| Types of Massage |
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SPORTS MASSAGE: This rapidly expanding field is popular among professional athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Focuses on the use of massage to assist in training, prevent injury, and aid the healing process of soreness/injury. It is used before and after exercise, as well as in the treatments of sports injuries such as sprains, strains, and tendonitis. Regular sports massage restores the length and suppleness of muscles that become tight and tense from physical exertion. Micro-tears in the muscles from training heal faster because massage aids in circulation of blood and nutrients and enables the body to adapt to increased workloads. And long before an injury becomes painful, the problems required in sports massage may help detect stress areas before they become chronic problems.
SPORTS MASSAGE GOALS:
PRE-EVENT MASSAGE: A Pre-Event sports massage is brief and invigorating, normally 10-15 minutes long. It is given within an hour before your event right thru your clothes. It will help get the athlete in a good mental state for competition and readies the athlete for top performance. It is effective up to 2 hours before the event and is used as a supplement to an athlete's warm-up to enhance circulation and reduce excess muscle and mental tension prior to competition.
POST-EVENT MASSAGE: Post-Event sports massage is given after a competition and is mainly a concern with recovery. It is geared toward reducing the muscle spasms and metabolic build-up that occur with vigorous exercise. Recovery after competition involves not only tissue normalization and repair, but also general relaxation and mental calming. A recovery session might be 10 minutes to 1 ½ hours in length.
RECOVERY Massage helps the body recover from the stresses of exercise, and speeds the rebuilding phase of conditioning. The physiological benefits of massage include improved blood and lymph circulation, muscle relaxation, and general relaxation. These, in turn, leads to removal of waste products and better cell nutrition, normalization, and greater elasticity of tissues, deactivation of trigger points and faster healing of injuries. It all adds up to relief from soreness and stiffness, better flexibility, and less potential for future injury.
BENEFITS OF SPORTS MASSAGE:
· Reduce the chance of injury, through the loosening of connective tissues and muscles. · Improve the range of motion and muscle flexibility · Shorten recovery time between workouts · Increase the supply of nutrients and oxygen through improved circulation · Enhance the elimination of toxic by-products of exercise.
CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR SPORTS MASSAGE
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