Many people have asked me what Sports Massage is. I’ll do my best to answer some of these questions in this blog. Is it something that the elite athletes in the NBA or NFL receive after their games? Is it just for Olympic Athletes? Is Sports Massage it’s own technique or modality? My definition would be this: Sports Massage is not a specific modality or technique. It is applying certain massage techniques from a variety of modalities to a specific clientele. Athletes! What type of athletes? All of them! I personally have worked on ballet dancers, MMA fighters, roller derby girls, speed skaters, runners, rock climbers, triathletes, football players, baseball players, soccer players, fitness competitors, and even desk jockeys! You name the type of athlete and I’ve probably worked on them. So, my point is it’s for every athlete from the weekend jogger to the Professional athlete.
Does everyone receive the same type of sports massage? Not even close! If a marathon runner who runs several miles a day for months before a race comes to see me, my main focus will most likely be the lower body. If a baseball pitcher comes to see me it’s more likely that I will be focusing around the upper body and hips. If a fitness competitor/bodybuilder comes to see me, I could be spending all my time around one particular group of muscles due to injury or imbalance issues.
When should you get a Sports Massage? The answer is it depends. Are you running a marathon tomorrow morning? Yes? Then you probably shouldn’t be getting a massage with extensive work on your legs today. A nice recovery massage the day after would probably be a good idea though. Can you get a massage before a race? Yes! It would be more of a pre-event massage using different techniques to prepare the muscles for the event. Other than pre and post event massage, I would say how much massage you receive depends on how hard you are training. Some people see me twice a week and some people once a month. The harder you train the more massage you should be receiving.
Something you see on our website and in many of our social media posts are the words PERFORMANCE, BALANCE, AND RECOVERY. This applies to everyone. Not just athletes. However, for the sake of what I am writing, it definitely applies to athletes as well. Sports massage can increase performance, help keep balance in the body and mind, and help speed up recovery time in-between workouts and after sporting events.
I’m sure there are still questions out there. Feel free to call or shoot us a message with any other questions and I will do my best to answer.