l Localized back massage and shoulder massage

If you are an athlete desiring to: improve your performance; get relief from nagging pains when you perform certain movements or speed recovery from an injury, sports massage may be the missing piece of your training puzzle.

The Benefits of Sports Massage:

There are four areas where sports massage therapies are especially beneficial:

l Pre-event conditioning
l Post-event care
l Training/Recovery sessions
l Injury treatment

Lighter pressure sports techniques, such as Swedish massage, are often used before an event to prepare the muscle tissue for a high intensity workload. Pre-workout massage can improve an athlete's performance by encouraging the muscles to work with optimum efficiency, allowing the body to work for longer periods without fatiguing.

Post-event treatment also incorporates lighter massage therapy such as a sports relaxation massage to calm the nervous system and to help the body cleanse itself of toxins and waste products that build up during exertion. Sport massages can also relieve muscle tension and prevent swelling, stiffness and pain in the days following a game or event.

During recovery periods or down time, sports massage is an essential part of an athlete's overall training program. In a 2004 study from the British Journal of Medicine, cyclists were given leg massages in between periods of intense pedalling, in order to study the effect of sports massage on recovery from high intensity exercise. The study showed that athletes who received massage showed improved performance and decreased muscle fatigue over those who did not receive massage treatment during rest periods. These results may be due to the fact that sports therapies speed up muscle rebuilding activity, which can improve performance for future events.

In cases of sports-related injuries, massage therapists can provide treatments that calm muscle spasms and improve blood flow to the affected area. Following an injury, muscles tend to shorten and become fibrous as the body's natural compensatory response. Fascial adhesions, which are a painful build up of connective tissue, can also occur after prolonged exertion. By releasing these adhesions and lengthening the muscle fibres, a skilled sports therapist can help to reduce pain and restore proper joint movement. The advantage of these massage techniques is not only a reduced recovery time, but also an improved quality of muscle repair, which can lower the risk of repeat injuries.

What to expect from a Sports Massage treatment:

Generally, a first visit to a Sports Massage therapist will include an initial consultation. The therapist will request information regarding your overall health, the type of activities you participate in, any history of sports-related injuries and the results you like to achieve. If you are seeking a specific improvement to your performance, such as reducing race times or increasing your range of motion to improve your golf swing, this is a good time to let your therapist know, so that you can work together and monitor your progress between body massage sessions.

As for the treatment itself, Remedial sports massages are generally much deeper than traditional or relaxation massage techniques. However, most individuals describe a therapeutic massage as a relaxing experience overall, with pleasurable pain as muscle tension is released and proper motion is restored.