Sports Massage
Sports massage therapy is a style of massage designed to optimize athletic performance and prevent injuries. Whether you’re a competitive athlete, a teen athlete, or are simply an active individual, sports massage can be a wonderful way to supplement your athletic and fitness journey.
What are the Benefits of Sports Massage?
Sports massage is beneficial to all athletes and active individuals before, during, and after activities and competitions.
Here are a few of the biggest ways sports massage can help your performance:
Increased flexibility and range of motion
By targeting muscle tension and promoting flexibility, sports massage improves range of motion. This is particularly beneficial for athletes who require a full range of motion in their specific sport.
Injury prevention
Regular sports massage therapy helps people identify and address potential muscular and soft tissue issues early, which in turn helps them prevent more serious injuries. This is especially important with teen athletes who tend to overuse certain muscle groups in their training.
Boosts injury recovery
Even the most diligent and careful athletes can get injured–it’s just the way the cookie crumbles. With athlete massage therapy, individuals can enjoy an expedited recovery process. Let us explain: high-intensity physical activities often result in the accumulation of waste materials, such as lactic acid, in the muscles. Sports massage facilitates the efficient removal of these waste products, speeding up the recovery process, and enabling athletes to return to their training swiftly and effectively.
Reduces inflammation
The techniques used in a sports massage help boost blood circulation, which in turn reduces inflammation. This increased blood flow also helps remove toxins and other substances that may be contributing to pain in the area.
Reduces pain
Sports massage therapy also helps break up any knots or areas of muscle tension, which significantly reduces pain and discomfort.
In a 2020 study, 14% of the participants indicated that the benefits of sports massage therapy were multifactorial, and included sport performance enhancement, while 32% indicated that sports massage therapy was effective in treating injury and relieving pain and/or discomfort.