If you are an exerciser or an athlete, you can benefit from having a sports massage. Sports massage is different from a traditional spa massage. Often, it involves fast-paced massage, stretching, and other approaches, and may vary depending on what sport you are engaged with. Sports massage can be an ideal pre-workout regimen, or it can be your post-workout care.
As an athlete, you strive to do your best. But constant training takes a toll on your muscles. Overtraining can lead to muscle rigidity. Sports massage can help relax your tense muscles and help increase your flexibility. A good sports massage before a competition can relax your muscles, increase flexibility and improve your performance.
Sports massage improves your blood circulation. Increased blood flow nourishes and helps repair the muscles and tissues which are damaged as a result of heavy training. This leads to faster recovery and earlier return to effective training.
When you exercise, your body demands more oxygen and nutrients. Because massage improves circulation, it also enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles.
After you begin your exercise, lactic acid and carbonic acid build up in the muscle tissue. Muscle contractions produce these acids as wastes. This is a normal process. Muscles use glycogen stores to produce energy, in which lactic and carbonic acids are by-products of this metabolic process. The acid wastes cause irritation to the muscles. Improved circulation from massage helps eliminate waste products. After massage, you may need to drink plenty of water to eliminate them completely.
Massage can benefit you psychologically. It puts your mind in a meditative state. It brings calming, restorative, and clearing effects to your mind. When your brain is in a meditative state, it is able to sort through the clutter and you’ll easily get focused. This contributes to better performance. An athlete with a relaxed and focused mind is capable of being highly competitive in sports.
Increased blood flow from massage helps reduce the inflammation that causes pain. Sports massage can also help lift off muscle tension that is often a result of chronic pain by loosening the tight muscles. If you’re an athlete, sports massage prepares you for your best performance. This also means less pain and injury that can limit your performance. Massage reduces your fatigue and relieves muscle swelling and tension. When you do strenuous physical activities, muscle tension builds up in your body’s soft tissues. Even minor injuries and lesions that occur in these tissues from overextension or overuse can cause a significant pain, which can affect your performance. Sports massage can help reduce pain and prevent injuries that greatly affect your overall performance in athletic events. The benefits of sports massage definitely goes beyond soothing your muscles.