How Massage Can Make You a Better Athlete
Massage can play a key role in improving sports performance through prevention of injuries, faster mobilisation of muscles, and aiding a quicker recovery.
If you’re serious about making improvements in your sports performance, whether that sport is running, cycling, weight lifting, or any other activity, you should consider incorporating regular sports or remedial massage into your training routine.
The Difference Between Sports Massage and Remedial Massage
Sports massage is designed to work on the muscles and joints of athletes and sports players to help them stay in optimal physical and mental condition in order to achieve better performance during training or competitions.
The type of strokes used in sports massage are usually vigorous and fast in order to improve blood circulation and loosen and warm up muscles prior to a sporting event, or to flush out toxins and waste accumulated in tissues after exercise and to increase blood flow, which speeds up the body’s own repair mechanisms.
Remedial massage uses specialised massage techniques and stretching on specific areas of the body to help release tired and painful muscles, break down scar tissue and muscle adhesions, decrease trigger points, promote recovery of deep layers of muscle and connective tissue, and help retrain the body to restore proper gait and posture.
Remedial massage therapists are also trained in the science behind sports massage. They can carry out this more general type of therapeutic massage and will use it where appropriate, depending on the needs of the client.
The most beneficial time for remedial massage is either after, or up to two days before a sports competition or training event. As this is an intensive massage that works on the deep muscle fibres, it can lead to some soreness, which may negatively impact on performance directly after the treatment.
General sports massage can be performed right up until the start of a race or other athletic event as it simply warms up and mobilises the muscles.
How Can Remedial and Sports Massage Aid Athletic Performance?
There are several ways in which sports massage and remedial massage can be used to improve athletic performance for many different kinds of sports:
- Pre-event – to warm and mobilise muscles in readiness for performance and reduce the risk of injury.
- Post-event – to help minimise the after-effects of exercise by reducing muscle spasms, stiffness and fatigue, while maintaining muscle mobilisation and speeding up the recovery process.
- During training – to help maintain flexibility and a range of motion and to incorporate stretching and strengthening exercises.
- After injury – to help reduce pain and recover faster.
- At any time – to keep muscle groups balanced to reduce the risk of injury, and to relieve stress and relax the entire body, which is essential to aid the mental aspect of sports performance.
Feeling sore after exercise is normal, particularly when starting a new sport, returning to exercise after a break, or working on new muscle groups.
This soreness is actually caused by micro-tears in the muscle that are caused when muscle fibres have been stretched to their full capacity. While this is completely normal and not harmful to the body, the inflammatory response it causes can be mildly to moderately painful.
Muscle pain can hinder athletic performance by reducing the range of motion and maximal muscle power. This makes training less effective and is definitely something to avoid when preparing for a competitive event.
Resting will allow the muscles to recover and return to optimal performance. However, prolonged periods of rest are not always possible while training. Instead, remedial massage can help to reduce pain and recovery time so that athletes can return to their full performance as quickly as possible.
Feeling sore after exercise is normal, particularly when starting a new sport, returning to exercise after a break, or working on new muscle groups.
This soreness is actually caused by micro-tears in the muscle that are caused when muscle fibres have been stretched to their full capacity. While this is completely normal and not harmful to the body, the inflammatory response it causes can be mildly to moderately painful.
Muscle pain can hinder athletic performance by reducing the range of motion and maximal muscle power. This makes training less effective and is definitely something to avoid when preparing for a competitive event.
Resting will allow the muscles to recover and return to optimal performance. However, prolonged periods of rest are not always possible while training. Instead, remedial massage can help to reduce pain and recovery time so that athletes can return to their full performance as quickly as possible.
Choosing a Remedial Massage Therapist
When finding a massage therapist to work with for the purpose of improving sports performance, it’s important to choose a professional with specific experience in remedial massage for athletes and recovery from sports injuries.
Liz Langton at Performance Plus Massage has a history of working with athletes, including competitive bike riders, weight lifters at the national level, a national basketball team, and university teams at international and university level.
If you’re interested in finding out more, book an appointment to see if massage can benefit your training and performance.