Sports Massage
'Optimize performance, recovery and healing’
Sports massage is deep tissue massage that stimulates circulation of blood and lymph fluids, breaks down adhesions (knots in the muscles) and increases range of motion. It is used as an injury prevention tool and to aid recovery from sports/training.
Key Benefits:
- Improves circulation and lymphatic drainage
- Improves muscle length, tone and balance
- Improves recovery rate after exercise
- Reduces pain
- Reduces swelling
There are four types of sports massages:
- Pre-event a short, stimulating massage 15 - 45 minutes before an event. It is directed toward the parts of the body that will be involved in the exertion.
- Post-event given within an hour or two of the event, to normalize the body's tissues.
- Restorative/preventative given during training to allow the athlete to train harder and with less injury.
- Rehabilitative aimed at alleviating pain due to injury and returning the body to health.
When we exercise, our muscles sustain micro tears and produce a waste product called lactic acid. Micro tears and lactic acid can cause our muscles to feel tender or sore 1-2 days post exercise and can continue for up to 4-5 days if severe. This is known as delayed onset of muscle soreness or DOMS. Although completely normal the heavy lethargic feeling you experience with DOMS can sometimes negatively impact on your training and confidence and sports massage is often used to minimise this.
