Sports Massage

Whether you enjoy recreational sport, or you are a professional athlete, Sports massage will loosen, warm and ready your muscles for activity, prevent sports related injury, improve performance and endurance. Almost everyone, who has followed an exercise regimen, played some sort of active game, or done swimming or even jogging or aerobics, is likely to have suffered from muscle spasm or strain.

Massage has become an integral part of the new athletic regimen from sports medicine clinics, to college training rooms, to professional locker rooms to Olympic training. Growing number of trainers believe that massage can provide an extra edge to the athletes, who participate in high performance sports. Massage has become a necessary ingredient for a complete workout.

It is a myth that sports massage can only be used for athletes, cricketers or those who play competitive games. Anyone and everyone, who is using muscles can use this massage therapy with great benefit.

More and more people are realizing that a complete workout routine includes not only the exercise itself, but also, caring for the wear-and-tear and minor injuries that naturally occur with strenuous movement.The physiological and psychological benefits of massage make it an ideal complement to a total conditioning program.

Anyone, who routinely stretches his physical limits through movement such as running, cycling, hiking, swimming, dancing, tennis and other racquet sports, strength training and aerobics can benefit from a massage. There are others, who do strenuous activities in a day that is not normally classified as exercise. Examples are mothers with small children, gardeners, and others, who use their bodies strenuously ill their work.

Incorporating massage in your conditioning program has many benefits. It helps you get into good shape faster, and with less stiffness and soreness. It helps you recover faster from heavy workouts, and relieves conditions, which may cause injury.

What Happens When You Exercise?

Regular exercise increases vigour and promotes a general sense of well-being. If done in moderation, exercise can help relieve the effects of stress. Exercise has also been linked to decrease in psychological depression. Regular exercise produces positive physical results like increased muscular strength and endurance, more efficient heart and respiratory functioning, and greater flexibility. These positive physical changes occur as the body gradually adapts to the greater demands put on it by regular exercise. The body improves its functioning to meet the challenges placed on it.

Conditioning Involve Three Phases

• Tearing Down Phase, when one pushes the physical limits of the body.
• Recovery Phase, important for the rebuilding phase and to obtain the full benefits of a conditioning program.
• Build-up Phase, when the body-system adapts to the new demands placed on it.

The 'tearing down' phase of the adaptation process often involves stiffness and soreness, especially, when the amount of movement is significantly increased from what the body has been used to in the past. Delayed muscle soreness (24-48 hours after exercise) may be caused by any of a number of different factors. Some possible causes are minor muscle, or connective tissue damage, local muscle spasms that reduce blood flow, or a build up of waste products (metabolites) from energy production.

Trigger points, or stress points may also cause muscle soreness and decreased flexibility. These points are specific spots in muscle and tendons, which cause pain when pressed, and which may radiate pain to a larger area. They are not bruises, but are thought by some to be small areas of spasm. Trigger points may be caused by sudden trauma (like falling or being hit), or may develop over time from the stress and strain of heavy physical exertion, or from repeated use of a particular muscle.

Heavily exercised muscles may also lose their capacity to relax, causing chronically tight (hypertonic) muscles, and loss of flexibility. Lack of flexibility is often linked to muscle soreness, and predisposes you to injuries, especially muscle pulls and tears. Blood flow through tight muscles is poor (Ischemia), which also causes pain.

Sports massage can help in each stage of conditioning by preventing muscle injuries, as well as healing the injured ones.