Professional athletes often incorporate sports massage into their training regime, thanks to its many benefits, but if you’re an amateur sports person or you simply enjoy being active, then having a regular sports massage can be a game-changer when it comes to staying fit and healthy.
In today’s blog, we’re going to look at sports massage in more detail – including what makes it different from other forms of massage, and its many benefits.
What is sports massage?
At its core, sports massage is a specialised form of massage therapy that focuses on treating soft tissue injuries and improving muscle performance, flexibility, and overall function.
Unlike relaxation massage, which primarily aims to promote general relaxation and stress relief, sports massage is tailored to supporting physical activity at both amateur and professional levels.
It employs a combination of techniques, including deep tissue massage, myofascial release, stretching, and joint mobilisation, to target specific areas of tension, tightness, or problems within the muscles and connective tissues.
As well as being a fantastic option for those of you who are physically active, it can help with post-surgery recovery. It can also strengthen your ligaments and muscles to protect your posture if you spend your workdays sitting at a desk.
Sports massage is an ideal treatment to have in conjunction with physiotherapy or osteopathy.
What problems can sports massage address?
Sports massage can be a powerful tool for addressing issues such as:
· Muscle tension and tightness
Intense physical activity can lead to the buildup of tension and tightness in your muscles, which can impair your sporting performance and increase the risk of injury. Sports massage helps release these areas of tension, promoting better circulation and flexibility.
· Poor muscle tone
Some of the massage techniques used in a sports massage stimulate the reflex contraction of your muscle fibres, thereby increasing the muscle tone. This can help you to feel stronger and less prone to injury.
· Pain and inflammation
Sports massage can alleviate muscular pain and discomfort associated with overuse, injury, or poor posture. This can help you to feel more comfortable and have more mobility during and after your recovery.
· Circulation problems
The massage techniques used during a sports massage increase the flow of blood through the vessels and capillaries, which is great for your circulation. Better blood flow helps to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout your body, reducing inflammation and helping you stay in peak condition.
· Aches and pains caused by waste products in the body
Following exercise, waste products such as lactic acid and pyruvic acids can build up in the muscles, causing issues such as pain, stiffness, or cramp. It’s harder for the muscles to recover when they’re full of waste products.
Sports massage stimulates lymphatic drainage, helping your body to naturally flush these harmful toxins. This speeds up recovery, letting you train more regularly and effectively.
· Injury rehabilitation
Whether you’re recovering from a sprain, strain, or other sports-related injury (or you’ve had surgery that has affected your muscles and soft tissues), sports massage can support the rehabilitation process by reducing pain and inflammation, improving your range of motion, and promoting tissue healing.
The deep massage techniques used in sports massage can even help to break down scar tissue.
The benefits of sports massage
As we’ve already seen above, sports massage has many benefits that extend beyond the realms of professional athletics to anyone seeking to improve their physical well-being.
· Preventing injuries
By identifying and addressing imbalances or dysfunctions within your muscles and soft tissues, sports massage can help to prevent injuries before they occur.
Regular massage can also contribute to better overall biomechanics and movement patterns (i.e. improving how your body works) and consequently reduce the risk of injuries caused by overuse.
Having a sports massage before an event or training session is a great way to warm up your muscles, making them less likely to stretch or tear when you exercise.
For these reasons, many athletes make sports massage a core part of their training programme.
· Enhanced recovery
After a challenging workout or competition, your body needs plenty of rest and recovery to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. Sports massage can speed up this process by flushing out metabolic waste products, reducing muscle soreness, and helping you to relax.
· Improved performance
Sports massage can enhance your athletic performance by optimising your muscle function, flexibility, and range of motion. Indeed, many athletes experience improved strength, speed, agility, and endurance as a result of regular sports massage therapy.
While sports massage is primarily focused on physical performance, it also offers the psychological benefits associated with other forms of massage, such as stress reduction, relaxation, and improved mood.
How is sports massage different to other types of massage?
If you haven’t experienced sports massage before, you may be wondering how it’s any different to the kind of relaxational massage that you can have at your local spa.
While sports massage shares some similarities with other forms of massage therapy, such as Swedish or deep tissue massage, there are several key differences that set it apart.
Sports massage is specifically designed to meet the needs of athletes and active individuals, addressing issues related to training, competition, and recovery.
In addition to traditional massage techniques, sports massage often incorporates stretching and joint mobilisation exercises to improve your flexibility, mobility, and functional movement patterns.
Sports massage therapists are trained to assess and treat a wide range of sports-related injuries, from muscle strains and sprains to tendonitis and fascial restrictions (areas of tightness and tension). Indeed, you may find that your sports massage therapist is a sports injuries physiotherapist too, or that they work closely with physiotherapists to provide the best possible support.
Each sports massage session is tailored to your unique needs and goals, taking into account factors such as sport-specific demands, your injury history, and the frequency and intensity with which you intend to train.
Anyone can benefit from sports massage
If you want to boost your physical performance, prevent injuries, or just improve your overall flexibility, posture, or mobility, then sports massage will help you achieve these goals.
