Injury Prevention and Post Run-Recovery

Take note avid racers! You are a prime candidate for sports massage and its raft of benefits. Massage is not just for elite and professional athletes, it’s for you, as you prep and train for your next 10K, duathlon or marathon. Daily workouts and weekly training runs add up to a well-conditioned body that needs some healing to keep running at top speed.

Weekend warriors, intrepid sports fans, and budding athletes can all enjoy and benefit from sports massage. Regardless of your level of play, massage helps with muscle recovery and injury prevention.

Sports massage is focused on muscle systems relevant to a particular sport for the purpose of either exerting maximum force or to relax the muscles and induce better circulation.

Injury Prevention: Massage is the Answer

Muscle overuse, or the accumulation of tension in the muscles from regular training, may lead to stress on the joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles, which causes imbalances. Oftentimes, these imbalances go unnoticed and athletes recruit other muscles to make up for their strain. This eventually leads to discomfort and possibly, injury. A skilled Massage Therapist can detect variations in the soft tissues and restore balance, even before the athlete is aware of an issue.

Sports researchers suggest that injury rates could be reduced by 25% if athletes took appropriate preventive action. Having a licensed Massage Therapist on your team is an easy way to decrease your chances of injury.

Sports Massage Reduces Your Recovery Time

Massage increases blood flow, therefore reducing muscle stiffness. Increased blood flow stimulates the lymphatic system to flush away lactic acid build-up that causes muscle soreness. Massage reduces heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels, which leads to deep relaxation. This, in turn, improves your mood.

Whether you are a professional athlete, training for a specific event, or playing for local rec league, consider adding sports massage to your workout regimen to help reduce your chance of injury, recover faster, and improve your performance. All Massage Heights’ Therapists are licensed and each Retreat offers sports massage, among other types of massage. We’d love to be a part of your training team!