Sports massage is absolutely invaluable to those in Tucson who need it most. Athletic activity is undoubtedly healthy, but for those who make athleticism a major part of their day to day lives, it doesn’t come without consequence.
Pushing yourself to achieve new fitness goals or improve your athletic skill level will undeniably put some wear and tear on your body. After all, isn’t the expression “no pain, no gain”? While some pain is normal, it’s important to remember not to push your body past its limit without giving yourself adequate time to rest and recover following intense activity. That’s why sports massage is such a vital tool.
What Is Sports Massage?
Sports massage is both a preventative treatment and a recovery treatment for athletes. Regular sports massage will help to preemptively address soreness, muscle fatigue, and potential overuse injuries before they become painful obstacles that interfere with regular athletic training. Well conditioned muscles are slightly less prone to injury. Regular sports massage keeps the muscles long, flexible, and properly drained of lymphatic byproducts that may cause swelling.
Ideally, athletes will rarely need massage for injury recovery. Maintenance massages, good self-care, proper safety equipment, and gradual progression towards goals should minimize the chances that an athlete becomes injured. Things don’t always work out as planned, and that’s why sports massage is important. It’s designed to address and treat the kinds of injuries and soreness that athletes often experience.
What Happens During A Sports Massage?
The benefits of sports massage are different, depending on when you choose to receive one. Sports massages before a sporting event will boast one set of benefits, while post-event massages will be significantly different.
Getting a massage before an event like a marathon or an ice hockey game will help prepare an athlete for optimal performance. Massage stimulates and activates all of the muscles. By improving the circulation to these muscles and addressing any small imperfections that may hinder the athlete’s performance, such as stiffness or scar tissue from overuse injuries, the muscles become perfectly primed for the event. Any cumulative damage that may have occurred during the training period should be thoroughly addressed to prevent injury during performance.
A sports massage after an athletic event will address the wear and tear on the muscles after an athlete’s performance has been completed. A very physically demanding event, like a triathlon, will push muscles and tissues to their limits. Athletes may not feel sore immediately, but it isn’t wise to wait for pain to start in order to schedule an intervention.
Whether or not you’re sore, you’ll want to schedule a post-event massage. Delayed onset muscle soreness, abbreviated as DOMS, may sneak up on you when you least expect it. To reduce the risk of DOMS or mitigate the discomfort it causes, assume you’ll be sore even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms of soreness or muscle fatigue.
Sports Massage Techniques And Benefits
During your post-event sports massage, you’ll tell your massage therapist what muscle groups you used and explain how you feel. He or she will address the needs of those muscle groups. Sports massage utilizes a wide variety of techniques, and your sports massage therapist will tailor his or her approach to your exact needs. In general, sports massage techniques are more intense and focused variations of popular Swedish massage techniques.
During intense athletic activity, most muscles don’t receive enough oxygen. Athletes tend to breathe heavier when pushing themselves to their limits, but it’s virtually impossible to thoroughly oxygenate every muscle under increased athletic stress. This leads to the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles, as they cannot receive enough oxygen to flush it away. Lactic acid leads to muscular pain and soreness, and the only way to mitigate the uncomfortable side effects is to flush all of that lactic acid away.
While lactic acid will slowly move away with time, waiting it out can lead to increased downtime and prolonged periods of discomfort for athletes. Sports massage will expedite that process by encouraging oxygenated blood to efficiency circulate through the muscles, removing unwanted byproducts like lactic acid as it flushes through. When the lactic acid is gone and the muscle begins to better receive nutrients from the blood, full recovery is encouraged to happen faster. Most athletes can return to training with minimal downtime.
Will I Benefit From Sports Massage?
Athletic people, including people who frequently train with weights, will usually benefit from sports massage. Our massage therapists are always here for athletes seeking a speedy recovery, or for athletes who want to enter an event or competition with perfectly primed muscles. You can book an appointment online or by phone to experience all the benefits a sports massage has to offer. Don’t let soreness keep you from reaching your fitness goals.