Sports Massage Therapy
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An integral part of any athlete's program should include
measures to prevent injury. When injuries occur, athletes
need to find ways to get themselves back to training as quickly
as possible to maintain the fitness level that they worked
so hard to achieve. Sports massage assists the athlete with
injury prevention and rehabilitation by providing the following:
- enhance body awareness of muscle imbalances and tension/adhesions
- decrease unwanted tension, toxins and adhesions in soft
tissue (i.e. muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia or connective
tissue, nerves)
- increase flexibility and pliability of muscles
- introduce fresh nutrients to the area through increased
circulation, which will expedite the healing process
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How can sports massage help?
Sports massage could be incorporated at various stages of the athlete's
program.
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Injury prevention or maintenance massage (typically 30 to 90 minutes)
is designed to support and prepare the body for the conditioning
ahead. The aims are to flush from the athlete's body the causes
of muscular fatigue, spasm and soreness (e.g. fascial restrictions,
trigger points) that can potentially lead to injury. The athlete
returns to training able to work at maximum capacity.
- Injury rehabilitation treatment of injury (typically 30 to
60 minutes) incorporates specific techniques such as ART, myofascial
release, trigger point therapy among others to facilitate the
athlete's recovery.
- Pre-event massages (fast tempo - typically 15 to 20 minutes)
will focus on priming the athlete (i.e. bringing fresh blood and
oxygen) to face competition.
- Post-event massage (relaxing - typically 20 to 60 minutes)
flushes the muscles of toxins and decreases the tension, thereby
preventing spasms.
When should you receive a sports massage?
The therapist and athlete should both be aware of what works best
for the athlete's training program. Tempo, duration and pressure
will be modified depending on what stage the athlete is in. For
example, if the athlete plans to have a heavy workout or race the
next day, the massage should not be too deep as this would fatigue
the muscles. In this case, treatments would best be planned for
a day off from training. In some cases, it may be appropriate to
train immediately after a treatment to retrain muscles freed from
tension and adhesions.
Injury rehabilitation treatments are typically weekly and then
decrease in frequency with healing progression. Injury prevention
or maintenance treatments are typically once every 2 to 4 weeks
depending on the type of training. The frequency may increase depending
on when the event is. Athletes will develop a keen sense of what
frequency works best for them as their experience with sports massage
and training progresses. The therapist, athlete, and coach or personal
trainer could review training plans as a team to determine what
would best facilitate the athlete in injury prevention or rehabilitation.
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