What are the benefits to a sports massage?
On this page, I will be taking you through some of the many benefits to having a sports massage.
Help with injury recovery
Sports massages can help to speed up the recovery of injuries in a number of ways.
Firstly, massage cases an increase in the blood flow of the body. Our blood carries the essential nutrients that muscles need to function and repair such as oxygen, proteins, and iron. This means that the repairing muscles will have more nutrients to help the recovery and rebuilding of the muscles. Protein is the building block of most things in the body, this means that if the injured area can get more protein, then the muscles will have more stuff to turn into muscle meaning it will go back to its normal size and shape more quickly.
Secondly, sports massages can help to greatly increase the flexibility of muscles in the body. This means that injured areas will have the ability to cope with more tensile stress which means they can be stretched more without being damaged.
Help to prevent future injuries
Sports massage also helps a lot with preventing future injuries. The reasons for this are very similar to the healing of current injuries.
Firstly, the increase in blood flow will, as mentioned earlier, increase the amount of nutrients a muscle gets. This is very important because, during exercise, a muscle produces energy by aerobic or anaerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration occurs when there is enough oxygen present and produces the less harmful by-products water and carbon dioxide. However, if the muscle cannot get enough oxygen, it will resort to anaerobic respiration. This causes the relatively large by-product lactic acid. Lactic acid clogs up the muscles causing pain until it is removed. Also, aerobic respiration produces far more ATP molecules which give us energy, this means that the muscles will be able to cope with stress for longer periods of time and are much less likely to get injured.
Secondly, as mentioned previously, sports massages improve muscle flexibility. This means that they are far less likely to have damage caused by excessive stretching of the muscles.
Reduced muscle pain after exercise
A large portion of the benefits of a sports massage come from the increased blood flow that the massage gives. Reducing pain after exercise is no exception.
Heavy exercise causes a buildup of large and painful lactic acid which clogs up the muscle and bloodstream causing pain. Lactic acid is removed from the muscles by being picked up by the blood and then is transported to the liver so it can be broken down or converted back to glucose.
This means that the better your blood flow is, the quicker the lactic acid can be picked up by the blood and then dropped of to the liver which frees up room for more lactic acid in the blood so it can take more out of the muscles. This will reduce the pain that had been caused by exercise.
Increase the range of movement at joints
A reduced range of movement at a joint is usually caused by either a lack of flexibility or an imbalance of the strength of muscles in the affected area. Both can be fixed by a sports injury therapist.
If it is caused by a lack of flexibility, then this is easily treated by a sports massage because the action of the sports massage heats up the muscle which causes an increase in elasticity of the muscles; this is also the reason we warm up before exercise. Furthermore, a sports massage can help to realign muscle fibres. This is essential because the fibres in your muscles need to be aligned to have full function.
If the lack of a full range of movement is caused by an imbalance in the strength of muscles in the affected area, then this is also fully treatable during an appointment with a sports injury therapist. By using a combination of sports massage and completing exercises which can be prescribed to you by your sports therapist, you have the best chance at building strength in the weaker muscles as quickly as possible which will contribute to giving you your full range of movement back.
Postural improvement
Poor posture is a very big problem especially with an increase in the number of people working with technology sitting with a poor posture for long periods of time.
The most common postural problem is currently a hyperkyphotic posture which means you have an exaggerated curve in the top of your back. It looks like a hunched back with your head forward. This is caused by a buildup of tension in certain muscles and the weakening of others. The main complication of kyphosis will be pain in the back.
This is treatable by a sports injury therapist with a combination of massage and exercises. The massage will help to reduce tension in the tight areas which will help these muscles to relax and lengthen which will be a big contribution to solving it. Along with this, your therapist will also prescribe appropriate exercises which will help to strengthen the weakened muscles which will restore a more ideal posture to reduce back pain.
Psychological benefits
Reduced anxiety-
There are some signals sent to the brain by muscles which cause anxiety in the brain. The signal can be sent out when there is a buildup of tension and stress in the muscles. As massages can reduce the amount of stress in a muscle, this will cause the muscles to stop sending signals to the brain telling it it has anxiety
Improved sleep-
The reduced pain and stress in muscles can greatly improve your ability to sleep. This has many very positive effects on your mental health.
Improved concentration-
Stress and tension has a very negative impact on your concentration. Removing this tension which greatly improve your ability to concentrate on things more effectively and for longer periods of time.
More energy-
Reduced tension and stress in the muscles often leaves you feeling like you have much more energy. This has very positive effects on your mental health and can also make you far more productive.