Last Updated on 30 December 2020 by Brisbane Livewell Clinic
Many athletes and coaches around the world consider Sports Massage an essential part of the training and exercise regimen. International teams have recognised how sports massage enhances performance and have been hiring professional massage therapists for years now. From helping them train more effectively to relaxing them before the big game, massage has been serving many functions.
A bit about Therapeutic Sports Massage
So, Sports Massage Enhances Athletic Performance? Sports Massage is a type of massage technique that resembles deep tissue massage. Focusing on soft tissue aches, it aims to prevent pain and injuries generally occurring in recreational activities. It helps reduce stiffness in muscles, relaxes the athlete by calming down the heart rate and blood pressure.
Here are some ways sports massage can be very effective in enhancing an athlete’s performance:
It Helps Prevent Injuries
Sports massage helps in strengthening muscles and body tissues. This allows the athlete to keep injuries at bay. It also stimulates the body to get energy through a process called mitochondrial biogenesis. This process generates enhanced energy.
It Helps in Quick Rehabilitation and Healing
Sports massage can prove to be quite helpful in rehabilitating a few common injuries, such as sprains, tears, tennis elbow and pulled muscle. It also helps in relieving the pain, which allows the athlete to sleep better.
It Increases Tissue Permeability
Exerting deep pressure, sports massage helps membranes within tissues to open up. This allows nutritive substances to pass in and waste products to pass out. Nutrients help a great deal in repairing any damages in tissue; whereas getting rid of waste products helps reduce fatigue and soreness in the body.
It Enhances Flexibility
Trained massage therapists help stretch muscle fibres in the athlete’s body. This means that the surrounding built-up pressure is minimised and hence, the range of motion is significantly improved.
It Makes Circulation Better
Reaching the deeper levels of the body opens up the blood vessels. This means increased blood flow to muscle groups and hence, increased energy. Moreover, this opening of blood vessels also leads to a more efficient transfer of oxygen and nutrients, such as glucose and electrolytes, to reach deeper corners of tissues and cells. The frequency of sports massage depends on the athlete’s goals and his/her physical situation. However, incorporating sports massage in the weekly training schedule can prove to be quite effective.
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