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 their physical limits through movement. Swimmers, weight
lifters, runners, golfers, ball players,
skaters, dancers, tennis players, musicians, and boxers, as well as
"weekend warriors" and those who practice strength training or
aerobics have benefited from sports massage.
What Areas Will Be Massaged?
Sports massage may focus on specific muscles used in your sport or
fitness activity. For example, areas of greater stress for runners and
cyclists are in the legs and lower back; for swimmers, the upper body.
Why is Sports Massage Recommended Overall?
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.
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.
There are three basic categories:
Pre-Event: A quick treatment (rhythmic
pumping) is a supplement to warm-up. It boosts circulation and
increases flexibility and range of motion, thereby reducing muscle pain
and soreness, leaving muscles relaxed and ready for action. Pre-event
massage can help prevent muscle and tendon injuries and reduce the
strain and discomfort of training. It also can be a great psychological
advantage in competition.
Post-Event:Recovery after a competition
involves not only the normalization and repair of tissue, but also
general relaxation and mental calming. Post-event sports massage
increases circulation to quicken the removal of fatigue toxins, relieve
muscle spasms, and prevent soreness. It is used to assist athletes in
recovery and in regaining their pre-event condition by relaxing tight,
fatigued muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Training: Throughout training and rigorous
regular athletic activity, massage helps prevent injuries. Areas of
muscular stress can result from repetitive or stressful motion and are
typically precursors to injury. Sports massage assists in relieving
muscular stress and preventing injuries, enabling harder and more
consistent training. Adequate recovery is also a major factor in
avoiding nagging minor injuries that inhibit maximum performance.
What Are the Common Causes of Sports Injuries?
Injuries are commonly experienced when an individual has
over trained, fails to sufficiently warm up, receives trauma, or has
muscular imbalances, poor flexibility, mineral deficiencies, inadequate
endurance, or simply does too much too soon. Insufficient muscle
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 injuriess.
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| Michael Merrimer |
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