A sports massage is not a silver bullet to fix all your problems, but sports massages can help you recover faster
Everybody I’ve spoken to agrees that a good sports massage feels great, but does it really help your running?
Research has found that, in the short term, sports massage doesn’t improve measures of performance (strength, and performance). It also doesn’t doesn’t reduce muscle fatigue. To further compound this the findings compared doing thing, rather than light stretching, yoga and light exercise.
That’s the negative news out the way. So if this is the case, why is such as big industry?
Sports Massage Benefits
Massage helps athletes runners overall muscle health by giving them chance to identify areas of tension and addressing them before an injury occurs. Massage increases tissue flexibility and muscle relaxation, improves range of motion and relieves trigger points. In summary, these benefits help a runner remain active, optimise their training, and push performance. Here are some key benefits:
- Relieving tightness/tension – A sports massage will stretch and lengthen your muscles in a much deeper and possibly more specific way than when you stretch after your run.
- Improving blood flow – When blood flow to a particular area is increased and improved, healing can take place and so the fatigued or injured muscles are rejuvenated.
- Increasing flexibility – With increased flexibility your range of motion and the mobility in your joints will be improved. This could well then reduce the chance of an injury occurring or re-occurring.
- Breaking down scar tissue – When scar tissue is left to repair by itself it will form a criss-cross pattern rather than the healthy linear formation. Massage can be utilised to promote the healthy formation of scar tissue. A build up of scar tissue can cause tightness and weakness in the muscles. Massage will help to break down the scar tissue, promoting correct, strong scar formation in the muscle.
How does a massage help to prevent injury?
A good Massage Therapist will be able to prevent injury in a number of different ways. They can identify if you are training correctly and using the correct shoes. From understanding your training, i.e. surfaces, distances, sessions, the Massage Therapist will be able to release the areas of tension that would otherwise develop into an injury and give you training advice.
Is there a good time to get a sports massage? Research suggests It’s better to get a massage later in the day. Try to avoid immediately after you’ve done a long run or hard workout, also my research was quite contradictory.
What to do if you can’t get a sports massage?
If you can’t find a good Massage Therapist then you should continue (or start) good practices. This can consist of foam rolling, light stretching, yoga and a massage gun as general areas to focus on.
What to do after a massage?
Immediately after a massage, you should drink lots of water to get hydrated. This will help to flush out all those toxins that the massage has removed from your muscles. For maximum benefit rest after a massage, or at least don’t do a tough session. Think of your massage as an intense training session, so give your body time to recover and repair.
