subject: End Your Stressful Day But Also Free Your Mind Using A Soothing Sports Massage [print this page] Sports massage therapy - beneficial for everyone from weekend joggers to world-class professionals - is gaining popularity as an important component in the balanced training regimen of athletes everywhere. Participants in a variety of sports, everywhere in the world, are discovering that a specially-design sports massage will:
Improved range of motion and increased flexibility;
Better endurance and less fatigue;
Looser muscles, resulting in less chance of injury;
The ability to compete at their very best level;
Lesser recovery time between their practice sessions;
Better circulation, which results in more nutrients and oxygen going to the body;
Rids the body of unwanted toxins resulting from exercise.
Sports massage therapy was designed to heal and rejuvenate an athlete's body after an intensive workout. By identifying the various areas of the body that need to be fortified or repaired, a massage therapist can devise a sports massage program to effectively reduce the potential for injury and relieve the strain and tension that so many athletes experience.
Our muscles tend to lose their capacity to relax after heavy exercise, resulting in tight muscles and a loss of flexibility, which can cause muscle tears and pulls. A regular routine of sports massage therapy has proven to be quite effective in combating these - and other - ailments of muscles that have been extended to their limit. But the goals of sports massage therapy are different at various stages of sports activity and competition as follows.
Prior to the event: Studies have shown that athletes who receive a sports massage prior to a sporting event improve their muscle tension and their equally-important mental health in a shorter amount of time. Pre-event sports massage therapy is designed to prepare the major muscles that the athlete will be using.
During a sporting event: The massage technique used during a sporting event is designed to insure the ultimate in performance with low-risk training. Just as each different sport uses different muscle groups in different ways, the sports massage technique will differ as well.
At the conclusion of the competition: To eliminate the occurrence of muscle spasms that often result from the demands placed on an athlete's body, many prefer a post-competition sports massage to repair muscle tissue, relax their entire body and calm their mind.
Sports massage therapy for overtraining: Sometime athletes don't allow their bodies to rejuvenate themselves between training sessions. Irritability, a change in an athlete's appetite, and an increased number of injuries are all signs that your body may be overworked. A sports massage helps relieve these symptoms by putting it in a state of total relaxation.
Maintenance Massage: a regular sports massage program can help maintain and improve an athlete's muscle flexibility and range of motion and is essential to the prevention of the harmful effects of too much training. Sports massage maintenance therapy is designed to prevent acute injury during competition.
Rehabilitation Massage: Even with preventive maintenance, muscles tend to cramp, tear, bruise, and ache; a sports massage can speed healing and reduce discomfort during the rehabilitation process. Performing a sports massage during the secondary phases of healing can improve the formation of strong and flexible repair tissue during rehabilitation.
