Anyone with an active lifestyle will know about the aches and pains that can come from doing the sport or activity they love. Sometimes those aches and pains can become something you just deal with, but it doesn’t need to be that way.
A sports massage can help to speed up injury recovery, restore mobility, and decrease pain, among other benefits. Due to this, a sports massage can be helpful for a wide range of people, not just athletes.
Here we’ll look at who should get a sports massage, and the reasons to get one. Read on to find out more!
What Is Sports Massage?
Sports massage is a type of physiotherapeutic approach that manually manipulates the body. While often cited as a treatment option for athletes, a sports massage can benefit anyone with an active lifestyle.
One of the most common misconceptions about sports massage is that it is only for treating sports injuries. However, a professional sports massage aims at reducing the chance of getting injured in the first place and can even improve performance.
The different techniques of sports massage can handle different types of sports injuries. However, individuals who perform physically demanding activities will benefit from the impact of this type of massage.
It is not really a sort of relaxing manual manipulation, as it is a therapy approach that works on tight muscles. Additionally, it can activate muscles that have been inactive for quite some time.
Who Should Get a Sports Massage?
You should consider going for a sports massage if you are active in sports or exercise. Also, you will appreciate a sports massage if you work out regularly and intensively.
In both cases, you will need to improve your physical abilities to fulfill your sports demands. When you regularly attend your sessions, you will notice an improvement in your performance and many other benefits, such as quicker recovery times.
When Should You Get a Sports Massage?
If you are a professional athlete, you should get sports massage therapy before a game or training. By doing so, you will decrease the chances of getting a muscle injury.
Exactly when you get a message depends on its intensity of it. You need at least a day’s recovery for deep tissue sports massages due to the soreness. However, there are lighter sports massages out there which help to loosen tight muscles immediately before an event.
Also, regular sports massage can make the muscles less vulnerable to injury. And even if you get hurt during training or a game, sports massage can help speed up recovery.
So ideally, a weekly massage session for individuals who train more than twice a week should be done for professional athletes. This will allow them to stay at their highest level of performance week in, week out. Of course, elite athletes will get sports massages even more regularly than this.
For those of us who enjoy regular exercise, you can get a sports massage as and when you feel like it would be beneficial. You’ll receive all the benefits and enjoy your sport or activity with looser muscles and less soreness.
Differences between Sports and Relaxing Massage
Despite falling into the category of massage, sports and relaxing massages are totally different. The former focuses solely on preventing and treating sports injuries, while the latter’s purpose is relaxing the body.
For some, sports massage can be a little painful as it’s meant as a treatment. So if you are looking for a relaxing experience, sports massage isn’t for you. That being said, many people do enjoy their muscle tightness being worked on.
Reasons to Get Sports Massage
There are many benefits to getting a sports massage. Many people enjoy having them, even if they aren’t struggling with injuries or significant muscle tightness. Here are all the reasons they can be a great idea.
1. Recovering From Injuries
Recovering from a sports injury can be difficult. Not only can it affect your ability to do what you love, but it can also hinder your performance even after you’ve recovered.
What makes sports massage effective in treating various injuries is its ability to provide a tailored and customized strategy for each kind of injury.
A sports massage will not only allow you to get back to physical activities sooner, but it will also help prevent the chance of a recurring injury.
2. Loss of Muscular Tension
Even if you are not currently playing or training, your muscles will maintain some levels of stress and tension. This type of stress builds up during the season or over time and often won’t ever go away without a high-quality massage.
Neuromuscular techniques in sports massage make dealing with muscle tension highly effective. This technique works on several trigger points in the nervous system and helps to remove any stress from your muscles.
3. Improved Sleeping Quality
Muscular stress will negatively affect the quality of your sleep. It can make you wake up from a deep sleep feeling uncomfortable and even cause muscle cramps. Your therapists will work on the cause of this pain so that you will have an undisturbed sleep cycle.
4. Purifying Your Body
Did you know that regular sports massage can reduce the levels of body toxins? This is not a work of magic, but an underrated effect that not everyone knows.
With massage, your body can more effectively get rid of toxin buildup, such as lactic acid. While this acid is useful within normal levels, muscular injuries make your body maintain higher levels of it. This makes you unable to resume your regular activities until they are recovered.
Final Thoughts
Sports massage is a great idea for those struggling with sports injuries, but also for anyone that wants to reduce muscle tension. It will help speed up recovery, reduce the chance of injuries and improve your performance. If you want any of those benefits, then sports massage is for you.
