To reach their peak performance, athletes need to be able to use their body in a functional way during sports. After injuries and during rehabilitation, a sports massage can help them toward this goal. However, sports massages are not just for treating injuries. They can help an athlete physically, mentally, and emotionally.
A sports massage may help an athlete perform their best while on the field. It will help them to reduce fatigue, as well as minimize the inflammation and tension that strenuous exercise brings. When a person is engaged in strenuous exercise, the muscles cause tension to build up in the body’s soft tissue. If a person overexerts themselves or overextends their limbs, very small injuries or lesions may develop in the soft tissue, which will diminish an athlete’s ability to perform and may even cause them pain. A sports massage can remove the pain that these minor injuries cause and allow an athlete to have greater flexibility, mobility, and response time.
Athletes may experience setbacks as a result of delayed onset muscle soreness. This is known in the athletic world as DOMS. There is a higher chance of this occurring if the exercise the athlete was engaged in was unfamiliar. The effects of DOMS can be debilitating. Sports massage has been shown in many studies to reduce and sometimes prevent these painful side effects.
When an athlete heavily exercises their muscles, their muscles could eventually lose the ability to relax. This leads to muscles that are chronically tight, as well as a loss of flexibility. Losing flexibility, in turn, predisposes an athlete to pull muscles and other injuries. Tight muscles have poor blood flow, which causes severe pain. Massage therapy is an effective way to relax these tense muscles.
One of the most common sports injuries is a muscle strain. If a muscle strain is not treated immediately, and if rehabilitation techniques are ignored, the result may be a chronic impairment of the athlete’s ability. In this instance, sports massage can serve as a preventative measure to prevent muscle strain.
Sports massage should be used before and after any athletic event. Sports massages that are preformed before a competition not only get the athlete physically ready for the event by warming up their major muscles and improving the pliability of tissue, but it also puts the athlete in a good emotional and mental state.
When a sports massage is given after an event, its goal is to help the athlete’s muscles recover. The goal of this style of sports massage is to minimize muscle spasms as well as any metabolic buildup that took place during the athlete’s performance.
Athletes who receive regular sports massages not only avoid painful injuries but they are also able to keep their muscles relaxed and feeling rejuvenated. A constant regiment of massage helps them to feel calm and to improve their focus before a major event.
If you are experiencing muscle tension, a sports massage may help provide relief. Contact MacMed Spa today.