Massage and Exercise

Training, Athletics, and Massage

Time and time again, you have heard of the benefits of a regular exercise regimen. There are so many wonderful improvements exercise can bring that it might take millions of words to describe them all. However, some of the endless benefits include:

                         -weight loss

                         -muscle gain

                         -reduce your risk of heart disease

                         -mood enhancer

                         -better sleep

That leads us to the question, what does this have to do with massage therapy? 

If you looked at our past blog post about the importance of massage, you will notice that exercise and massage have more than a few similar benefits. Check out the importance of massage therapy in our blog here.

What are the specific benefits of athletic massage? 

Athletic massage can help to prevent injury by finding and eliminating conditions in the soft tissue that threaten the risk of injury. When performed correctly, athletic massage can improve an athlete’s ability to perform while reducing the incidence of lost time from injury and fatigue. (Beck, pg 666)

          Massage therapy became a part of the sports world first in 1984 at the summer Olympics in Los Angeles. (Beck, pg 665) Despite massage therapy not being as respected in the past, athletes have grown to understand the importance of taking care of their bodies. 

After all, we only have one body, so it’s critical to give it the best care. Massage therapy significantly improved the recovery of athletes. However, so many trainers do not take it into account. 

Why Are Trainers Ignoring Massage Therapy? 

          How many trainers do you know that refer you to a massage therapist when you’re not as flexible as you should be? I know a few personal trainers and never have they once mentioned the benefits of massage therapy to their clients.

          While training sessions such as strength, power, and agility, your muscles break down so that they can rebuild and when they rebuild, they become bigger and stronger. In the process, our muscles become taut (tight), and (even with stretching) we lose elasticity. If you read my previous blog, you already know that massage can be beneficial to helping with all of those issues.

          Massage therapy is also beneficial to helping fluid flow through the body. Fluid flow is beneficial to the body in ways of removing toxins, removing waste, and helping move blood through the body faster. Moving blood to areas faster is always beneficial in the way that oxygen moves in blood and muscles need oxygen to reform after the wear and tear of intense training sessions.

How I Bridge the Gap! 

          Having a personal trainer and massage therapist in one person is the most beneficial because you don’t have to worry about working out of their scope of practice with any techniques, and your trainer will always have you and your muscle's best interest at heart.

If you are interested in combining massage and training, look into my services to see if I can help make a more healthy you!