Sports Massage Benefits and Techniques
The Ultimate Water Massage system grew out of the professional sports therapy
field.
Massage therapy has grown to become an integral part of the new athletic
regimen from after school athletics to Olympic training.
At the highest level of performance massage can provide an extra edge to the
athletes. Massage has become a necessary ingredient for a complete workout. A
complete workout routine includes not only the exercise itself, but also caring
for the wear-and-tear and minor injuries that naturally occur with strenuous
movement. The holistic nature of massage make it an ideal complement to a total
conditioning program.
Anyone who routinely stretches their physical limits through movements such
as running, hiking, swimming, dancing, strength training or other physical
activities will benefit from a massage. There are others who engage in strenuous
activities during their daily routines that are not normally classified as
exercise but who also benefit from massage due to the extent of their activity
level. High activity levels are often experienced by construction workers,
gardeners, mothers with small children and others who use their bodies
strenuously in their work.
Adding massage to your conditioning program lets you get into good shape
faster, and with less stiffness and soreness. It helps you recover faster from
heavy workouts, and reduces conditions which may cause injury.
A professional massage therapist is not always available but we have added a
line of professional percussion massagers that are ideal
for sport massage.
Muscle soreness a day or two after exercise may be caused by a wide array of
factors. A few of the causes are minor muscle or connective tissue damage, local
muscle spasms that reduce blood flow, or a build up of waste products the
muscles. Massage can reduce this though the improved blood and lymphatic system
circulation that assists in the removal of metabolites and other toxins.
The Ultimate Water Massage system is particularly effective in the treatment of
this type of soreness.
Heavily exercised muscles may also lose their capacity to relax, causing
chronically tight (hypertonic) muscles, and loss of flexibility. Lack of
flexibility is often linked to muscle soreness, and predisposes you to injuries,
especially muscle pulls and tears. Blood flow through tight muscles is poor
(ischemia), which also causes pain. A regular routine of massage therapy
is very effective in combating these effects of heavy exercised muscles.
Traditional western (e.g. Swedish) massage is currently the most common approach
used for conditioning programs. However massage therapy with a heavy
percussion component and a focus on trigger point release may have a higher
benefit ratio for athletes.
The Benefits of Sports Massage
Regular sports massage can:
- Reduce the chance of injury, through the loosening of connective tissues
and muscles.
- Improve the range of motion and muscle flexibility,
- Shorten recovery time between workouts;
- Increase the supply of nutrients and oxygen through improved circulation;
- Enhance the elimination of toxic by-products of exercise.
Basic Goals
Pre-Event
Prepare an athlete or physically active person for vigorous movement
Create a relaxed state of suppleness within the tissue
Provide a tissue warm-up over multiple planes of motion experienced at
full effort
Post-Event
Facilitate full muscle relaxation to lower local metabolic rate and
increase circulation
Use gentle motion and techniques to avoid triggering a spasm in fatigued
muscles
Training
Maintain overall tissue suppleness
Early intervention of developing problems in specific muscles and tissue
Rehabilitation
Freeing of adhesions and unaligned scar tissue in specific sites of
injury
Strengthening and neuromuscular retraining to promote correct muscle
balance
How Does Massage Help?
Recovery.
Massage helps the body recover from the stresses of exercise, and speeds the
rebuilding phase of conditioning. The physiological benefits of massage include
improved blood and lymph circulation, muscle relaxation, and general relaxation.
These, in turn, lead to removal of waste products and better cell nutrition,
normalization and greater elasticity of tissues, deactivation of trigger points,
and faster healing of injuries. It all adds up to relief from soreness and
stiffness, better flexibility, and less potential for future injury.
Over-training.
Over-training occurs when the body is not allowed to recover adequately
between bouts of heavy exercise. Massage helps you avoid over-training by
facilitating recovery through general relaxation, and its other physiological
effects. You may recognized over-training by uncharacteristic
irritability, increased resting heart rate, apathy, altered appetite, and
increased frequency of injury.
Pre-event.
Pre-event sports massage is normally shorter (10-15 minutes) than a regular
conditioning massage, and focuses on warming-up the major muscles to be used and
improves tissue pliability. It will help get the athlete in a good mental
state for competition and readies the athlete for top performance. It is
effective up to four hours before the event. It is used as a supplement to an
athlete's warm-up to enhance circulation and reduce excess muscle and mental
tension prior to competition. Ultimate Water Massage's Quick Fix or Real Deal
Massage are ideal for this purpose.
Post-event.
Post-event sports massage is given after a competition and is mainly
concerned with recovery. It is geared toward reducing the muscle spasms and
metabolic build-up that occur with vigorous exercise. Recovery after competition
involves not only tissue normalization and repair, but also general relaxation
and mental calming. A recovery session might be 15 minutes to 11/2 hours in
length.
Maintenance Massage
A regular massage routine can help the athlete maintain or improve range of
motion and muscle flexibility. A regular massage routine is also essential
to the prevention of the negative effects of over training. The overall
objective of a maintenance program is to avoid acute injury during competition
and to help the athlete reach optimal performance through injury-free training.
Rehabilitation Massage
Even with preventive maintenance, muscles cramp, tear, bruise, and ache. Sports
massage can speed healing and reduce discomfort during the rehabilitation
process. For example, the improved lymphatic flow from massage in addition
to the "standard care" procedure in the acute stage of injury will improve
control of secondary, hypoxic injury and enhance fluid removal throughout the
healing cycle. Trigger point stress reduction reduces the spasms and pain that
occur both in the injured and "compensation" muscles. Cross-fiber friction
generated though massage during the secondary phases of healing improve the
formation of strong and flexible repair tissue, which is vital in maintaining
full pain-free range of motion during rehabilitation.
For the Therapist - General Considerations when performing sport
massage
Sports massage is designed to prepare tissue for movement βit is more
vigorous and up tempo than Swedish massage
Movements, even small ones, should be motivated by large muscles rather than
small intrinsic muscles of the wrist and hands.
Move from your whole body with your pelvis aligned with the direction of
movement. Often this means a stroke is done pushing across the clients body.
Table height β Lower, at finger tips or so you can put on leg on the table
(knee flexed) and still easily lean forward to apply pressure
Lubrication β To access into the tissue, use the minimum amount of lotion or
oil needed to avoid causing friction burns or body-hair pulling.
More on
Sports Massage
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tools for an outstanding self massage experience
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