Sports Massage

Sports massage is used primarily to enhance athletic performance. Massage can be used pre-event or post-event for injury rehabilitation or as a regular component of an athletes training regime.

Sports massage, contrary to ideas created by the current popularity of massage, is not a new therapy. References going back as far as Ancient Greece indicate that the early Olympians regularly used massage before and after competition for preparation and recovery purposes.

Massage, particularly in western society, faded from traditional use although it remained popular in eastern cultures as an all-round therapy for athletes and non-athletes alike.

Sports massage can be divided into four major components:

• Pre-Event
• Post-Event
• Injury rehabilitation
• Training/Conditioning/Relaxation

Pre-event.This is usually performed close to the event and forms an integral part of the athletes "warm-up". Emphasis is placed on stimulating the muscles and performing active stretching techniques such as PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) to activate the muscles and neuromuscular system in preparation for the forthcoming competition.

Pre-event massage is also useful in identifying potential problem areas which can be addressed at the same time.

Post-event. This helps the athlete relax after competition as well as simulating the body's natural drainage system to rid itself of the waste products (e.g. lactic acid), generated during competition. Waste products caused by tissue damage during maximum exertion are also eliminated by massage after competing.

Consideration should also be given at this time to "between-event" massage where the athlete may have to compete, for example, in a heat at 11.00am and then in a final at 2.00pm. Here massage should be intended to provide recovery after the initial event but should no be so vigorous that it "flattens" the athlete diminishing their performance for the next event.

Massage is contra-indicated as this time because the treatment could potentially promote bleeding and swelling at the injury site rather than the opposite effect intended. Massage, therefore, is much more beneficial in the next stage of healing where it can be used to reduce swelling and promote circulation in the injured area. Proper blood supply to the site is critical to recovery as it provides the nutrients necessary for heating and, in turn, helps to flush waste products from the injury site.

Massage also assists the athlete in maintaining or regaining flexibility after injury by reducing the incidence of adhesion around the injury site. In addition, with specific stretching helps to align the resultant scar tissue to produce the most efficient repair to the injured muscle.

Training/relaxation. One of the most important qualities of sports massage is in its ability to help an athlete recovery from very physically demanding training quickly and bounce back for another hard session. Without massage, the athlete may have to take longer to recover and have more easy sessions between hard training than they would ideally like, or may suit their forthcoming competition schedule. Clearly, an athlete undergoing intensive training is also likely to achieve a significant relaxation effect from their massage therapy.

Therapeutic massage. In my practice, apart from sports massage on clients who are in training, this is the style most commonly employed. Even with the athletes that I actually coach on a regular basis, a large amount of massage is done on a therapeutic level, attempting to identify problem areas and ways to alleviate those problems. Therapeutic massage is, generally, the use of various massage techniques to both relieve pain and to improve circulation in the soft tissue.

Candidates for therapeutic massage could be people that have developed poor postural habits, possibly in their work situation, and usually present with "fairly" specific areas of concern such as stiff neck, sore shoulder, reduced mobility of a particular joint, where they are wishing to add massage to their existing Physio/Chiro etc. treatment or where they have tried other modalities with limited success. These clients have not necessarily sustained a specific injury causing the symptoms they complain of.