Have you ever had a tightness or stiffness in your back that drove you nuts and you knew the right person or therapist could pinpoint it and get rid of it forever? Even worse have you ever gone for a massage because of a specific issue praying that the Massage Therapist would be on the money and send you home feeling like a million bucks, only to get off the table feeling just like you did when you laid down, only oilier? It’s like having an itch that you just can’t scratch… or wanting raw tuna and getting tuna salad … it’s just downright frustrating.

At this point in my life I try to avoid frustration whenever possible. So I have a few Massage therapists that I have found over the years and I stick with them. When I have an issue I tell them what it is and they get to work, do their thing, and I get off the table feeling like a million bucks. That’s the thing about Sports Massage it’s not just a relaxing massage, which is great, don’t get me wrong. What’s great about Sports Massage is that it is focused … there is intention and a plan. Now the plan is always going to be different depending on your needs, but it will be specific and focused and results oriented.

It is this focus and specificity that defines Sports Massage. The focus might be getting ready for a big race. Imagine you have trained for months for your first 10k and as a final preparation you get a vigorous massage of your legs and lower back 15 to 20 minutes before race time. A massage that stimulates the muscles and gets them ready to perform. Essentially it wakes them up gets the blood flowing and flushes out the system. This something you often see at races and it is even something you can do for yourself if necessary. It just makes sense to warm the muscles, stimulate them and get them ready for performance.

Or maybe you are starting an new, intense workout program, something challenging that really pushes you. You feel good about it and know that if you stick with it you will look great and feel even better, or maybe it is all about performance. Whatever your goal your body is working overtime and in order to achieve your goal you have to be consistent. What is more frustrating than having a goal that you are enthusiastic about. Something that you are focused on, feeling good about, only to get injured and have to take a few weeks off while you recover only to be left alone with the jelly doughnuts. Again, this is where the focus of Sports Massage is great. In this case the massage is tailored to your workout plan. The focus may be on the parts of your body that are being overused. Here the therapist gives a great general massage but at the same time the focus is on cleaning out the muscle, flushing out the lactic acid, stretching, and just generally re-invigorating the soft tissue in potentially problem areas. The result is you avoid injury, feel great and continue to pursue your goals with no set backs.

What about after the race? Your body just went to the mat for you. You left it all on the field, court, whatever. What are you going to do now go home take a nap and let the lactic acid and other waste pool in your muscles that just worked so hard for you. No way! You get a great focused Sports Massage preferably within two hours of the event. By flushing out the toxins you will avoid a great deal of post-event soreness, tightness, stiffness, etc. and you will be ready to get back into your routine as soon as you finish enjoying your break. Aside from the flushing of the toxins you are also bringing in oxygen and nutrition to the muscles through increased circulation and the stretch feels great. This is also a good time to deal with inflammation and cramps. The key is the session is focused it has a purpose and it achieves a desired result.

Even with the best training and intention, injuries happen. Once the initial injury is treated by the appropriate medical practitioner Sports or Medical Massage is essential to speed the recovery. In the case of recovering from an injury massage is critical to warming the area, maintaining or recovering range of motion, cleaning out any scar tissue or metabolic waste which has accumulated because of swelling. This type of Sports Massage or Rehabilitative massage is geared towards speeding your recovery and getting you back to what you love ASAP.

So there are many different applications for Sports Massage and massage in general. The key to sports massage is its focus, and purposefulness. Don’t misunderstand, a good sports massage is relaxing, but the key is it is addressing something specific. However, what that something specific is may be different each time. If the idea of a Sports Massage is appealing to you give me a call.