What is Sports Massage?
Sports Massage was originally developed for athletes who take part in strenuous sporting activities. The purpose of Sports Massage is to enhance an athlete’s performance on the sports event day or during regular training. It also prevents the occurrence of an injury and promotes recovery post sports events.
You don’t have to be a competitive athlete to equally benefit from sports massage. If you are a physically active person and experiencing muscular aches or tightness, the sports massage will reduce muscle tension and help you to maintain your active lifestyle injury-free.
Massage technique
The hands-on technique of sports massage is unlike any other relaxation or stress-relief massage when you get a full-body experience. The sports massage is focused on troubled areas by using approaches such as stretching, passive joint movements, fast-paced massage, kneading, stronger and deeper pressure trigger point (areas of tightness) relief techniques.
You might feel a little tired or sore after the session. It is recommended to drink plenty of water after the massage and avoid heavy meals or alcohol in the hours leading up to the massage session.
Benefits
- Promotes recovery: the blood circulation increases in the area being massaged and causes the blood vessels to become wider which then promotes faster transition/flow of the nutrients and oxygen to the affected area speeding up the healing process.
- Increase lymph system activity: the lymph system(other than the blood system of vessels) helps the body to remove excess fluid, bacteria, cell wastes, proteins and flush all good nutrients back to the blood. The sports massage helps the lymph system to work more efficiently.
- Pain relief: sports massage promotes the release of the hormones called endorphins which are neural-signalling molecules that function as a painkiller. In addition to pain relief, endorphins help to reduce anxiety and improve mood.
- Decrease muscle tension: the sports massage session might appear far from relaxing however, the heat generated in the tissues throughout the session allows the muscles to relax.
- Increase flexibility and mobility: the muscle tissue around the joints expands and lengthens in a number of ways throughout a massage reducing muscle tightness. In addition, the synovial fluid inside the joints increases leading to better movement of the joints.
- DOMS relief: DOMS known as delayed onset muscle soreness- the muscular pain you get several hours or a day after strenuous exercise. Sports massage can help to reduce DOMS severity by removing waste products such as lactic acid, normalizing body temperature and restoring muscle function.
Mobile areas covered: Central, West, North and North West London. Other areas in London including Watford can be discussed.