Fitness and Performance
Is Massage part of your Training Programme?
Back in February, Matt Peterson wrote about the benefits of sport and remedial massage. This time he’s back to explain how sports massage can help you as part of a training programme for any sporting event…
How sports massage could help you be at your best
Are you training for an event or competition and wondering whether sports massage would be beneficial to your preparation? In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the ways that sports massage can help you with your training programme, as well as on competition day itself.
Sports massage as part of your training plan
Whether you are a competitive athlete or training for your first event, you will want to do the best that you possibly can. Training and preparation are key to good performance. A good training plan has numerous benefits. However, overtraining can be an issue.
If you have not fully recovered from your previous session and train again too hard, you could be putting yourself at real risk of injury. With this in mind, recovery should be an essential part of any training plan and this is where sports massage can assist.
We know that following intense exercise, it takes time for soft tissue to repair. Mel Cash states in his book ‘Advanced Remedial Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy (Ebury Press 2012)’:
“As well as the need for any micro-trauma to repair, it takes time for the blood flowing through the area to flush out any accumulated muscle waste and to replenish the nutritional stores. By pumping blood more forcefully through the micro-circulation, basic massage strokes can greatly speed up both of these processes”.
So what does this mean for you? In short, it means that massage will help you to recover more quickly, allowing you to train at a more intensive level, with a lower risk of overuse injury.
Sounds great, right? But when is the best time to receive a sports massage? As well as aiding the recovery process following your hardest and most demanding training sessions, it can also offer excellent benefits at other times.
Avoid overuse injuries with a sports massage
Overuse injuries tend to develop over time but are not usually noticed during the early stages. These types of injuries often get worse gradually and when you finally start to feel the symptoms, it will feel like a new injury has just occurred.
A good therapist should be able to feel the damaged tissue areas early on. Treatment, using a range of soft tissue techniques including massage, can then be started at an earlier stage of the cycle, helping to resolve these issues before they become injuries that can affect your training and preparation. Once these potential problem areas have been highlighted, you will be able to take early preventative measures. This can include analysing your technique or tweaking your training plan, to try and avoid overuse injuries in the first place.
Feel the benefits of sports massage just before a competition
Massage can also help in the build up just before a competition. For competitors who are feeling a little overexcited, massage can help them to relax and feel more calm. For others, fast and light techniques can be used to stimulate and invigorate. At this stage, it is about making each individual feel their best, so that they can go out and perform to the best of their ability.
Are you are a competitive athlete or just starting out with your first training plan? Why not get in touch and discover how we can help with your pre-event preparation.
If you’re in need of some support, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Click here to find your nearest Bodyset clinic, where our expert team of clinicians are ready to help you with a personalised treatment programme. Any questions? Contact our friendly client care team by calling 033 0333 0435.