Skip to main content

All About Sports Massage

So, what is “sports massage?” Many of my clients are athletes, or at the least weekend warriors and, as such have asked me about the subject. It seems the performance and wellness advantages afforded by sports massage are highly sought after by my more "competitive" clients? ; )

So anyway, there are basically three main goals of sports massage:
  1. To assist you in performing at you peak level
  2. To help reduce or possibly prevent the risk of injury
  3. To help with recovery in the event of injury
Since they typically want to depend on their body's ability to function at its best, injury recovery time is dramatically reduced for the clients that incorporate sports massage into their routine.

Although sports massage can occur in a variety of different settings and administered at different times with different goals, there are also generally four times to administer this type of massage:

  • Pre-event Massage - Pre-event massage typically occurs at the sports event, 20 to 30 minutes before the event. Encompassing techniques such as friction to help warm muscles up, compression to increase circulation in specific muscles and range of motion to assist in joint mobility, pre-event massage focuses on the muscles that will be stressed most during competition.
  • Post-event Massage - Also administered at the event site, post-event massage is aimed at helping the athlete recover from muscle soreness or cramping while reestablishing range of motion and circulation. Post-event massage might consist of compressive effleurage for calming the nervous system and pushing fluid, stretching and petrissage to relieve muscular tension, compression for spreading muscle fibers and restoring blood flow, broadening strokes to lengthen tight muscles, and reciprocal inhibition to relieve muscle cramps.
  • Maintenance Massage - Administered in between competitive events, a sports maintenance massage is part of an optimal wellness program that targets an athlete's strength, flexibility, coordination, biomechanics, posture, stress patterns, scar tissue and existing injuries.
  • Rehabilitation Massage - Because muscles worked to their limit cramp, tear, bruise and ache, even the most cautious athlete could benefit from rehabilitation massage. While sports massage should only be administered in unison with proper medical care, rehabilitative work can dramatically speed healing and ease pain. Rehabilitation sports massage techniques could include effleurage, neuromuscular therapy, compression, cross-fiber friction, lymphatic drainage and trigger point massage.
My practice focuses solely on the last two; maintenance and rehabilitative sports massage. And from what my clients tell me, investing in this type of service is a great performance booster, or at the very least, it's a great way to reward to yourself for a sport well played!

As Always - Enjoy Your Life!

John Aaron Villarreal


The Legal Stuff: The content and information on this site is not intended to diagnose,
cure, treat or prevent disease. Please consult your physician
prior to starting any exercise or diet program.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 22, 2013 at 12:23 AM

    Massage Therapy Technicians provide relief from pain and injuries, and many more .......
    beginners massage courses

    ReplyDelete
  2. John Aaron VillarrealMay 8, 2013 at 11:49 AM

    Thanks for the comments, Joseph. I commend your efforts on massage education!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Should I Get a Massage and How Often?

This is a question I get often… Let’s face it, if it were up to massage therapists we’d say that you should get a massage every day, but in reality – very few people ever have the means or time to make this scenario play out in their lives. So technically speaking, your frequency should depend on how much you like massage, how often you experience chronic pain, and your budget. If you’re able to afford it, getting a monthly or weekly massage works best at helping prevent injuries by catching tight areas before they become problematic. With my more athletic clients (runners, weightlifters, gymnasts), I usually recommend timing their massage to coincide with the times they are training their hardest. For example, runners can develop tight hamstrings and hips, gymnasts and weight-lifters can get tight shoulders. These tight muscle groups can elicit injuries over time if they aren't treated by massage. If you are physically active, I recommend getting a massage within 24 hours ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coffee Has Health Benefits

Anyone who knows me knows I love my Joe…. err, “cup of joe” that is. In fact, I’m enjoying a cup as I write this post. However, as a wellness professional that little admission of guilt has gotten me a few sneers and looks of condescension. Caffeine is BAD for you, they say! Well, perhaps abusing caffeine may be “bad” for you, but ‘caffeine’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘coffee.’ Despite this fact, coffee has gotten a bad rep over the years after a few health experts linked it (or rather, linked caffeine abuse) to several diseases. But is coffee actually that bad? Probably not; new research shows that drinking coffee in moderation provides numerous health benefits. Antidepressant It might seem a little odd to find that coffee could help with depression, but new research has shown that it does just that. Now, don’t go throwing out your prescriptions or quit counseling just yet though, coffee is not a cure for depression. Rather, the caffeine in coffee helps regulate your mood trans...
2 comments
Read more

Cutting Calories: 4 Easy Steps

It’s been said that if you want to lose weight, you need to move more and eat less. For some, however, the eating less part is the most dreaded. Yet, cutting calories from your diet doesn’t have to be a struggle and you don’t need to go on some fad or trendy diet to do it. Making small, simple changes can make a huge difference. To prove this point, I’ve outlined 4 simple steps that you can take toward cutting calories today. Step One: Stop drinking soda Whether you drink regular soda or diet soda, it’s a good thing to remove from your diet. It’s a lot of empty calories and replacement sugars that you don’t need in your body, and don’t even get me started on the subject of “corn syrup” or artificial sweeteners. If you want to kick your addiction to sodas then cutting them out completely is the best way to do that. You will save yourself money and a lot of unneeded calories by cutting out just this one item. Step Two: Portion properly It’s very important to learn what prop...
2 comments
Read more