Sports Massage & the Benefits to YOUR Athletic Performance

Sports Massage is a type of deep tissue massage that is targeted at active individuals and both professional and amateur athletes. The benefits are numerous and wide ranging, and here I will highlight what I believe are the top 5 benefits that can be experienced by all.

1) Faster recovery & reduced muscle soreness
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the muscular micro-tears that happen after a particularly hard training session. Massage will increase blood flow to the affected areas, carrying with it oxygen and nutrients which will of course aid recovery. With the increased movement of blood, removal of waste products such as lactic acid, allows a faster recovery and  reduction in soreness and muscular fatigue.

2) Injury prevention
Regular sports massage will mean that potential areas of concern, such as muscle tightness or muscular imbalances are spotted earlier, which, with the correct intervention, could help prevent a future injury from occurring. By promoting muscular relaxation and healing you can go into the next training session in a better physical condition, meaning small niggles or micro-injuries are dealt with and do not accumulate into something bigger.

3) Relief from chronic pain
Sports and physical training can be repetitive in nature (think swinging a tennis racket), therefore sports massage can target the individual muscles and surrounding muscles of a particular joint, which might otherwise become a prime contender for overuse or chronic pain (think a 'weak link' in the kinetic chain), without proper attention inbetween training sessions.
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4) Enhanced flexibility & range of motion
Sports massage can break down muscular adhesions which might be limiting greater range of motion in a particular muscle. A sports massage therapist can also use assisted stretching techniques to 'normalise' a Range Of Motion (ROM) in an athlete meaning that if the muscle is not pushed repeatedly to near end or end range (maximum) during training then it is less likely to sustain injury and more likely to function in an optimal way.

5) Stress reduction & improved sleep (mental health)
​Athletic training can be extremely taxing both physically and mentally. By reducing physical aches and pains, the athlete is more likely to experience psychological benefits such as a higher quality rest and recovery which can also mean a better quality of sleep, and a more rested mind is able to focus easier, thus allowing higher quality training sessions and performance rather than just going through the motions due to accumulated fatigue.

Let me know in the comments if there are other benefits that you have experienced from sports massage!

By David Watson BSc. (Hons), Dip BmP