Do you remember when you were a child and your mother would tell you to go to bed so your body could grow? Well that was true then and is still true. Your body actually grows and heals most when it is resting, and recovering.
What this means to you in the sports arena is, you must give your body time to recover between workouts to get the maximum result from your workouts. One of the best ways to enhance this rest and recovery phase of training is sports massage. The following are all benefits of massage in relation to sports.
The first thing a massage will do for you is to bring your awareness into your body. You will become aware of the places you are holding stress when you work out and the places that are unusually tight. You will learn to feel the difference between normal muscle soreness and injury soreness.
The next thing massage will do is to help your flexibility. The constant muscle contractions of sports cause microtrauma in the tissue which promotes adhesion. The massage will make the muscles and tissues more pliable, and will encourage flexibility, resilience and better circulation.
Another advantage is that massage speeds up the recovery from workouts by removing lactic acid and other by-products from the muscles. Doing this helps the muscle tears to heal faster so that you can be ready for another workout sooner.
In the case of injury massage will also help. The injured areas can be massaged to encourage blood supply to the injured area and aid in the healing process. Increased circulation to the area will speed the healing process, especially in the case of overuse injuries.
The last benefit is the fact that a good sports massage therapist can spot areas of weakness or stress that could lead to injury. Many times athletes are so involved in their training that they tend to tune out their body talk. The body always whispers before it screams. A good massage therapist will be able to help bring your awareness to the areas that need attention and prevent injuries.
Roblynn Neumann is a Certified Sports Massage Therapist as well as a Certified Personal Trainer. She and her husband own and operate a study abroad massage school in Costa Rica.
http://www.crmassageschool.com
She also has a blog site to help moms with health and fitness at http://www.hotmomsrus-health.blogspot.com
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