FAQ: Sports Massage
Sports Massage is similar to a firm Swedish massage, but is designed to optimize performance by helping with recovery and addressing injuries. So a Sports Massage is more firm and brisk, and will focus on the specific muscles used for a particular sport. It is also a natural performance enhancer. There are different Sports Massage techniques that will stimulate muscles before a race or help muscles recover post-race. We will ask you what you’ve been up to and customize your session for your needs.
Take out the trash from all that muscle fatigue and repair damaged muscle fibers.
Sports Massage is great for relieving muscle pain. It can reduce the length of time you might feel sore after heavy exertion (this is known as “recovery time”), and encourage recovery from injury. It’s a great addition to your rehabilitation care if you are recovering from an injury.
Just like there are different types of workouts (High intensity intervals, Long Endurance, Heavy Lifting, or Focus on Speed) there are many different types of Sports Massage techniques. We’ll ask you what you’ve been doing recently, what your training goals are, and you’ll get a session customized for your unique training program.
All of our therapists have twice the average massage education, and it’s ALL in sports massage. Our therapists are veteran providers at major athletic events. Our CV’s include London Olympics, 2012 Paralympics, LA marathon, IronMan triathlon, CrossFit World Games, AVP Volleyball Tournaments, Olympic Trials for Swimming, and many many more. You can trust that we truly do offer REAL sports massage.
Endurance athletes such as Ironman, Ultrarunners, Marathoners, Century Bike Riders, Open Water Swimmers etc. really need regular Sports Massage care to clear out metabolic waste, reset the muscle tone, and make sure those joints are moving the way they need to. Small niggles of pain during workouts can indicate that the muscles are pulling on a joint. A massage a few days before a race will get you in fabulous shape as you taper toward your big event. We know that there are many types of workouts from Long Slow Distance, to Tempo pace, and HIIT (high intensity interval training). So we will ask you what you’ve been up to and customize your session for your needs.
Definitely! Even the “Office Athlete” has a lot of the same discomforts as the competitive athlete, as well as the person who experiences a lot of repetitive movements on a day-to-day basis. So if you’re not a competitive athlete or don’t have any past or current injuries, Sports Massage can help you feel like it’s just easier to move without as much discomfort, often helping you feel that you have more range of motion.
No. However, there’s a fine line between “It Hurts So Good” and it just plain hurts. You, as the client, have the right and really the obligation to let your therapist know where that fine line is so that it’s never crossed. The Therapist can feel the tension in the muscle by how hard or dense the muscle tissue feels – consequently making an educated guess as to how the client is feeling the pressure. You, on the other hand, can feel the sensitivity of the pressure. Our goal as Therapist is to not interfere with the way you need to move today, tomorrow, next week. If you feel bruised or feel sore for longer than two days, the Therapist probably used too much pressure or spent too much time focused on an area. By speaking up DURING the massage, these discomforts can be avoided.
Yes, it can! If your muscles are irritated from an injury, massage can loosen them up, clear them out, and help restore full range of motion so they hurt less. Neck, shoulder, and back pain, muscle cramps and soreness are all easily addressed during a sports massage session. Massages to address injuries should be done well in advance of race day, ideally during training. But if you’re not injured, even a 15-minute sports massage within 24 hours of a race or really intense workout can prevent the usual soreness that can linger for days afterward. Massage helps your body eliminate the waste produced from intense muscle effort. And when you recover faster, your body gets stronger because it can get started rebuilding muscle right away, instead of spending time taking out the trash.
In addition to the enhancing performance through better recovery as mentioned above, another benefit of massage is to relieve muscle tension. When muscles are tense, they are tight, and they can also get weak. So relieving tightness can help you gain strength. Many people report having the best workout in months after receiving their first massage.
It depends on the purpose for the massage: Training, Pre-Event, Post-Event, Injury Recovery, or Maintenance.
Training: If you are training for a specific event, getting a Sports Massage during the “recovery” part of your training cycle is recommended – whether your recovery period is a day, three days, or a week & happens every week, every other, or once every 4 weeks. This is a great time to address anything that could become a potential problem if left untreated, for example allowing your body adjust to new equipment or new equipment settings like new running shoes or a change in your bike seat post height.
Pre-Event: If you want a massage to enhance race performance, it can be done 2-3 days before your race. Race day is also a great time, since Massage can help enhance your warmup routine. Massage will bring more fresh blood to your muscles, giving you a feeling of more power to your efforts.
Post-Event: After your race, you want to flush out all of the lactic acid and get on with recovery, so having a massage as soon as possible, or within 24-hours of your event is ideal. Recovery massage is so easy you can do it yourself, with a massage tool called “The Stick” or just your own two hands! Just press gently and firmly, kneading each muscle for about two minutes. Or ask a friend for help! However, the really firm “deep tissue” massage should NOT be done immediately prior to or after a race, because it can create soreness, rather than relieving it.
Injury Recovery: Massage for Injury Recovery can be used in the same way you would use physical therapy or chiropractic care in that situation – initially more frequently, then tapering off as your body continues to heal. This may mean 2-3 times in a week to start, then maybe once a week, every other week, & eventually more of a maintenance interval of once a month. Massage can even be used in post-surgery situations, initially focused on bringing down swelling associated with the surgery itself. Also best to wait 24-48hrs after the injury/surgery to receive bodywork.
Maintenance:A typical maintenance interval for any type massage is once a month. More frequently if you’re training heavily, under a lot of stress, traveling a lot, or find that your body seems to need it more often.