BASIC TECHNIQUES IN SPORTS MASSAGE

Athletes often use specific muscle area repetitively and aggressively. These muscle groups tend to contract and are tensed causing pains or discomfort. Sports massage is done to relax a certain muscle group and ease the pain and discomfort. Sports massage therapy does not only target muscle groups. It can also do great to release tensions between muscles and tendons. Tensions and muscle contractions may lead to muscle imbalances. Highly developed and undiagnosed muscle imbalances may impede performance. Aside from providing comfort, sports massage therapy can also improve flexibility, motion, and muscle control. Properly applied sports massage therapy may maintain the balance of the musculo-skeletal system.

Effleurage is a sports massage technique which uses stroking movement of the palm and fingers. The key of this technique is proper pressure and target points. Effleurage introduces the pressure and feel of the whole sports massage experience. By doing this, the client will be able to determine his wanted pressure. This is usually done as a warm up to succeeding sports massage procedures. It initially releases muscles and increases blood flow. It stimulates the nerves which would greatly help in the whole process of sports massage therapy. Effleurage is done with rhythm and from the lightest pressure building up. It is important that the effleurage is done slowly and cautiously to avoid shock and further muscle pain.

Petrissage, also called kneading, induces further relaxation. It targets the deeper tissues. It stretches muscle fibres and tendons and allows easy flow of fluid in the body. Kneading is a sports massage technique that may not work on narrow areas of the body. This is a powerful massaging technique that may cause further damage if done wrong.

Friction is used for exploring areas, identifying deeply damaged muscles and highly tensed tendons. Usually, the thumb is used to trace the surface of the skin for irregularities or abnormalities. Through this technique, smaller and seemingly unidentifiable problems in the muscle groups are targeted.  

Sports massage therapy is highly recommended for people who are active in sports and physical activities. Regular sports massage may save you from physical injuries. It is always best to ask for help and guidance from experts and therapists to avoid accidents.

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Tuning Up with Sports Massage

Athletes are often confused about the best time to get body work. Athletes should get a tough, sports massage three days before any activity. However, this one should be focused on stretching and isometric approaches, which concentrate on breathing and relaxing. After the game, you must make sure it’s not vigorous. It should be more of a relaxing massage to calm your tight muscles. If you are in pain, a few days of rest and stretching before a sports massage is best.

Sports massage takes place in between training sessions and the aim is to work on specific elements and tissues which have become shortened, tight, and painful. The idea is to loosen off tightness within soft tissues so as to improve performance and prevent injury. A variety of techniques in sports massage can be used. This would range from deep tissue, trigger point, to mobilization of joints for stretching and strengthening. Heavily exercised muscles may also lose their capacity to relax. This causes chronically tight muscles, and flexibility loss. Lack of flexibility is often linked to muscle soreness, and predisposes athletes to injuries especially muscle pulls and tears. Blood flow through tight muscles is poor, which also causes pain. A regular sports massage therapy is very effective in combating these effects of heavy exercised muscles.

On your first visit expect to give a full medical history as well as provide an account of how you have injured yourself and/or what you hope to gain from the visit. This should be followed by an examination, usually involving a basic postural analysis as well as active a passive examination. This will help the therapist get to the bottom of the culprit tissues as well as any predisposing factors to problems you encounter. The overall picture will help formulate a specific sports massage treatment plan and based on this soft tissue techniques will be used to achieve the desired goal.

Summing up, sports massage should be applied before and after athletic events, with many “maintenance” sessions in between meets or competitions. Integrated into a weekly training regimen, athletes may avoid pain, will be able to relax, and revitalize muscles, and feel calmer and more focused before and after events.

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The Main Benefits of Sports Massage in an Athlete’s Life

An athlete’s body is prone to wear and tear especially with the stressful training their bodies have to endure. Athletes have to persevere because the training is designed to enhance their skills and performance. However, the body can only take so much and this is where a sports massage can help.

In Wesley Chapel, FL, athletes need not be injured just to undergo sports massage. This type of massage therapy isn’t for treating injuries but it helps the body recover holistically. To be more exact, here are the main benefits of this type of massage:

• It loosens tight muscles. The pumping action of this massage therapy helps in sucking the fluid out of the blood vessels. Using stroking movements, it helps loosen the pressure of tight muscles which is something that athletes normally experience.

• Sports massage in Wesley Chapel, FL helps in stretching the tissues through deep massage therapy. The tissues are stretched sideways and lengthwise. Further, this type of massage therapy can really help stretch the sheath around the muscle which helps in releasing built up pressure.

• Improving elasticity is one of the main benefits of this massage. Athletes in Wesley Chapel, FL undergo hard training which eventually makes the muscles inelastic at some point. Through this type of massage, the muscle tissues are stretched and it helps make the muscles become more elastic.

• When it comes to the physiological effects of sports massage, it really helps in reducing the pain from muscle stiffness and injuries. When the muscle is in pain, there is tension that accumulates in the muscle. The massage can reduce this as well as help in releasing the body’s happy hormones called endorphins.

• And of course, everyone knows that a massage is always very relaxing to the body. The massage technique generates heat and the mechanoreceptors are stimulated due to the reflexology and stretching.

• Massage also helps reduce the anxiety levels of Wesley Chapel, FL athletes. An athlete’s life can get pretty intense. Not only does it get too physical, but it can get mentally challenging too. Such a massage can help reduce stress and anxiety among professional athletes.

The body can only take so much every day and even if you don’t feel any pain, you should go to a massage parlor near you and get one. It’s not just for professional athletes, it also helps people who always exercise and works out. Do keep in mind that the body has to be in good condition to perform well, so do what it takes to care for it.

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Sports Massage For Me and You

By now, most of you must have learned that sports massage is the management, manipulation, and rehabilitation of tired and torn muscles in our bodies. Sports massage targets different areas including soft tissues, muscles, tendons, as well as ligaments.

Massage therapists have developed this specific type of massage therapy  primarily to help those people who overuse their muscles. Athletes and sports enthusiast benefit from this massage treatment. The benefits reaped from this massage treatment include:

• Improved circulation and lymphatic flow
• Stimulated nerve endings
• Removal of metabolic waste
• Increased muscle strength and flexibility
• Relaxing before and after a game

There are four types of sports massage today. These are pre-event sports massage, post-event sports massage, restorative sports massage, and rehabilitative sports massage. Pre-event sports massage focuses on muscle stimulation prior to a sports event. It is mainly directed to the part of the body that will be most used during the activity. Post-event sports massage is given to normalize the body’s tissue after using them. Restorative sports massage, on the other hand, focuses on training athletes to push their muscle performance to the edge. Lastly, rehabilitative sports massage is for the recovery of strained and torn muscles after over-exertion. This is mostly done after an injury.

As stated earlier in this article, you need not be an athlete to receive a sports massage. This massage treatment can also be availed by those who experience repetitive strain injury from their day to day activities. Other conditions that can benefit from this massage therapy include tender knee, tennis elbow, dancer's feet, and back pains.

If you are interested in this massage therapy procedure, make sure that you hire licensed massage therapists only. Massage therapists need to have the proper training before they can give a massage treatment of this nature. Because sports massage is a special type of massage, there are special skills that need to ne learned for massage therapists to be able to deliver quality results.

There are many massage clinics that offer this massage treatment. Check if their services are worth trying by reading online reviews on credible review sites. It is better if you can talk to someone who have actually been in the massage clinic of your choice so that you can hear first-hand information. But if no one can give you this information, online review sites are your best sources of information.

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How Can Sports Massage Help Get You Back In Shape?

 

An athlete or someone who always plays a sport is at risk of experiencing muscle sprains, strains, joint pain and injuries. All these come with the territory of challenging the physical body. It is actually a very usual thing among athletes and sports enthusiasts to suffer from general aches and pains. However, if the pain is long-lasting, treatment might be needed.

Sports massage is recommended in every athlete’s training program. It will help an athlete warm-up and cool-down, which helps prevent serious injuries. This type of massage cannot treat injuries though, but it will assist in the healing process. People who put their physical bodies to the test on a regular basis are advised to get this type of massage at least once a week or more if needed.

How is Sports Massage Different?

How is sports massage different from any other massages out there? The massage therapist will actually target the tissues and find problems with it. Depending on what the problem is, the therapist will apply the right technique. However, a massage therapist will only perform the massage after the inflammatory stage of any injury.

The three main techniques in this type of massage therapy may be a combination of shiatsu and Swedish. Here are the three main strokes used:

• Petrissage- More of kneading on the deeper tissues for relaxation, stretching and mobilizing fluids.

• Effleurage- More of gliding the palms on the tissues; down at the start and end of the session.

• Friction- More of circular pressure used to break down lesions and separate muscle fibers.

While most massages out there are designed to improve the body’s blood circulation, sports massage targets the muscles. When playing sports, the muscles take a beating that results in muscle tension, stress, swelling and fatigue. When the muscles become weak, the person is more prone to suffering serious injuries.

Sports massage relieves the stress and pressure on the muscles. It helps improve the performance, endurance as well as the mobility and flexibility of the muscles. This type of therapy is great in enabling the body’s natural healing mechanism to heal one’s body faster. And of course, the massage improves blood circulation around the injured tissues. Therefore, the athlete can return to his tiptop shape faster.

On the other hand, do not wait to get injured before you seek this type of massage. Think of it as regular maintenance of the health of your muscles and joints. Get it regularly to ensure that your muscles are always ready and prepared for the physical activities you’ll be doing.

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How Sports Massage Helps

Sports massage therapy is considered a balanced training regimen to reduce recovery time to ensure full performance during the event. Sports massage therapy helps by increasing blood flow; thus all benefits follow.

• Enhancing pre-event preparation: When undergoing sports massage therapy, recovery time is reduced, thus giving high-quality performance during the training and even after the event. When the muscles are relaxed before the event, there are less chances for you to experience muscle cramps and strains during the event.

• Promoting flexibility: strenuous activities mean overusing or overstretching your muscles. When your body exceeds the limit of flexibility, there is a possibility for injury. A torn muscle can cause you your career and will have all the medical attention you need.

• Increased healing:  sports massage therapy increases blood flow by equally distributing them throughout the body. All these results in a faster recovery time, which all athletes need. As the blood carries oxygen throughout the body, it focuses on the damaged area; continuous supply of blood promotes muscle repair.

• Reduced soreness and pain: for those who go for activities twice a week, sports massage is highly recommended before or after an activity. For those do not work out often, sports massage can be done once in a while.

Sports massage is more than just a typical body massage; comparing it to a deep tissue massage, pressure points are given to the origin of pain. Sports massage on the other hand focuses on reducing the pain you may feel or the pain to be felt at the event by working on and enhancing the most abused parts of your body. It is found that even a 30-second sports massage can improve the hip-flexor range of motion, which is most important especially for runners, basketball players and other contact sports.

Now that sports massage is within reach when it comes to affordability and availability. Let not sore muscles and stress keep you from going through your hobby. Professional massage therapists are all you need and the perfect timing of the sports massage therapy.

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Can Sports Massage Be Really Helpful with Injuries?

Physical activity refreshes the mind and body but sometimes, it can lead to injuries. Such injuries can be obtained from working out or playing a sport that causes repetitive strain on the body. The most common injuries through sports are inflammation, tendonitis, sprains and strains. These injuries can occur in different stages but there’s something that can be done to prevent your injury from getting worse.

Stages of Injury

1.       Acute Stage

Sports massage helps in treating injuries in its various stages. Let’s start with the first stage which is called the acute stage. New injuries comprise the acute stage and most often, the person is in pain, has reduced mobility and inflamed muscles, joints or tendons. The massage therapy used in this stage is milder and lighter because of the injury’s freshness. Light pressure is applied and the person must always ice and elevate the injured area. Complete recovery make take weeks to months as this will depend on the severity of the injury.

2.       Sub-Acute Stage

In this second stage, the person doesn’t feel as much pain and inflammation anymore. However, the restricted movement is still there. Sports massage will help in decreasing the inflammation more. Doing so will help improve the injured area’s movement. The massage therapist will apply more pressure while alternating with hot and cold compress. This is to help blood circulation in the area for faster healing.

The massage therapy used in the sub-acute stage is trigger point therapy. The therapist will target the target points in the tight muscles, allowing these little nodules to loosen up which helps in improving the restricted movement.

3.       Chronic Stage

The chronic stage of an injury doesn’t involve pain and inflammation anymore but the restricted movement still lingers. Sports massage will help in applying deep pressure on the tight muscles to loosen them up and then trigger point massage therapy is applied. Therapists can also stretch the muscles to loosen up the stiffness.

If you are injured from playing your favorite sport, it is a must that you take a break for a while. Sports massage can only be effective if you give your injury a rest. The longer you put off the injury, the worse it will be. Once you feel some pain, call the massage center already and book a massage therapy session.

Massage Envy Lakeland

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Pre-Training and Post-Training Sports Massage

By now, you might have already known that sports massage is an ideal massage therapy for professional and non-professional athletes. But do you know that there are different types of sports massage for pre-training (or pre-game) and post-training (or post-game) purposes and that switching one over the other can be detrimental to your performance as an athlete? If not, then you better start reading this article.

Pre-training Sports Massage

Muscles need to be prepared before trainings and games. The ideal type of sports massage given to a person before his or her training or game is one that is very light and does not involve the use of oil. This should be given 20 minutes before the training or game starts. The main purpose of these broad compression strokes is to warm up the muscles and tendons so that they are less prone for cramps and spasms.

Post-Training Sports Massage

If the focus of pre-training massage is to warm up the muscles, this type of massage therapy focuses on releasing the spasms or adhesions obtained by the muscles during the training or game. Post-training sports massage is usually more invasive; it is normal for athletes to report feeling weak after receiving post-training sports massage. Muscles normally need recovery time after a post-training sports massage is given, after which, they should be able to perform better since the muscles are freed from internal restrictions.

Pre-training or Post-Training Sports Massage?

Both types of sports massage are beneficial to every athlete. The important thing, however, is to never mix them up. A post-training sports massage before a game will hamper the athlete’s performance, while a pre-training sports massage after a game will damage the muscles because it will not be able to release the tensions and spasms that should be released.

It is best to orient your sports massage therapist about your needs before your session starts. Likewise, the therapist should also explain to you – in detail – what to expect from the sports massage session, how to choose the kind of massage appropriate for your immediate goal, and how to choose the best time for sport massage in order for it to be most effective in helping you achieve enhanced performance.

With the right combination of the above mentioned factors, you will reap benefits of sports massage. Your muscles will be prepped for your training or game; lessening the injuries and enhancing your performance.

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