Sports Massage
Sports Massage is designed to promote optimal body health for maximum performance, taking into account which muscles are most affected by your pursuits. It will help you in your quest to strive for peak condition with the healthiest body possible.
Massage provides excellent benefits to the musculoskeletal system. It increases blood supply to your muscles which brings fresh nutrients and oxygen to them. Any metabolic waste is also drained out and put into a path ready for elimination from the body. This greatly assists the healing process. Any muscle that is used frequently could suffer from micro-tears (micro-trauma). This is perfectly normal & the body heals them in its own time. Tiny adhesions also start to occur as part of the healing process. Massage speeds up this healing process and helps to break down the tiny adhesions while providing nutrients for the muscles. This helps speed up recovery time.
There are several techniques used in sports massage that can be combined and tailor made for an individual treatment. I can help complement physio, chiropractic or osteopathic treatments by assisting with ‘soft tissue’ work
Benefits
- Helps prevent injury
- Helps heal muscular micro-trauma & breaks down tiny adhesions
- Eliminates built up metabolic waste (including lactic acid)
- Increases muscular nutrient supply
- Improves circulation (into tissues)
- Improves recovery
- Helps injuries heal faster
- Helps improve flexibility
- Increases fitness capabilities
- Allows peak performance to be reached faster
What to expect
Before your treatment, I will briefly discuss your requirements for the massage. The treatment can then be tailored accordingly. I usually either design a massage to improve general muscle condition or address the results of an injury.
For your treatment, I will come to you (home / sports club). I will ask you to fill in a brief medical questionnaire. This questionnaire is a little more extensive if your massage is to help heal a particular injury. I may then check your range of movement (if injured) and then proceed with the actual massage.
In the massage, I use a variety of techniques, depending on your requirements, some of these include Deep Tissue techniques, Soft Tissue Release, NeuroMuscular Technique, Direct Stretching & Muscle Energy Technique. I will always warm up your muscles first before I do any deep tissue work.
After the massage, I can advise you on basic stretches – depending on your injury and any tension I found during your massage.
You may feel a little drowsy after the massage. This is normal. Your blood pressure would’ve been slightly lowered and toxins have been released into the system. Please drink lots of water afterwards to flush these out.
For any deeper massage work, you may feel a little tender a couple of days later. Immediately after the massage, only 10% of your muscles tension is released. A 40-50% release is experienced 2/3 days later.