What is Sports Massage? Sports massage is a form of massage that utilizes specific strokes to help athletes obtain maximum performance and physical conditioning by increasing power, endurance, and mobility – both before and after an event or exercise. Who Can Benefit? Sports massage is particularly beneficial when an athlete is in training for an event.It’s also helpful for anyone who routinely stretches physical limits through movement.Swimmers, weight lifters, runners, golfers, ball players, skaters, dancers, tennis players, musicians, and boxers, as well as weekend warriors have benefited from sports massage. How is Sports Massage Administered? Sports massage should be a regular part of every athlete’s training program.Athletes have different massage needs at different times. Massage can be administered as a pre-event process where flexibility, increased circulation and range of motion, thereby reducing muscle pain and soreness. Massage can also be performed as a post-event activity and will normalize and repair of tissue, but also general relaxation and mental calming. Training massage helps prevent injuries by working on areas of muscular stress and preventing injuries, enabling harder and more consistent training.Adequate recovery is also a major factor in avoinding nagging minor injuries that inhibit maximum performance. What are the Common Causes of Sports Injuries? Injuries are commonly experienced when an individual has overtrained, fails to sufficiently warm up, receives trauma, or has muscular imbalances, poor flexibility, mineral deficiencies, inadequate endurance, poor nutrition or simply does too much too soon.Insufficient muscles strength and poor muscle tone may also lead to injury or a muscle tear. How Can Sports Massage Help in Rehabilitation? Sports massage can accelerate the healing process, increase range of motion, reduce adhesions and reduce swelling, bruising, and pain. Areas of stress in other muscles, created through compensating for an injury can be eased with a regular sports massage regimen.Sports massage can partially compensate for lack of exercise during inactivity while, recovering from injury.Sports massage is also used to relieve muscular spasms and fatigue-related injuries. Why is Sports Massage Recommended? Sports massage is more than just a reward at the end of a workout.It is a vital tool for keeping athletes primed for top performance and even lengthening their careers.Recognized as an important part of a regular maintenance program, sports massage is widely used by individuals, teams, and Olympic and professional athletes.
