Benefits of Massage Therapy for Athletes
Massage for athletes prevents injury, maintains the body's health and aids recovery from the stresses of training and performance. Massage therapy offers so many benefits that it's a respected profession, and professional teams often employ full-time therapists. Benefits of massage include improved circulation, relaxed muscles and faster healing. There are four types of massages designed specifically for the athlete.
Pre-Event
A massage before a sports event helps prepare the body for physical activity. A pre-event massage for the athlete is designed to target the areas of the body that will be exerted the most. The massage involves warming up tissues and major muscles while also allowing the athlete to focus on the performance. The pre-event massage is between 10 and 15 minutes, and its effects last up to four hours.
Post-Event
An athlete often will receive a post-event massage within one to two hours after an event or training. This type of massage helps the body recover from performance to prevent spasms from muscle fatigue, help the body's tissues return to normal size and also allow the mind and body to relax and return to a calm state. A post-event massage is usually between 15 minutes and 90 minutes.
Maintenance
An athlete who receives massages regularly enhances performance and flexibility. A maintenance massage targets specific muscle groups and works specific tissues to help the athlete boost performance level. This type of massage not only reduces injuries, but also helps identify the early stages of an injury to prevent further damage.
Rehabilitation
Although maintenance is designed to prevent injuries, muscles still will bruise, cramp, tear and ache. A rehabilitative massage takes care of those issues. It alleviates pain from injury, improves range of motion and helps the body heal quickly. This type of massage also strengthens the muscles and breaks up scar tissue at the site of the injury.
Techniques
Massage needs of athletes sometimes are very specific depending on the sport. The sport determines the muscles and tissues that do the most work. Because of these differences, there are specific massage techniques to treat each such as deep tissue massage that applies deep pressure to the underlying muscles using a series of massage techniques. There's the compression massage that uses rhythmic compressions into the muscles to increase blood flow and soften specific tissue areas. The trigger point reduces muscle spasms and patterns of pain by using the thumb or a specific finger in a certain position. And the lymphatic massage specializes on moving accumulated fluid, which can cause swelling, from the body's tissues through the lymphatic system.
Tags: This type, This type massage, type massage, Benefits Massage, Benefits Massage Therapy, between minutes, body tissues