Will it benefit me
Preventing muscle pain and promoting recovery from injury
Who can benefit from Sports Massage?
For those active in sport and fitness activities, but also those who have muscular aches and pains from work and the stresses of everyday life.
1. For those active in sport and fitness activities
Maintenance
One of the aims of Sports Massage is to prevent injuries and muscle problems happening in the first place. Sports Massage used as a maintenance treatment will help maintain muscles in optimal condition, improve flexibility and increase range of movement.
Rehabilitation
Sports Massage used as part of a rehabilitation programme will speed the recovery process as well as help resolve chronic muscle, tendon and ligament injuries.
Pre and Post event work
Used in conjunction with an athletes warm-up regime, Sports Massage is beneficial pre event in facilitating relaxation or stimulation (dependant upon the needs of the particular sport and needs of the athlete) to enhance performance and reduce muscular tension. Alongside stretching and a warm down programme, post event massage helps reduce muscle tension, reduce the build up of lactic acid, enhance relaxation and significantly increase speed of recovery from competition and training.
2. Those who have muscular aches and pains from work and the stresses of everyday life.
Patterns of modern living
Ordinary daily life in the 21st Century encourages individuals to adopt bad posture which has negative impacts on the body. Activities such as driving long distances or sitting for long periods at a computer, doing gardening, DIY or just carrying shopping and the baby, all make significant demands on the body causing muscular problems - all of which would benefit from Sports Massage.
Stress
The psychological and emotional stress an individual experiences, whether due to to work or personal life is often reflected in muscular stress: particularly in the back, neck and shoulders. Sports massage is effective in relieving this stress by focusing on those specific muscles, often with active participation of the client in undertaking stretching action (this is a a very different approach to that used in holistic massage which aims to reduce stress by encouraging general relaxation throughout the body.
Long term conditions
Sports massage has been shown to be effective at maintaining muscle tone and increasing range of movement for those with long term conditions such as Parkinson's Disease. Those with Multiple Sclerosis can also derive benefit, although for some individuals with MS it can also cause muscle spasm. As the response is different from person to person, those with long term conditions should first check with their GP that is would be approrpaite for their indivdual treatment plan.
Still not sure?
If you have any doubts whether sports massage is the right therapy for you, please feel free to contact me and discuss your concerns and I will try and answer any questions you have. My details are set out by clicking on the "Contact us" button on the left hand side of this page, or ring me on: 077 651 93638