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Sports massage is commonplace in professional athletics and is rising in popularity among recreational athletes. The idea behind a sports massage is to promote faster recovery, which will help you stay healthy and perform better. Sports massage is a fantastic technique for enhancing range of motion and flexibility, lowering muscular tension, boosting blood flow to the muscles, and minimizing pain.
Not just athletes can use it. This innovative method can help everyone who leads an active lifestyle. Our Local massage therapists incorporate this technique to help reduce muscular discomfort after an exercise, enhance range of motion, and improve flexibility. Whether you are a seasoned athlete trying to better your performance and achieve PB or new to sports and want to calm your sore muscles. Maybe you are recovering from an accident and ready to start going again or want to prevent injury following mild jogs; a sports massage might help.
Deep tissue massage, aided stretching, and other anti-inflammation treatments are all used in sports massage to help patients achieve and maintain the ideal physical condition necessary for peak performance with a lower chance of sports-related injury.
Is Sports Massage Different from Deep Tissue Massage?
Many methods used by the best massage therapist in deep tissue and sports massage are similar. Both therapies involve deep, slow strokes, kneading, and circular motions to relieve muscular tension in the body. Both massages are intense, usually more so than a soothing Swedish or hot stone massage.
These well-liked therapeutic massages are similar to one another, yet they also differ significantly in several important ways. Depending on your lifestyle, you could gain more advantages from a deep tissue massage than a sports massage.
Additionally, depending on the purpose of the therapy, sports massage can be broadly categorized as follows:
A sports massage that promotes recovery allows athletes to exercise hard with a lower chance of injury
The goal of therapeutic sports massage is to reduce pain brought on by a particular injury
Pre-event sports massage is a quick, energizing massage focused on the body areas that will be used in the activity
Post-event sports massage aids in encouraging the body's optimal recovery following physical stress
Techniques Used in Performing a Sports Massage
Compression Massage
The compression massage technique is beneficial by placing hands over a muscle region and applying pressure down to the tissues. A prominent sports massage therapist will then raise his/her hands, move to a new location, and repeat the process. Compressions can have pressures that are extremely mild or very profound. Compressions can also be conducted with a slight rocking action that might boost the parasympathetic nervous system and induce relaxation. Muscles are compressed using the compression method, which is then held and released. After that, this method is repeated. Several distinct massage styles employ compressions, such as Swedish, therapeutic, and deep tissue massages.
Many advantages of compression massage include relaxation, better circulation, and healing. Muscle compressions have a stimulating effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, which has the power to change mood and foster feelings of relaxation. By initially limiting blood flow and then encouraging a greater volume of blood to the region, compressions can aid in enhancing circulation to the muscles.
Muscle Stripping
In the deep tissue massage method known as "muscle stripping," the massage therapist presses on a particular band of muscle fibers from the muscle's origin to its insertion. In order to aid in the removal of waste items, the muscle is lengthened, and new blood circulation is delivered to the region.
This method promotes flexibility and quickens recuperation. Experienced sports massage therapists use various medical massage methods, including muscle stripping, to assist customers in reducing pain, improving flexibility, and avoiding injuries.
Transverse Friction
The fingers administer a transverse connective tissue therapy called transverse friction massage. This unique therapy massage is used mostly on tendon or ligament injuries to assist break down thicker, pain-producing scar tissue. These lesions are likely to irritate more and degrade more quickly than they should if they are not minimized. An oscillating pressure is used in transverse frictions across the direction of the tissue fibers. This method helps treat both acute and chronic muscular, tendon, and ligament problems.
Transverse friction massage entails moving the skin with your fingers transversely or across the muscle fibers to break up adhesion and muscle knots in the tissue, increase circulation, and consequently improve the flexibility and pliability of that muscle. Transverse and friction are two words that refer to moving in opposite directions.
PNF Stretching
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation is a more advanced flexibility training (PNF). It has been demonstrated to have a good impact on active and passive range of motion, and physiotherapists utilize it to increase muscle suppleness. For optimal static flexibility, PNF uses stretching and contracting (activation) of the targeted muscle group.
The sports massage therapist uses assistive stretching and isometric exercises during PNF. It improves mobility while reducing muscular strain. Also, it raises awareness of certain body patterns, contributing to a more ergonomic environment in general.
The Takeaway
A sports massage could be beneficial for you whether you are an experienced competitor looking to boost your performance and set a personal best, a newcomer to sports looking to ease your aching muscles, recovering from an injury and eager to get going again, or simply looking to avoid injury after light jogs.
Sports massage is a fantastic approach to promote quick healing and help prevent injuries. But it's advised that you make an appointment for a physio examination and treatment that may address issues in more depth if you have a condition that prevents you from playing the sport you love or if you are having trouble performing at your best owing to a number of niggles.