Sport Massage & Therapy Services in Leamington Spa
What is Sports Massage?
Sports Massage is a form of soft tissue therapy aimed at manipulating muscles, tendons and ligaments. Sports massage is a deep massage that focuses on finding and targeting the cause of injury, not just the symptoms, resulting in effective injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Contrary to popular belief, muscular soreness is not due to a build up of lactic acid but by microscopic damage to muscle tissue. This damage can be commonly referred to as a ‘knot’ in the muscle and occurs when fibrous tissue is laid down horizontally across the muscle, as opposed to vertically whereby the majority of fibres lie. Deep tissue massage breaks down these fibrous adhesions and also encourages the vertical laying down of fibrous tissue, resulting in more spongy and better functioning muscle tissue.
Despite its name, sports massage is not exclusive to athletes and can be hugely beneficial to everyone.
Benefits of Sports Massage
Regular sports massage treatment can:
- Maximise training by increasing recovery rate
- Prevent injury
- Aid injury rehabilitation
- Help to remodel scar tissue after injury
- Improve posture
- Maintain mobility
- Relieve stress
- Increase flexibility
- Reduce general aches and pains
- Ease muscle tension and tension headaches
- Decrease muscle fatigue
- Prolong sporting careers
- Help to prepare mentally and physically for a sporting event
When is it beneficial to have sports massage?
There are four major types of sports massage treatment:
- pre-event
- post-event
- maintenance
- injury treatment
Pre-event massage is a light, fast massage aimed at waking up and warming the muscles in preparation for performance. This type of massage should be performed within an hour prior to a sporting event.
Post-event massage is a slower massage, aimed at easing muscle fatigue and preventing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). This massage should be given closely after a sporting event.
Maintenance massage is the most popular type of sports massage. It is a deep tissue massage focusing on breaking down muscular adhesions. This type of massage can result in some post-treatment soreness and should not be carried out prior to a training session or event.
Massage for injury treatment focuses on a specific area of the body where injury occurs. The timing and regularity of this treatment should be discussed with the therapist, as it is very specific to the individual.
How often should I have sports massage?
Sports massage has a cumulative effect, therefore one treatment may help to alleviate a muscular problem in the short-term. However, regular maintenance sports massage treatment will lead to major benefits, as the muscles adapt and respond to treatment.
For maximal results, I would recommend that sports massage should be carried out once a week. Due to time and budgeting, however, this is not always an option. Therefore, massage should be booked in as regularly as is possible.